Two weeks of reading the Bible have now ended. I have really appreciated the notes that are included in Reading God's Story, framing each scene and wrapping things up at the end of each week. However, you may find yourself asking questions about the historical or cultural background of something in the text, and this Bible isn't going to supply those kind of answers. To supplement my reading, I've kept my NIV Study Bible by my side and turned to its notes when I had a question about something. For instance, today when reading about Jacob's dream, I was wondering about the "ladder" that he saw. The study notes told me that what Jacob saw was not a ladder with rungs but a stairway, the kind you have probably seen in pictures of the ziggurats, the pagan temples of the Ancient Near East. In the time of the patriarchs, ziggurats were seen as the link between heaven and earth and were given names like "The House of the Link Between Heaven and Earth" or "The House of the Foundation-Platform of Heaven and Earth." That's quite a different image from the ladder I've usually pictured. It says in Genesis that Jacob saw "a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it." Learning about cultural background like this doesn't make what God does here any less special; hopefully it enriches our understanding of the text and the time in which Jacob lived. This becomes a major milestone for Jacob; in the previous chapter Isaac transfers his covenant status to Jacob by blessing him, but here God himself confirms that he will continue his covenant with Isaac with this second born son Jacob. It's important to note the link here between covenant and blessing - that will continue throughout the story and will take on greater meaning as we begin to read about the people of Israel and the covenant God makes with them at Sinai.
Also, I have noticed that the Holman Christian Standard version (the version in RGS) does not include footnotes about the meaning of people's names in the way that the NIV does. In Genesis (and elsewhere in the Bible) each person's name has significance about their identity or origin. For instance, Jacob means "grasper of the heel" or "deceiver," which is helpful to know as we see Jacob persuade his brother out of his birthright and trick his father into giving him the blessing of the firstborn. It also highlights the irony of Jacob being tricked by Laban into marrying Leah first before Rachel. Again, having another resource at hand can be helpful. On the other hand, if you're trying to read through the Bible in a year along with me, there may be things that you decide to leave for now and return to in greater detail once the year is over.
If you're following along with me, you've now read 40 pages of the Bible. How is it going? What has been surprising for you? Do you have a different study Bible that you would suggest? I invite your comments.
Yesterday in evening prayer I read John 1:51 (which is also a reading for this Sunday): "And he said to him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.'"
ReplyDeleteIs this a reference to Jacob's story? What do you think the ladder/stairway represents? Jacob called it "the gate of heaven" but what does the ascending and descending mean?
...I read recently that ladders were the ancient classical symbol of unity and integration -- uniting earth and heaven, standing firmly on the ground and offering access to God. Something along those lines?
ReplyDelete