Texts in Conversation
In Genesis, God tells Abraham his descendants will be strangers and slaves in a foreign land and that God will judge the nation they serve. The Ladder of Jacob echoes this language for Jacob's descendants, in a passage that seems to refer to Rome.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 15:13
Hebrew Bible
12 When the sun went down, Abram fell sound asleep, and great terror overwhelmed him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign country. They will be enslaved and oppressed for 400 years. 14 But I will execute judgment on the nation that they will serve. Afterward they will come out with many possessions. 15 But as for you, you will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit.”
Ladder of Jacob 6:1
Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
1 And know, Jacob, that your seed shall be strangers in a strange land, and men will mistreat them with slavery and beat them daily; but the Lord will judge the people whom they serve. 2 When a king arises and fights, then there will be to that place (another reading: when the Most High gives his judgment to that place, he will lead out) then your seed, Israel, will go out of slavery to the Gentiles who ruled over them with violence, and will be set free from all the scorn of their enemies. 3 For this king is the head of every revenge and retribution of those who attack you, Israel, at the end of the age.
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Notes and References
“... The pericope ends with a quotation from Gen 15:13, referring to their slavery in Egypt, followed by a note of hope, “the Lord will judge the people for whom they slave” (Lad. Jac. 5:17). This seems to be a reference to Rome, and while this is quite obscure, the destruction and desolation of the temple seems clear. If it is a valid reading, and if it does refer to Rome’s descent, then the text attributes the fall of the temple to the sin and idolatry of Jacob’s descendants. It is their punishment by God through the agency of Rome. This will lead some to even greater idolatry. The text also limits the duration of the temple’s desertion until the fall of the Roman Empire. ...”
Church, Philip
Hebrews and the Temple: Attitudes to the Temple in Second Temple Judaism and in Hebrews
(p. 253) Brill, 2017
* 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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