The Heavenly Counterpart of Moses in the Book of Jubileespresence, we will provide a short excursus on the background of the idea of
the celestial double of a seer. One of the specimens of this tradition is found
in the targumic elaborations of the story of the patriarch Jacob that depict
his heavenly identity as his "image" engraved on the Throne of Glory.
The Jacob TraditionsThe traditions about the heavenly "image" of Jacob are present in several
targumic texts,^7 including Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Targum Neofiti}s and
Fragmentary Targum.^9
For example, in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan for Gen 28:12, the following
description can be found: "He [Jacob] had a dream, and behold, a ladder
was fixed in the earth with its top reaching toward the heavens... and on
that day they (angels) ascended to the heavens on high, and said, 'Come and
see Jacob the pious, whose image is fixed (engraved) in the Throne of Glory,
and whom you have desired to see.'"^10 Besides the tradition of "engraving"
- The same tradition can be found in the rabbinic literature. Genesis Rabbah 68:12
reads:.. thus it says, Israel in whom I will be glorified (Isa. xlix, 3); it is thou, [said the an
gels,] whose features are engraved on high; they ascended on high and saw his features and
they descended below and found him sleeping." Midrash Rabbah, 10 vols. (London: Soncino
Press, 1961), 2:626. On Jacobs image on the Throne of Glory, see also Genesis Rabbah 78:3;
82:2; Numbers Rabbah 4:1; b. Hullin 91b; Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer 35. On the traditions about Ja
cob's image engraved on the Throne, see E. R. Wolfson, Along the Path: Studies in Kabbalistic
Myth, Symbolism, and Hermeneutics (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995), 1-62,
111-86. - "And he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was fixed on the earth and its head reached
to the height of the heavens; and behold, the angels that had accompanied him from the
house of his father ascended to bear good tidings to the angels on high, saying: 'Come and
see the pious man whose image is engraved in the throne of Glory, whom you desired to see.'
And behold, the angels from before the Lord ascended and descended and observed him."
Targum Neofiti 1: Genesis, trans. M. McNamara, M.S.C., Aramaic Bible lA (Collegeville,
Minn.: Liturgical Press, 1992), 140. - "And he dreamt that there was a ladder set on the ground, whose top reached to
wards the heavens; and behold the angels that had accompanied him from his father s house
ascended to announce to the angels of the heights: 'Come and see the pious man, whose im
age is fixed to the throne of glory.. .M. L. Klein, The Fragment-Targums of the Pentateuch
according to Their Extant Sources, 2 vols., AB 76 (Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1980), 1:57
and 2:20. - Targum Pseudo-Jonathan: Genesis, trans. M. Maher, M.S.C., Aramaic Bible 1B
(Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 1992), 99-100.