Ladder of Jacob Semitic Vorlage behind Slavonic transmission

This article describes an entity that is not directly attested as a surviving Aramaic or Hebrew Ladder of Jacob; it is inferred from a Slavonic-to-Greek-to-Semitic transmission chain described in scholarship.

Epistemic status

Draft article. The Slavonic Ladder of Jacob is attested; the Semitic Vorlage is an inferred source layer behind at least one intermediary.

Summary

James Kugel describes the Ladder of Jacob as known only from Slavonic, translated from Greek, and probably behind that from an original Aramaic or Hebrew text. Inferpedia treats that missing Semitic layer as a draft inferred-source entity.

What is being inferred

The inferred entity is an Aramaic or Hebrew Vorlage behind the Greek and Slavonic transmission of the Ladder of Jacob.

What is attested

The source attests Slavonic-only preservation, a Greek intermediary, and a likely Aramaic or Hebrew source layer dated broadly to the Second Temple period.

Why infer this entity

A text preserved only in Slavonic but described as a translation from Greek, which is itself likely translated from Aramaic or Hebrew, implies missing source layers in the chain.

Evidence ledger

• E1, Kugel: supporting trace for Slavonic-only preservation.
• E2, Kugel: supporting trace for Greek translation.
• E3, Kugel: supporting trace for an Aramaic or Hebrew original.
• E4, Kugel: supporting trace for a Second Temple setting.

Counterarguments

The Semitic Vorlage is not directly preserved. The chain includes a Greek intermediary and later Slavonic transmission, so redactional and Christian transmission layers may have changed the text.

Confidence scores

Direct attestation: 54. Existence warrant: 80. Specificity: 74. Reconstruction dependence: 88. Counterevidence: 28.

What would change the score

A detailed study of Slavonic recensions, Greek retroversion, and Semitic linguistic features would change the score.