Story of Jacob with Jacob's dream

The narrative sequence of the story of Jacob, which is represented by the capitals on the west side of the cloister (W1EB16-W7WB22bis), continues on this capital with the account of Jacob’s dream.

Isaac’s wife Rebecca advises her son to flee from his defrauded brother with the birthright and the blessing of his father. She convinces Isaac to send Jacob to seek a wife from Rebecca’s brother Laban. On the way there, Jacob has a dream in which a heavenly ladder appears with angels ascending and descending on it. At the top appears God the Father, who promises to give this land to him and his descendents (Gen 28:12-15).

Jacob’s ladder, which, since the rule of Saint Benedict was interpreted morally as a ladder of virtue, along with the angel, God the Father, and the dreaming Jacob are portrayed on the north side of the capital and named accordingly: JACOB / DNS / ANGELI / SCALA.

The west side contains Jacob (JACOB), on the south side one finds Rebecca (REBECCA), and an unidentified male figure, usually considered to be Laban, stands on the east side.

angel ANGELI Saint-Benedict birthright blessing bride brother DNS descendants dream Esau father God heavenly inscription Jacob Isaac journey Laban ladder land Rebecca rule SCALA son virtue wife