THE FACE AS THE HEAVENLY COUNTERPART OF THE VISIONARY IN THE SLAVONIC LADDER OF JACOB

Abstract

The study investigates the imagery of the heavenly counterpart of the visionary found in the Slavonic Ladder of Jacob . The text describes Jacob's dream in which the patriarch sees the celestial «Face» as the fiery anthropomorphic extent, which serves as the embodiment of the Deity. This fiery extent, labeled in some biblical and intertestamental texts as the «Face», is related to the glorious celestial entity known in theophanic traditions as God's Kavod. It appears that in the Ladder of Jacob the fiery Face not only embodies God's Glory but also seems to represent the heavenly counterpart of Jacob. The bust of fire, labeled in the Ladder as the Face, can be associated with the heavenly «image» of Jacob engraved on the Throne of Glory. The traditions about the heavenly «image» of Jacob found in the Slavonic Ladder of Jacob demonstrate some similarities to the traditions found in several targumic texts which entertain the idea of the heavenly twin of Jacob.

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