Genesis 28

16 Jan 2026 - Theology

Jacob’s Dream

Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran (10), and he lighted upon a certain place (11).

This is the first use of the word ‘certain’ in the Bible. The Hebrew insinuates that this is a random place.

‘ladder’ (KJV) = sullam, which more often means a stairway

On a stairway, angels could easily be going up and down at the same time, compared to a narrow ladder where it would be much harder.

Jacob had probably heard of the ziggurat pyramids of Mesopotamia. I wonder if this is what he is dreaming about.

Why are the angels first ascending (going up), and then descending (going down)? If these are angels, you would think they would be descending from Heaven first.

‘angels of God’ = malachei elohim

The word for angel here, and everywhere else in the Torah, means “messenger, prophet, priest, or teacher”. So instead of ‘angels of God’, we could say ‘priests of God’. Like ordinary human beings, they would surely begin ascending from the bottom, as the ‘angels’ do in the dream.

“The trick is to remember, after you descend, what you understood when you were high on the ladder.” ⁴

The stairway on a ziggurat was intended to connect Heaven and earth (remember the Tower of Babel story). The ziggurats of Mesopotamia were temples for the gods - each had a small house at the top called a ‘beit el’, meaning a ‘house of the god’. On holy days and festivals, the priests would climb the staiway of the ziggurat to worship their god, and afterword they would come down again.

God wants to make a kingdom of priests (remember the covenant of circumcision with Abraham).

“I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac…” (13). Why does the Lord God say Abraham is Jacob’s father, when really Isaac is? Remember, in the Hebrew language:

• ‘father’ could mean father, grandfather, great grandfather, etc.
• ‘sister’ could mean sister, niece, or female cousin

God does this to show that He is continuing the special covenant promises made to Abraham, which He reiterates to Jacob, making Jacob the heir of that covenant lineage.

Genesis 28:16 - “And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not.”

Bethel = “the house of God”

“But the name of the city was called Luz at the first” (19).

Genesis 12:8 - “And he [Abram] removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.”

Later in Genesis 35, we will see Jacob set up another altar and name the place Bethel. These verses show that both stories in Genesis 12 and Genesis 28 were written after Abraham and Jacob’s time.

“Now Jacob begins to ponder the events in his life in a new way. A dimension of what has come to be called ‘the spiritual’ now lies open. ‘If God was here, and I did not know [verse 16], then perhaps God has been other places also.’ “ ⁴

References

1. The Hebrew - Greek Key Study Bible (KJV Version)
2. The BEMA Podcast, Episode 13: Grappling with God, Part 1
3. The Torah Portion-by-Portion by Rabbi Seymour Rossel (2007)
4. God Was in This Place & I, i Did Not Know
5. ladder (KJV) = sullam
6. angels = malak