Bible Verses and Early Church Commentary | Historical Christian Faith

[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on Genesis 28:2

When the lesson was read just now, dearly beloved, we heard that in reply to holy Rebekah’s plea Isaac called his son Jacob and told him to proceed to Mesopotamia of Syria and take a wife from there. Jacob departed in humble obedience to his father and on the way came to a certain place where he put a stone under his head and went to sleep. In his slumber he saw a ladder extending to heaven with angels of God ascending and descending on it, while the Lord leaned on the ladder and said to him, “Jacob, Jacob, do not be afraid, I am with you, and I will be the companion of your journey.” Now when blessed Isaac directed his son to Mesopotamia, dearly beloved, Isaac represented a type of God the Father, while Jacob signified Christ the Lord. Disregarding the women of the region in which he lived, blessed Isaac sent his son into a distant country to take a wife, because God the Father would reject the synagogue of Jews and send his only-begotten Son to form a church out of the Gentiles. This was fulfilled in truth when the apostles said to the Jews, “It was necessary that the Word of God should be spoken to you first, but since you judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we now turn to the Gentiles.”

Source: SERMON 87.1

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Genesis 28:4

See how this good man foretells everything to him and gives Jacob sufficient support for his comfort by forecasting to him his return and possession of the land and the fact that not only will he grow into a multitude but also that a league of nations will come from his descendants. On hearing this the young man carried out his father’s wishes and traveled to Meso-potamia to his mother’s brother, Laban.… Do you see, dearly beloved, how much perspicacity this loving mother showed in rescuing Jacob from danger by supplying a plausible excuse for his journey, neither highlighting Esau’s wickedness nor revealing the reason to the father but giving appropriate advice to her son so that he might be persuaded through fear to accept what was said by her and propose a convincing plan to his father? Hence the good man went along with what she said and sent Jacob on his way after plying him with his blessings.

Source: HOMILIES ON GENESIS 54.14-15

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Genesis 28:11

When the sun was setting, the text tells us, he slept where the night came upon him: “He took a stone and put it under his head.” See the young fellow’s hardy spirit: He used the stone as a pillow and slept on the ground. Consequently, since he was imbued with common sense and a hardy attitude and was free of all human pretence, he was found worthy of that remarkable vision. Our Lord is like that, you see: When he sees a dutiful soul that makes no account of present realities, he demonstrates his own great care for him.

Source: HOMILIES ON GENESIS 54.17

[AD 420] Jerome on Genesis 28:11

Consider our ascetic [Jacob]: he was running away from a very cruel man; he was fleeing his brother, and he found help in stone. That stone is Christ. That stone is the support of all those who suffer persecution, but to the unbelieving Jew, it is “a stone of stumbling, and a rock of scandal.” “Jacob saw there a ladder set up on the ground with its top reaching to heaven, and in heaven the Lord leaning upon it. And he saw angels ascending and descending.” Note: he saw angels ascending; he saw Paul ascending; he saw angels descending; Judas, the betrayer, was falling headlong. He saw angels ascending—holy men going from earth to heaven; he saw angels descending—the devil and his whole army cast down from heaven. It is very difficult indeed to ascend from earth into heaven. We fall more easily than we rise. We fall easily; it requires great labor, a great deal of sweat to climb upwards. If I am on the lowest step, how many more are there before I reach heaven? If I am on the second, the third, the fourth, the tenth, what benefit to me unless I reach the top? Grant with me that this ladder has fifteen rungs. I climb as high as the fourteenth, but unless I reach and hold the fifteenth, what profit to me to have mounted the fourteenth? If I should arrive at the fifteenth and then fall, the higher my ascent, the greater my fall.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 41

[AD 420] Jerome on Genesis 28:11

When Jacob was in flight from his brother, in Mesopotamia he came to Luza, and there to rest, Scripture says, he placed a stone under his head. The stone under his head was Christ. Never before had he put a stone under his head; only at the time when he was escaping from his persecutor. When he was in his father’s house, and as long as he was in his father’s house and enjoyed the comforts of the flesh, he had no stone at his head. He departed from his home, poor and alone; he left with only a staff, and immediately that very night he found a stone and placed it at his head. Because he had a pillow of that kind upon which to rest his head, think of the vision he saw. “He dreamed that a ladder was set up on the ground with its top reaching to heaven; angels were ascending and descending on it.” He saw angels descend from heaven to earth and others ascend from earth to heaven. Would you know that the stone at Jacob’s head was Christ, the cornerstone? “The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” That is the stone that is called Ebenezer in the Book of Samuel. That stone is Christ. The name Ebenezer, moreover, means “the Stone of Help.” “Jacob woke from his sleep,” Scripture says, and what did he say? “This is the house of God.” What did he do? “He poured oil over the stone.” Unless we penetrate the spiritual mystery of holy Scripture, what reason is there that he should anoint the stone?

Source: HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 46

[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on Genesis 28:11

We do not read of blessed Jacob that he departed with horses or asses or camels, but we read only that he carried a staff in his hand. Thus, indeed, when entreating the Lord he said, “Lord, I am not worthy of all your kindnesses. With only my staff I crossed this Jordan; behold, now I have grown into two camps.” Jacob displayed his staff to take a wife, but Christ bore the wood of the cross to redeem the church. In his sleep Jacob put a stone under his head and saw a ladder extending to heaven, while the Lord leaned upon the ladder. Consider, brothers, how many mysteries there are in this place. Jacob represented a type of the Lord our Savior; the stone that he put under his head no less prefigured Christ the Lord. Listen to the apostle telling why the stone at the head signifies Christ: “The head of man is Christ.” Finally, notice that blessed Jacob anointed the stone. Pay attention to the anointing, and you will recognize Christ: Christ is explained from an anointing, that is, from the grace of anointing.

Source: SERMON 87.2

[AD 345] Aphrahat the Persian Sage on Genesis 28:12

Our father Jacob too prayed at Bethel and saw the gate of heaven opened, with a ladder going up on high. This is a symbol of our Savior that Jacob saw; the gate of heaven is Christ, in accordance with what he said, “I am the gate of life; every one who enters by me shall live for ever.” David too said, “This is the gate of the Lord, by which the righteous enter.” Again, the ladder that Jacob saw is a symbol of our Savior, in that by means of him the just ascend from the lower to the upper realm. The ladder is also a symbol of our Savior’s cross, which was raised up like a ladder, with the Lord standing above it.

Source: ON PRAYER 5

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Genesis 28:12

Jacob set out and slept—evidence of tranquility of spirit—and saw angels of God ascending and descending. This means he foresaw Christ on earth; the band of angels was descending to Christ and ascending to him, so as to render service to their rightful master in loving servitude.

Source: JACOB AND THE HAPPY LIFE 2.4.16

[AD 406] Chromatius of Aquileia on Genesis 28:12

Through the resurrection of Christ the way was opened. Therefore with good reason the patriarch Jacob relates that he had seen in that place a ladder whose end reached heaven and that the Lord leaned on it. The ladder fixed to the ground and reaching heaven is the cross of Christ, through which the access to heaven is granted to us, because it actually leads us to heaven. On this ladder different steps of virtue are set, through which we rise toward heaven: faith, justice, chastity, holiness, patience, piety and all the other virtues are the steps of this ladder. If we faithfully climb them, we will undoubtedly reach heaven. And therefore we know well that the ladder is the symbol of the cross of Christ. As, in fact, the steps are set between two uprights, so the cross of Christ is placed between the two Testaments and keeps in itself the steps of the heavenly precepts, through which we climb to heaven.

Source: SERMON 1.6

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Genesis 28:12

But what did he see that time on the ladder? Angels ascending and descending. So also is the church, brothers; the angels of God, good preachers, preaching Christ; that is, they ascend and descend upon the Son of man. How do they ascend, and how do they descend? From one we have an example. Hear the apostle Paul; what we find in him, let us believe also about the rest of the preachers of truth. See Paul ascending: “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago (whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows) was caught up to the third heaven, and heard unutterable words which it is not granted to man to speak.” You heard him ascending; hear him descending: “I could not speak to you as spiritual men but only as carnal, as to little ones in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food.” Look, he who had ascended descended. Seek where he had ascended: “Up to the third heaven.” Seek where he had descended: “I became a little one,” he says, “in your midst, as if a nurse were fondling her own children.”

Source: TRACTATE ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 7.23.3-4

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on Genesis 28:12

This is, I believe, the stairway, the running to and fro of the holy spirits, who “are sent forth to minister for those who shall be the heirs of salvation.” Christ is firmly placed on top of the stairway for those holy spirits who can reach him, who have him as their overseer, not as someone who exists among them but as God and Lord. In another passage David says to all people who want to live in the protection of the Most High: “He shall give his angels charge concerning you to keep you in all your ways. They shall bear you up on their hands, lest at any time you dash your foot against a stone. You shall tread on the asp and the basilisk, and shall trample on the lion and the dragon.” We trod on serpents and scorpions and on every power of the enemy, thanks to the power given to us by Christ. Those who are in Christ are also worthy of the divine look, so that he may promise them that he will be by them and help them, and will save them everywhere and will declare them fruitful. “I am with you always, even to the end of the world.” The fact that the blessed disciples were enriched and made the fathers of innumerable nations by their faith in Christ, and as by a spiritual generation, is manifest to everybody. Paul himself said clearly to those who believed through him: “Though you have one thousand teachers in Christ, yet you have not many fathers: For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.” Therefore their seed was made as numerous as the grains of sand and was spread to the east and the west, to the left and the right, to the south and the north.

Source: GLAPHYRA ON GENESIS, 3.4

[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on Genesis 28:12

Now if Jacob sleeping on the ground prefigured the Lord, why is it that the Lord in heaven rested and leaned upon the ladder? How was Christ the Lord seen on top of the ladder in heaven and in blessed Jacob on the ground? Listen to Christ himself say that he is in heaven and on earth: “No one has ascended into heaven except him who has descended from heaven: the Son of Man who is in heaven.” Notice that the Lord himself said he is both in heaven and on earth. We confess, dearly beloved, that Christ the Lord is head of the church; if this is true, he is in heaven with regard to the head but on earth as far as the body is concerned. Moreover, when the blessed apostle Paul was persecuting the church, Christ exclaimed from heaven: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” He did not say, “Why do you persecute my servants?” Nor did he say, “Why do you persecute my members?” But he said, “Why do you persecute me?” Now the tongue cries out if the foot is stepped on, You stepped on me, even though the tongue cannot be stepped on at all; through the harmony of charity the head cries out for all the members. Therefore Jacob was sleeping and saw the Lord leaning on the top of the ladder. What does it mean to lean on the ladder, except to hang on the cross? Consider, brothers, that while hanging upon the wood of the cross he prayed for the Jews, and you will realize who shouted from heaven while leaning on the ladder of Jacob. But why did this happen on the road, before Jacob obtained a wife? Because our Lord, the true Jacob, first leaned on the ladder, that is, the cross, and afterward formed a church for himself. At the time he gave it the wages of his blood, intending to give it later the dowry of his kingdom.

Source: SERMON 87.3

[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on Genesis 28:12

Listen and see the sublimity of the fact that Jacob asleep and the Lord leaning on the ladder prefigured Christ. Indeed, when our Savior in speaking of Nathanael had named blessed Jacob, he said, “Behold, an Israelite in whom there is no guile.” Continuing, he said, “Presently you shall see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.” In the Gospels our Lord preached concerning himself what Jacob had seen prefigured in his sleep: “You shall see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.” If the angels of God were descending to the Son because he was on earth, how is it that those same angels were ascending to the Son of man except because he is in heaven? Therefore he himself was sleeping in Jacob, and from heaven he likewise called to Jacob.

Source: SERMON 87.4

[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on Genesis 28:12

“All these things,” as the apostle proclaims, brothers, “happened to them as a type, and they were written for us upon whom the final age of the world has come.” Carefully notice, brothers, how the angels of God ascend to the Son of man in heaven and descend to the same Son on earth. When God’s preachers announce deep and profound truths from sacred Scripture, which are understood only by devout men, they ascend to the Son of man; when they preach matters pertaining to the correction of morals, which all the people can understand, they descend to the son of man. Thus the apostle says, “Wisdom we speak among those who are mature, yet not a wisdom of this world nor of the rulers of this world, but a secret, hidden wisdom which God foreordained before the world to our glory.” When the apostle said these words doubtless he was ascending to the Son of man. However, when he said, “Flee immorality”; when he said, “do not be drunk with wine, for in that is debauchery”;38 when he declared, “covetousness is the root of all evils,” in these words he descended like the angel of God to the Son of man. When he further said, “Mind the things that are above, not the things that are on earth,” he was ascending. However, when he taught, “Be sober, and do not sin,” and preached the other truths that pertain to the correction of morals, he was descending; ministering the milk of doctrine like a nurse to children, he spoke words that even the ignorant could grasp. In this manner, then, there is ascending and descending to the Son of man, since solid food is offered to the perfect while the milk of doctrine is not denied even to the young. Blessed John also was ascending when he said, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God; and the Word was God;” by these words he ascended on high sufficiently. However, since God’s angels not only ascend but also descend, bending down he says to the little ones, “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.”

Source: SERMON 87.5

[AD 735] Bede on Genesis 28:12

Now when Jacob, wishing to rest in a certain place, put a stone under his head, he saw in his sleep a ladder standing upon the earth with its top touching heaven. [He saw] also angels of God ascending and descending on it and the Lord resting on the ladder saying to him, “I am the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac.” And rising in the morning and rendering praise to the Lord with due trepidation, he took the stone and set it up as a mark, pouring oil on it.The Lord made mention of this place and most clearly bore witness in a figurative way concerning himself and his faithful ones. The ladder which he saw is the church, which has its birth from the earth but its “way of life in heaven,” And by it angels ascend and descend, when evangelists announce at one time to perfect hearers the preeminent hidden mysteries of [Christ’s] divinity and at another time announce to those still untaught the weaknesses of his humanity. Or they ascend when [in their teaching] they pass to heavenly things to be contemplated by the mind, and they descend when they educate their listeners as to how they ought to live on earth.

Source: Homilies on the Gospels 1.17

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Genesis 28:13

Notice here, I ask you, the extraordinary care of the loving God. When he saw [Jacob] consenting to the journey in accordance with his mother’s advice, which came out of fear of his brother, and taking to the road like some athlete, with no support from any source, leaving everything instead to help from on high, Christ wanted at the very beginning of the journey to strengthen Jacob’s resolve. And so he appeared to him with the words “I am the God of Abraham and the God of your father Isaac.” I have caused the patriarch and your father to experience a great increase in prosperity; so, far from being afraid, believe that I am he who fulfilled my promises and will shower on you my care.

Source: HOMILIES ON GENESIS 54.18

[AD 50] Galatians on Genesis 28:14

O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain. He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. [Genesis 28:14] So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

[AD 62] Acts on Genesis 28:14

And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers. But those things, which God before had showed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days. Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. [Genesis 28:14] Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.

[AD 345] Aphrahat the Persian Sage on Genesis 28:18

Now Jacob called that place Bethel; and Jacob raised up there a pillar of stone as a testimony, and he poured oil over it. Our father Jacob did this too in symbol, anticipating that stones would receive anointing, for the peoples who have believed in Christ are the stones that are anointed, just as John says of them: “From these stones God is able to raise up children for Abraham.” For in Jacob’s prayer the calling of the nations was symbolized.

Source: ON PRAYER 5

[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on Genesis 28:18

As for the oil that Jacob poured upon the pillar, he either had it with him or he had brought it out of the village. In the oil that he poured upon the stone, he was depicting the mystery of Christ who was hidden inside it.

Source: COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 26:2

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Genesis 28:18

Since he had been granted wonderful favors by way of the vision, [Jacob] wished to make the place memorable by a name and to keep the memory fresh for future ages. He set up the stone as a monument, poured oil on it (this, after all, was probably all he had with him, traveling as he was like this), and to the loving God he offered a prayer characterized by complete good sense.

Source: HOMILIES ON GENESIS 54.23

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Genesis 28:18

In a dream Jacob saw a ladder, and on this ladder he saw angels ascending and descending; and he anointed the stone that he had placed at his head. You have heard that the Messiah is the Christ; you have heard that the Christ is the Anointed. For he did not place the anointed stone so that he might come and adore it; otherwise it would be idolatry and not a representation of Christ. Therefore a representation was made, so far as a representation needed to be made, and Christ was represented. The stone was anointed. Why a stone? “Behold, I lay in Zion a chosen stone, precious; and he who believes in it shall not be confounded.” Why anointed? Because [the name] “Christ” [is derived] from [the word] chrisma.

Source: TRACTATE ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 7.23.2

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on Genesis 28:18

On the other hand the stone also had been erected and honored as a symbol of Christ and had been sprinkled with oil. The Immanuel was anointed by God the Father “with the oil of gladness above his fellows.” Then he was raised from the dead, even though he had descended to death voluntarily. And that is, I believe, the meaning of erecting the stone.

Source: GLAPHYRA ON Genesis, 4.4

[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on Genesis 28:18

In order that what we have mentioned above may adhere more firmly to your pious hearts, we will briefly repeat what was said. Blessed Isaac, as we said, sending his son away was a type of God the Father; Jacob who was sent signified Christ our Lord. The stone that he had at his head and anointed with oil also represented the Lord our Savior. The ladder touching heaven prefigured the cross; the Lord leaning on the ladder is shown to be Christ fastened to the cross. The angels ascending and descending on it are understood to be the apostles, apostolic men and all doctors of the church. They ascend by preaching perfect truths to the just; they descend by telling the young and ignorant what they can understand. For our part, brothers, we who see fulfilled in the New Testament all the truths which were prefigured in the Old should thank God as well as we can because he has deigned to give us such great gifts without any preceding merits on our part. With his help let us labor with all our strength so that these great benefits may not bring us judgment but progress. Rather, let us be zealous to live spiritually and always to engage in good works in such a way that when the day of judgment finds us chaste, sober, merciful and pious, we may not be punished with wicked sinners. But with the just and all who fear God we will merit to arrive at eternal bliss: with the help of our Lord who together with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns world without end. Amen.

Source: SERMON 87.6

[AD 735] Bede on Genesis 28:18

The stone under Jacob’s head is the Lord, upon whom we ought to support ourselves with all our concentration, the more so insofar as it is surely clear to us that without him we can do nothing.Jacob anointed the stone and set it up as a mark, because a true Israelite understands that our Redeemer was anointed by the Father with the oil of gladness above his fellows. From this ointment (that is, chrism) Christ received his name, and the mystery of his incarnation is the mark of our redemption. It is good that when the stone was anointed on the earth and raised up as a mark, the Lord was revealed in heaven, for undoubtedly he appeared in time as a man among men while he remained eternal with God the Father. When death was overcome “he ascended over the heaven of heavens to the east,” remaining with us as a mark of our salvation “for all days, up to the consummation of the world.” He who transferred the body he had assumed from earth to heaven was the One who filled earth, and heaven as well, with the presence of deity.

Source: Homilies on the Gospels 1.17

[AD 420] Jerome on Genesis 28:19

(Chapter 28, verse 19) And he called the name of that place Bethel, but previously its name was Luz. From what he had said above: How awesome is this place, it is nothing but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven: now he gives the place a name, and he calls it Bethel, which means the house of God. The place was previously called Luz, which means nut or almond. Therefore, some foolishly think that the Hebrew word Ulam is the name of a city, when Ulam actually means previously. Therefore, the order of the reading is as follows: And he called the name of that place Bethel, and before it was called Luz, a city. All the ancient scriptures are full of the word 'ulam', or 'Elam', which signifies nothing else but before, or previously, or threshold, or gateposts.

Source: Hebrew Questions on Genesis

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Genesis 28:22

See the good man’s gratitude: In making his request Jacob did not bring himself to ask for anything lavish—just bread and clothing. On the other hand, he promised to the Lord what lay within his power, realizing God’s generosity in giving and the fact that he surpasses our expectations in rewarding us. And so he said, “I will consider the monument God’s house, and of all the things provided me by you I will set aside a tenth.” Do you see his godly attitude? He still had not received anything, and yet he promised to devote to God a tenth of what was due to be given him.Let us not pass idly by these words, dearly beloved. Instead, may we all imitate this good man, we in the age of grace imitating this man who lived before the law, and let us ask the Lord for nothing of this world. After all, he does not wait for a reminder from us. Even if we don’t ask, he grants us what we need. “He makes the sun rise on evil people and good, and rains on just and unjust.” Let us believe him as he advises us in these words, “Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will come to you in addition.” Do you see that he personally has made the former things ready for us and promises to give the latter as a bonus? Accordingly, don’t request as an initial favor what you are likely to receive as a bonus, thus reversing the due order. Instead, let us seek the former things, as he directed, so that we may come to enjoy the former and the latter.

Source: HOMILIES ON GENESIS 54.25-26