Was Jacob's ladder really a tree?

[Eprom]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]I have a hunch that Jacob's ladder In Genesis 28:12 really should be translated as “tree”. The Hebrew term is “cullam” and only appears this one time in all of scripture, but it comes from the root word “calal” which means to lift up or exalt – once again not really very helpful, but the very reason the term has ever been translated as ladder. Within Jewish tradition, the Kabbalah associates Jacob's ladder with the sephiroth tree, so there is some existing president to interpreting this term “cullam” as “tree”.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Why is this reliant – it would continue the imagery of “The tree of Life” from Genesis 2 through scripture which would ultimately be fulfilled in the person of Christ - Isiah 11:1,2. It also would give us some idea what Jacob was doing when he was erecting the stone he used as a pillow into a pillar to commemorate the event. The term for pillar used in this passage is “matstsebah”, which can also be translated as “the stump of tree”. We know that the Greek temples reflected a kind of Eden, with the stone colonnades representing trees, and the center of the temple reserved for worshiping their deities being a kind of center of the garden as in Genesis where the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life resided. Tree worship was also pervasive in the land of Sumeria where Abraham came from, so the pillars Jacob was erecting would have been a symbol of the tree he saw in his vision.
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[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Any thought on the subject, or does anyone know of any other refferences that suggest that Jacob's ladder as a tree?[/FONT]

 

[dcyates]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]I have a hunch that Jacob's ladder In Genesis 28:12 really should be translated as “tree”. The Hebrew term is “cullam” and only appears this one time in all of scripture, but it comes from the root word “calal” which means to lift up or exalt – once again not really very helpful, but the very reason the term has ever been translated as ladder. Within Jewish tradition, the Kabbalah associates Jacob's ladder with the sephiroth tree, so there is some existing president to interpreting this term “cullam” as “tree”.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Why is this reliant – it would continue the imagery of “The tree of Life” from Genesis 2 through scripture which would ultimately be fulfilled in the person of Christ - Isiah 11:1,2. It also would give us some idea what Jacob was doing when he was erecting the stone he used as a pillow into a pillar to commemorate the event. The term for pillar used in this passage is “matstsebah”, which can also be translated as “the stump of tree”. We know that the Greek temples reflected a kind of Eden, with the stone colonnades representing trees, and the center of the temple reserved for worshiping their deities being a kind of center of the garden as in Genesis where the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life resided. Tree worship was also pervasive in the land of Sumeria where Abraham came from, so the pillars Jacob was erecting would have been a symbol of the tree he saw in his vision.
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[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Any thought on the subject, or does anyone know of any other refferences that suggest that Jacob's ladder as a tree?[/FONT]

I'm not aware of any scholarly instances where it's speculated that Jacob's 'ladder' refers to a tree. Rather, most seem to prefer seeing in the Hebrew term 'sullam' either a derivation from the stem 's-l-l', "to cast up a mound," or a relationship to the Akkadian 'simmiltu', "steps." Either way, it most likely is meant to point toward the ramp or terraced steps of a Mesopotamian ziggurat or Egyptian pyramid. In the ancient world, mountains were regarded as the abodes of the gods. But in relatively mountainless Mesopotamia and Egypt they constructed artificial mountains in the form of ziggurats and pyramids (respectively) upon which their particular gods may reside, or through which we mortals may gain access (respectively).

Presumably, one of the purposes of this story is to communicate how Jacob does not need to consecrate a particular piece of land and on it construct a means of access to YHWH, but rather YHWH himself establishes the lines of communication and wherever he may be is thereby holy already. And, since he is everywhere...

 

[justified]

Either way, it most likely is meant to point toward the ramp or terraced steps of a Mesopotamian ziggurat or Egyptian pyramid. In the ancient world, mountains were regarded as the abodes of the gods. But in relatively mountainless Mesopotamia and Egypt they constructed artificial mountains in the form of ziggurats and pyramids (respectively) upon which their particular gods may reside, or through which we mortals may gain access (respectively).

Actually, according to Lambert, very few Akkadian sources refer to the gods as living on mountains. That seems to a more west-semitic thing. But what DOES happen often is that gods are _compared_ to mountains (Akk. shadum; Heb. shad).

Egyptian pyramids were originally just a way to keep people's earthly good safeand with them in the after life (but putting them in the most obvious feature of the landscape). Ziqqurats may have been originally a weather-forcasting dealio.

As far as the emendation, you're probably correct. The hapax of the other word is a little to hapax

 

[Eprom]

I’m not affording any credibility to the Kabbalah, I’m simply using it as an ancient resource to explore the etymology of this term sûllâm, or cullam as Strongs spells it. The idea that this term refers to a stairway ascending a Mesopotamian ziggurat or tower comes from the Akkadian term 'simmiltu', which means "steps.", and is phonetically some-what similar to this term cullam . . . but this the end of the Akkadian empire predated Jacob by 300 years, and Moses by more than 600 years. If you believe in Moses’ authorship of the book of Genesis, you would think that the term would derive its etymology from the land of Cana, or Egypt, and not Akkadia. The term cullam is actually phonetically far closer tied to the Canaanite word "Ela" - to be strong, as used in the word for oak “Elon”, or palm "Elim". Seeing that the Hebrew language owes it’s origin to the Canaanite language, this translation for cullam seems to be reasonably argued.


The point that the “gateway to heaven” appears at the top of the cullam only adds to the credibility that this term should be rendered “Tree”. Look at the Phoenician worship of Asherah Poles, how the Canaanites worship their deities in “High Places” in Cedar trees, and within Hebrew tradition, the celestial tree in the book of Enoch – all gateways to the heavenly realm!!!

 

[justified]

The idea that this term refers to a stairway ascending a Mesopotamian ziggurat or tower comes from the Akkadian term 'simmiltu', which means "steps.", and is phonetically some-what similar to this term cullam . . .

It is actually extremely phonetically similar to the term.

The word you have been referring to in Genesis 28 is סלם, the vowel under the first letter not being a plenary writing of "u" -- therefore it should have a macron, not a circumflex. The same goes for the "a" vowel. But props to you for at least putting length on it. I take it that you have at least a working knowledge of Hebrew!

The Akk. word you mentioned, simmiltum is used of a few different things, but I want to especially refer to the Assyrian usage of a "mountain ascent" and also of the phrase simmilti shamami, "ladders to heaven." (Black, George & Postgate, Concise Dictionary of Akkadian 2nd corr. ed., p.323). It can also be used of "siege ladders" (s. duri) which is probably where the "ladder" meaning got started.

but this the end of the Akkadian empire predated Jacob by 300 years, and Moses by more than 600 years. If you believe in Moses’ authorship of the book of Genesis, you would think that the term would derive its etymology from the land of Cana, or Egypt, and not Akkadia.

The Akkadian language was still being written in AD! It was the lingua franca all the way through the Kassite Dynasty, and all the Assyrian Annals are written in Akkadian, as well as the great treaties and the Amarna texts from the end of the Late Bronze Age. There are innumerable similarities between Canaanite/Ugaritic and Akkadian -- they're all Semitic. The time difference between the end of the Amorite rulership in Mesopotamia should not throw you.

Whenever you ahve a question about a word, the first place you should go is Brown-Driver-Brigg's Hebrew and English Lexicon. Unfortunately, the most recent update of the lexicon never updated this field with the Akkadian || I just showed.

The term cullam is actually phonetically far closer tied to the Canaanite word "Ela" - to be strong, as used in the word for oak “Elon”, or palm "Elim". Seeing that the Hebrew language owes it’s origin to the Canaanite language, this translation for cullam seems to be reasonably argued.

This involves the loss of a gutteral and the addition of a sibilant -- neither of these could have happened philologically.

point that the “gateway to heaven” appears at the top of the cullam only adds to the credibility that this term should be rendered “Tree”. Look at the Phoenician worship of Asherah Poles, how the Canaanites worship their deities in “High Places” in Cedar trees, and within Hebrew tradition, the celestial tree in the book of Enoch – all gateways to the heavenly realm!!!

I get the impression that you have pieced together very fragmentary knowledge on the situation in Canaan. A few notes:
1. The worship of "asherah poles" is not known outside of scripture, and then mainly by the Hebrews in scripture. Further, calling them "poles" is not in the Hebrew, but rather an extrapulation the NIV made, which was probably not called for. All you have in the text is "Asherah," "Asheroth," or "Asherim."
2. The high places is common for all these religions; hence putting the shrines at the top of ziqqurats.
3. Where in Enoch is your gatewaytree?? I recall from the Ethiopian version that Enoch gets translated, not climbs a tree. But there was a tree in heaven, but it was the tree of life, and not a gateway to heaven: it was already there.

 

[Eprom]

Egyptian pyramids were originally just a way to keep people's earthly good safeand with them in the after life (but putting them in the most obvious feature of the landscape).

Actually, many of the pyramids incorporated the Djed pillar within the substructure of their architecture. In doing this, the Ancient Egyptians believed that the pyramid itself functioned as a part of the mystical apparatus necessary to secure the kings afterlife. Here within the Pyramids, the Djed pillar was thought to unite the bodies of the dead Pharos, together with the body of Osiris and therefore employing this god’s resurrection power.

Here's an interesting article that explains this and ties it together with the term "sullam"
http://www.faith-friends.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=53&Itemid=1

 

[LamorakDesGalis]

Any thought on the subject, or does anyone know of any other refferences that suggest that Jacob's ladder as a tree?

No, I haven't seen any Scripture support for the idea that it was a tree. The writer of Genesis could easily have used the word he normally used for tree, 'es. According to the NET notes, stairway or ramp is what the Hebrew word cullam is associated with. Also the English Bible versions I've seen interpret it as either "ladder" or "stairway" - not tree.

Also I don't think the context supports the idea of a tree. In the Hebrew, Jacob's attention went quickly from the stairway/ladder to the angels and then to the LORD himself. And then the LORD began speaking of the Abrahamic covenant promise to Jacob. The stairway/ladder isn't mentioned again...

Lamorak Des Galis