are added to the Genesis narrative: the ladder is made of twelve steps, and on each step there are two human forms, one on each side of the step, visible as far as their breasts. On the top of the ladder there was a "face", "as of a man", carved in the fire and much more terrifying than the twenty-four other busts. The Lord is over this central "face". Chapter 2 includes a prayer by Jacob, surely abbreviated by the Slavonic copyist, asking the Lord the meaning of the vision. The prayer describes God sitting on a fire throne, surrounded by Cherubim and Seraphim, a vision that is a classic example of Merkabah. In Chapter 3 the angel Sariel is sent by the Lord to Jacob to explain the vision, and the text says Jacob was not terrified by the vision of the angel. In Chapter 4 Sariel changes the name of Jacob to Israel in order to have it "to be similar to his own name". Chapter 5 includes the explanation of the ladder given by Sariel: the ladder is the Age, and the twelve steps are the periods into which the Age is divided (the same division we find in 2 Baruch). The twenty-four human busts are the kings of the world who oppose Israel, some more, some less. The fourth step may be the author's picture of his own time; in the last times the Lord will raise a descendant of Esau (probably the Roman Empire) who initially will protect Israel, and later will serve the idols and use violence. The people of Jacob will be exiled, made slaves and wounded. Chapter 6 is about the coming of the Messiah, described as a king who fights against the enemies of Israel and wins; the enemies then repent and the Lord accepts their plea. In the following events the Lord acts directly: there will be earthquakes and destructions followed by the final victory against the Leviathan and the Falkon. The sons of Jacob will walk in the Lord's justice, and the kingdoms of Edom and Moab will be destroyed. Chapter 7 is surely a Christian addition; it predicts the Incarnation of the Savior. Theology The Ladder of Jacob, as well as the Apocalypse of Abraham, interpret the experience of Patriarchs in the context of merkabah mysticism. The Ladder of Jacob takes a stand on the main issues debated