Ladder Jacob (the name is conditional) is a translated apocryphal legend [1] , based on the biblical story of a staircase ( senior glorious ladder [2] ) from Jacob’s dream connecting Earth and Heaven . Apocrypha survived only in the Slavic written tradition [3] .
| Ladder of Jacob | |
|---|---|
| Genre | apocryphal legend |
| Content | apocryphal interpretation of the biblical story about the ladder of Jacob , including the eschatological interpretation of Jacob's dream, revealing the details of future history |
| Characters | Jacob , the angel Sariel , God |
| Original | unknown |
Content
Bible story
The book of Genesis ( Genesis 28: 10-22 ) contains the story that Jacob , the son of Isaac , sees in a dream a staircase, the base of which rests on the earth, and the summit reaches the sky. Angels ascend and descend this staircase [1] . Jacob receives an oral revelation from God about the promised land and the blessing of his descendants . The apocryphal also contains details of the narratives of other visions of Jacob, including the change of the name of Jacob to Israel, known from the biblical story about the struggle of Jacob with God [3] .
Textology
The “Ladder of Jacob” is part of the Explanatory Paley , starting with the oldest Kolomensky list , and the Complete Chronographic Paleya. According to V. M. Istrin , the compilers of both editions had separate lists of the apocrypha, currently unknown [1] . In various editions of the Tolkova Paleya, the apocrypha was repeatedly processed [3] .
Apocrypha is mentioned in the indexes of forbidden books , starting with the Nomocanon of the 15th century, where it is called "Ladder" [4] .
Khores Lant notes that the seventh chapter of the “Ladder of Jacob” (in his translation into English, the text is divided into seven chapters) is a later Christian addition, added to the story by the Slavic (possibly Russian) editor of Paley [5] [3] .
History
The time of the translation of the apocrypha and the ways of its penetration into ancient Russian literature have not been established [1] . Despite the fact that for a long time the apocrypha was part of a collection of dissimilar materials and had a long written history in the Greek and Slavic milieu, it retained a number of ancient legends dating back to the 1st century AD. e. and of Jewish origin. Researchers believe that the Slavic “Ladder of Jacob” comes from the Greek version of this tradition, which, in turn, was a translation from Hebrew or Aramaic [3] .
Story of the Apocrypha
The apocrypha, based on a biblical story, contains a more detailed description of the staircase of Jacob. The staircase has 12 steps, on each of them there are faces on the right and left, and at the very top - “the face, like a man, is cut from the fire”. The interpretation of the vision has been significantly expanded: the angel Sariel clarifies the symbolism of the steps, the faces on them and the movement along the stairs of the angels, which portends the coming of Christ to the earth. More details about the fate of the descendants of Jacob In the part of the apocrypha, which tells about miracles at the descent of Christ, there is a plot roll call with the Tale of Aphrodithian [1] [3] .
Contents
The content can be set out in accordance with the breakdown of the text into seven chapters in the English translation of Khores Lant.
- First chapter: the dream of Jacob is described.
- The second chapter: Jacob's long prayer to God, in which Jacob reveals a number of additional details of his dream and asks God for help in interpreting it.
- Third chapter: God sends to Jacob the interpreter - the angel Sariel.
- Chapter Four: Sariel informs Jacob that from now on he will be called Israel.
- Fifth, sixth and seventh chapters: the eschatological interpretation of Jacob's dream by Sariel, revealing the details of the future history [3] .
See also
- Ladder
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 Salmina M.A., Ladder of Jacob // Dictionary of scribes and books of Ancient Russia : [in 4 issue] / Ros. Acad. Sciences , Inst. lit. (Pushkin House) ; open ed. D. S. Likhachev [et al.]. L.: Science , 1987-2017. Vol. 2: Second half of the 14th – 16th centuries, part 2: L — I / ed. D.M. Bulanin , G.M. Prokhorov . - 1989.
- ↑ Popova T. G. On the semantics of the word ladder // Bulletin of Tomsk State University. Philology Series. - 2011. - No. 4 (350) . - S. 29-32 .
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Orlov A. A. “The Hidden Books”: Jewish mysticism in Slavic apocrypha . M.: Bridges of Culture / Gesharim, 2011.318 s. S. 73 and words
- ↑ Yatsimirsky A.I. Пгр, 1921. Issue. 1. Old Testament Apocrypha. S. 38-39.
- ↑ Lunt HG, Ladder of Jacob, The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (2 vols .; ed. JH Charlesworth; New York: Doubleday, 1985 [1983]). 2. 404-5.
Editions
- Sub. - Vol. 3. - S. 27-32;
- Tikhonravov N. S. Monuments of the renounced Russian literature. - M., 1863. - T. 1. - S. 91-95;
- Porfiryev I. Ya. Apocryphal Tales of Old Testament Persons and Events According to the Manuscripts of the Solovetsky Library. - SPb., 1877. - S. 58-59, 138-149;
- Paleya Tolkova according to the list made in Kolomna in 1406: Labor of the students of N. S. Tikhonravov. - M., 1892. - S. 153-157;
- Explanatory Paley of 1477: Reproduction of the Synodal Manuscript No. 210. [St. Petersburg], 1892. - Issue. 1. - L. 100 vol. — 107 vol. (RAP, No. 93).
Literature
- Porfiryev I. Ya. Old Testament Apocrypha. S. 284-285;
- Istrin V.M. Retz. on the book: Ancient Russian literature of the Kiev period of the 11th — 13th centuries. P.V. Vladimirova. Kiev, 1900. - ZhMNP, 1902, August, p. 419-420;
- Istrin V.M. Editorial of the Explanatory Paley. - IORYAS, 1905. - T. 10, Prince. 4. - S. 150-151.