Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah

Ibn Ezra on Genesis 28:12/אבן עזרא על בראשית כ״ח:י״ב

אודרך סלם להיות סמל, או על מספר מיני דרש הוא, וה"ר שלמה הספרדי אמר כי סלם רמז לנשמה העליונה, ומלאכי אלהים מחשבות החכמה, ויאמר ר"י כי טעם סולם שעלתה בו תפלתו, וירדה ישועתו מן השמים, ואלה המפרשים לא ראו נבואת זכריה ועמוס וירמיה, והטעם דרך משל, כי כל דבר לא יכחד מן השם, ודברי מטה תלוים בעליונים, וכאלו סלם ביניהן שיעלו המלאכים בו להודיע הדברים אחר שהתהלכו בארץ, ג"כ כתוב ומלאכים אחרים יורדים למלאות שליחות השם כדרך מלך עם משרתיו:

1[AND HE DREAMED, AND BEHOLD A LADDER SET UP ON THE EARTH.] Those who say that the ladder seen by Jacob refers to a statue,²³ (ladder) gives us semel (statue). According to the Midrash God showed Jacob the statue that Nebuchadnezzar would erect and the statue that King Manasseh would erect and place in the Temple. Cf. Bereshit Rabbah 68: 19-21. or that it refers to Sinai because it is numerically equivalent to it,²⁴ and Sinai are numerically equivalent to 130. According to this interpretation it was prophetically shown that Jacob’s descendants would receive the Torah at Sinai. Cf. Bereshit Rabbah 68:16. are indulging in Midrash. Rabbi Solomon ibn Gabirol, the Spaniard, says that Jacob’s “ladder” alludes to man’s heavenly soul,²⁵, p. 39. and that “the angels of God” signify thoughts of wisdom.²⁶ Rabbi Joshua²⁷. 38 does not have the title rabbi prefixed to Joshua. It appears that Vat. Ebr. 38 is correct, as it is highly unlikely that I.E. would call a Karaite scholar rabbi. The title rabbi was probably inserted by a scribe who was unaware that the reference is to a Karaite. Some of the editions omit Joshua’s interpretation in totto. explains the dream of the ladder to mean that Jacob’s prayers ascended the Heavens via the ladder and in response to his supplications salvation was sent down to him. These commentators have apparently not studied²⁸ the prophecies of Zechariah, Amos and Jeremiah.²⁹ The way to interpret Jacob’s dream is to view it as a parable. It teaches that nothing is hidden from God and that what happens below is contingent on the decree from above.³⁰ There is thus, as it were, a ladder linking heaven and earth by which angels ascend to inform God what they have seen on earth after going over it. Scripture also states that other angels come down to fulfill God’s commands. The imagery presented is that of a king and his servants.³¹