Both are given to James in the words of the Lord vv. 13-14, and here is given the supreme promise of blessing in the descendants of God's chosen patriarchs; however, "Jacob does not reveal the whole future of the people of Israel, as Abraham (15:13[844]), a man of strong spirit..." (G. K. Vlastov, Sacred Chronicle, St. Petersburg, 1878, 1, 253).

The character of the whole vision of Jacob corresponds to the circle of views in which the future patriarch of the people of God lived and moved. In the whole picture of the vision there are 3 elements (externally distinguished through the threefold "behold," Hebrew hinneh).

1) The ladder from earth to heaven as an expression of the close connection between earth and heaven: it is a comforting truth for man that he is not left on earth to the world powers alone, but has access to heaven and help from there!

It is plausible that Gunkel (p. 289) reported that the idea of a celestial ladder was widespread in the ancient East, especially in Egypt (Gator's ladder, by which the souls of the dead ascend to heaven); but the assertion of the said scholar that the vision of the ladder has no connection with the rest of the story of Jacob is false. The connection, on the contrary, is very close.

2) Angels ascend and descend the ladder, i.e. offer supplications, thoughts, cares, etc. man to God, on the other hand, they bring down upon man various kinds of God's mercy.

The Talmud and the Midrash (Beresch. 333) understand "ascent" and "descent" in the sense that the angels who accompanied Jacob during his journey through Canaan ascended to heaven, and the other angels who had accompanied Jacob to Chaldea descended from heaven to earth; some support for this interpretation is what is mentioned in Gen. 32:1-2[845] a reinforced militia ("mahanaim") of angels. Art. 12 is recognized as a classic testimony of the Old Testament faith in the existence and activity of angels as intermediaries between God and people (cf. John 1:51).

(3) But this intermediary of angels does not exclude God's direct action on His elect: Jehovah as the God of the covenant or the Angel of Jehovah.

16. Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Truly the Lord is present in this place; And I didn't know!

Expressing his deep impression of the miraculous vision, James expresses that until then he had not thought that God would manifest His presence not only in places sanctified by sacrifices, but also in places inhabited by pagans. It is possible, however, to see here an expression of an imperfect faith in the omnipresence of God (as St. Cyril of Alexandria understands James's exclamation).

17. And he was afraid, and said, "How terrible is this place! it is none other than the house of God, it is the gates of heaven.

This idea, however, is needlessly exaggerated when it is asserted (Gunkel) that the sanctity of a place is understood here exclusively objectively, i.e. it is confined exclusively to the place itself. It is known that God also sometimes pointed to the special holiness of this or that place (Exodus 3:5; 846] Joshua. 5:15[847]), but in all cases holiness was recognized by people who were worthy to receive revelation from above, namely, it was reflected in the hearts of people by a feeling of mortal fear and deep reverence (e.g., Hagar, Gen. 16:13; Moses, Exodus 3:6, etc.). "The house of God" (beth Elohim = beth El, v. 19) and "the gates of heaven" (schaar hasehamaim) – terms that later became common names for the temple – are borrowed by the patriarch from the content of the vision and adopted by him in the place of the vision of kah by prophetic foresight of the future sanctuary of God (since the division of the Jewish kingdom, Bethel was one of the two temples of the ten-tribe kingdom, 1 Kings 12:29[848]).

18-22. Jacob's vow.

18. And Jacob got up early in the morning and took the stone that he had laid for his head, and set it up as a monument, and poured oil on the top of it.

Under the impression of the vision, Jacob, first, places the stone that served as his head, a monument (mazzebah) and pours oil on it. The custom of erecting pillars and similar structures as memorials of certain events is very common in the ancient and modern East. In the Bible, except for the story of James (28:18;[ 849] 31:45; [850] 35:14[851]), the setting of stones with this purpose is mentioned in the story of Joshua (Joshua 4:9;[ 852] 24:26[853]), the prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 7:12[854]), etc. In the same way, the custom of dedicating stones to the deity was known in the East, for example, among the Phoenicians, and in the classical world. Oil, as an indispensable accessory of travel in hot countries, as a means of nourishment and nourishment, was naturally at hand with the traveler James: "it is probable that he carried only one oil with him while on the way" (John Chrysostom, p. 585). Thus, "what he had with him, he also rewarded the Lord, who was very gifted" (Blessed Theod., answer to question 85).