Ladder
(סֻלָּם, sullatm', a staircase, perh. from סָלִל, to raise up; Sept. κλῖμαξ; the Arab. sullamnun has the same signification) occurs only once, in the account of Jacob's vision in his dream at Bethel (Ge 28:12), where the " ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold, the angels of God ascending and descending on it," represented the Gospel dispensation, the blessings of which the patriarch's posterity were to inherit; the Redeemer himself being this mystic channel of intercourse between heaven and earth (John i, 51). (See Lang, Visio Scalce Jacob, Alt. 1699; Schramm, De Scala Jacobcea, F. ad 0. 17-.) Scalingladders for war (κλίμακες) are mentioned in the Apocrypha (1 Macc. 5:30). That this was a contrivance known from the earliest times, we have abundant evidence on the monuments of Thebes, where attacks on fortified places are represented as being made by soldiers provided with scaling-ladders (Wilkinson, i, 390). (For illustration, see opposite page.) Similar scenes are frequently depicted on the Assyrian monuments (Layard, Nineveh, ii, 284). SEE FORTIFICATION.
The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature was edited by John McClintock and James Strong. It contains nearly 50,000 articles pertaining to Biblical and other religious literature, people, creeds, etc. It is a fantastic research tool for broad Christian study.
John McClintock was born October 27, 1814 in Philadelphia to Irish immigrants, John and Martha McClintock. He began as a clerk in his father's store, and then became a bookkeeper in the Methodist Book Concern in New York. Here he converted to Methodism and considered joining the ministry. McClintock entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1832 and graduated with high honors three years later. Subsequently, he was awarded a doctorate of divinity degree from the same institution in 1848.WikipediaRead More