Genesis 28:12

28:12 and had a dream. ¹  He saw ²  a stairway ³  erected on the earth with its top reaching to the heavens. The angels of God were going up and coming down it

Genesis 37:25

37:25 When they sat down to eat their food, they looked up ⁴  and saw ⁵  a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh down to Egypt. ⁶ 

Genesis 41:35

41:35 They should gather all the excess food ⁷  during these good years that are coming. By Pharaoh’s authority ⁸  they should store up grain so the cities will have food, ⁹  and they should preserve it. ¹⁰ 

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¹ tn Heb “and dreamed.”

² tn Heb “and look.” The scene which Jacob witnessed is described in three clauses introduced with הִנֵּה (hinneh). In this way the narrator invites the reader to witness the scene through Jacob’s eyes. J. P. Fokkelman points out that the particle goes with a lifted arm and an open mouth: “There, a ladder! Oh, angels! and look, the Lord himself” (Narrative Art in Genesis [SSN], 51-52).

³ tn The Hebrew noun סֻלָּם (sullam, “ladder, stairway”) occurs only here in the OT, but there appears to be an Akkadian cognate simmiltu (with metathesis of the second and third consonants and a feminine ending) which has a specialized meaning of “stairway, ramp.” See H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena (SBLDS), 34. For further discussion see C. Houtman, “What Did Jacob See in His Dream at Bethel? Some Remarks on Genesis 28:10-22,” VT 27 (1977): 337-52; J. G. Griffiths, “The Celestial Ladder and the Gate of Heaven,” ExpTim 76 (1964/65): 229-30; and A. R. Millard, “The Celestial Ladder and the Gate of Heaven,” ExpTim 78 (1966/67): 86-87.

⁴ tn Heb “lifted up their eyes.”

⁵ tn Heb “and they saw and look.” By the use of וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh, “and look”), the narrator invites the reader to see the event through the eyes of the brothers.

⁶ tn Heb “and their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh, going to go down to Egypt.”

⁷ tn Heb “all the food.”

⁸ tn Heb “under the hand of Pharaoh.”

⁹ tn Heb “[for] food in the cities.” The noun translated “food” is an adverbial accusative in the sentence.

¹⁰ tn The perfect with vav (ו) consecutive carries the same force as the sequence of jussives before it.