Jacob's Ladder

Author: * Sin Assurbanipal - 2 Posts on this thread out of 11 Posts sitewide.
Date: May 7, 2006 - 23:10

Jacob's Dream woodcut, Lubeck Bible 1494

Here is the Biblical story of Jacob's dream at Beth-El as told in the King James Version of 1611, ch 28, verses 10-17:

And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran.

And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.

And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;

And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.

And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.

And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

The image of Jacob's dream of the ladder to heaven seems a sort of archetypal image that keeps cropping up in different times and cultures. Here are a few more from different periods in Western culture.

Jacob's Ladder. Illuminated page from a 13th c psalter. © The British Library.

This is a page from a 13th century psalter, a hand-made and painted ("illuminated") book of psalms and hymns to be sung by priests and monks and nuns - possibly by the congregation?
Note the various musicians, both human and animal, in the borders - a tradition as old as the famous golden harps from the Death Pits of Ur.

And what do you make of the middle angel on the ladder? Isn't this an odd way of climbing down a ladder? And unlike the two ascending angels, he is hanging on with just one hand. Could this be a falling angel - about to join other fallen angels in Hell?

In other medieval pictures, especially in those from the Orthodox Church in the East, the angels are replaced by Christian people, with some making it all the way to Christ in Heaven at the top, and others falling off the ladder into Hell, often poked off by devils attacking them with pitchforks.

When I was very young and just learning to read I becam fascinated by a black-and-white picture of the angels on the ladder in Jacob's dream. Searching for it recently, the closest I could find to it in appearance and feeling is this one. Note how the artist handles the traffic problem of figures ascending and descending a ladder at the same time.

A few years ago, my wife and I were visiting a charming Southern lady in Virginia. As we were sitting and chatting, in a room just below the bedroom upstairs where we had spent the night, I commented on the lovely spiral staircase next to me that led to the room above, and how it reminded me of Jacob's ladder dream.
Whereupon our hostess began to sing the following song or hymn, and my wife chimed in:

WE ARE CLIMBING JACOB'S LADDER

We are climbing Jacob's ladder, we are climbing Jacob's ladder
We are climbing Jacob's ladder, brothers, sisters, all

Every rung goes higher and higher, every rung goes higher and higher
Every rung goes higher and higher, brothers, sisters, all

Every new one makes us stronger, every new one makes us stronger,
Every new one makes us stronger, brothers, sisters, all

We have toiled in dark and danger, we have toiled in dark and danger,
We have toiled in dark and danger, brothers, sisters, all

We are dancing Sarah's circle, we are dancing Sarah's circle
We are dancing Sarah's circle, brothers, sisters, all

Every round a generation, every round a generation
Every round a generation, brothers, sisters, all

We are climbing Jacob's ladder, we are climbing Jacob's ladder
We are climbing Jacob's ladder, brothers, sisters, all

This "campfire" song started out, I think, in the 19th century or earlier as a Negro Spiritual that reflects the hardships of black Americans who worked as slaves on the cotton plantations. This version is by the folksinger Pete Seeger, who added some verses of his own. Which ones, do you think? Other versions replace the refrain "brothers, sisters, all" with "children of the Lord," "children of the Cross" or even "soldiers of the Cross" - which may show the influence of the Battle Hymn of the Republic? Does anyone know how old this hymn is, and how the various versions came to be and what purposes or causes they might have served? Is the "soldiers of the Cross" version, like the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," from Civil War days?

William Blake, Jacob's Dream.

Memories of my introduction in Virginia to this spiritual, hymn, and campfire song as I was sitting on a couch beside a spiral staircase were brought back by this painting of Jacob's Dream by the 19th century English mystic, poet and painter, William Blake:

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COMMENTS, QUESTIONS & QUERIES on the above texts, lyrics, and pictures:

What are they climbing (on)? Who or what is climbing up or down? Are they going in both directions? Is the direction significant?
What do you like or not like, and why? What's good or bad, right or wrong. with any of these texts, lyrics, or pictures? Do you have a favorite version or example of your own on this theme?