Texts in Conversation
Jubilees and Wisdom of Solomon retell Jacob’s dream at Bethel but draw different meanings from it. In Jubilees the dream marks the place where a temple will stand. In Wisdom of Solomon it is the moment God’s kingdom is shown to Jacob.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Jubilees 27:25
Pseudepigrapha
24 ‘As for me, I will be with you. I will guard you wherever you go. I will bring you back safely to this land because I will not abandon you until I have done everything that I have said to you.’ 25 Jacob said in his sleep: ‘This place is indeed the house of the Lord, but I did not know it.’ He was afraid and said: ‘This place, which is nothing but the house of the Lord, is awe-inspiring; and this is the gate of heaven.’ 26 Jacob, upon rising early in the morning, took the stone which he had placed at his head and set it up as a pillar for a marker. He poured oil on top of it and named that place Bethel. But at first the name of this area was Luz.
Wisdom of Solomon 10:10
Deuterocanon
9 Wisdom rescued from troubles those who served her. 10 When a righteous man fled from his brother's anger, she guided him on straight paths; she showed him the kingdom of God, and gave him knowledge of holy things; she prospered him in his labors, and increased the fruit of his toil. 11 When his oppressors were greedy, she stood by him and made him rich. 12 She protected Jacob from his enemies, and kept him safe from those who lay in wait for him; in his arduous contest she gave him the victory, so that he might learn that godliness is more powerful than anything else.
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Notes and References
"... Verse 10cd concerns Jacob's dream during his sojourn in Bethel as recounted in Genesis 28:10-17. In these cola Wisdom's revelatory and instructional role is highlighted in chapter 10. She shows (ἔδειξεν) Jacob the kingdom of God and gives (ἔδωκεν) him knowledge of holy things (the same two verbs occur in proximity in verse 14ef). The two lines can be read as exhibiting synonymous parallelism, that is, the revelation of God's kingdom is equivalent to the giving of supernatural knowledge. The phrase βασιλείαν θεοῦ, 'kingdom of God,' is hapax in the Septuagint, and it is difficult to know its exact meaning in this context. It most likely refers to the angels ascending and descending on the ladder reaching to heaven that Jacob sees in his dream (Genesis 28:12). From his vision, Jacob gains an understanding of how God's realm functions. ..."
Glicksman, Andrew T.
Wisdom of Solomon 10: A Jewish Hellenistic Reinterpretation of Early Israelite History through Sapiential Lenses
(pp. 124-125) The Catholic University of America, 2010
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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