Reference: Dream
American
The orientals, and in particular the Jews, greatly regarded dreams, and applied for their interpretation to those who undertook to explain them. We see the antiquity of this custom in the history of Pharaoh's butler and baker, Ge 40; and Pharaoh himself and Nebuchadnezzar are also instances. God expressly forbade his people to observe dreams, and to consult explainers of them. He condemned to death all who pretended to have prophetic dreams, even though what they foretold came to pass, if they had any tendency to promote idolatry, De 13:1-3. But they were not forbidden, when they thought they had a significant dream, to address the prophets of the Lord, or the high priest in his ephod, to have it explained. The Lord frequently made known his will in dreams, and enabled persons to explain them, Ge 20:3-7; 28:12-15; 1Sa 28:6; Da 2; Joe 2:28; Mt 1:20; Ac 27:22. Supernatural dreams are distinguished from visions, in that the former occurred during sleep, and the latter when the person was awake. God spoke to Abimelech in a dream, but to Abraham by vision. In both cases he left on the mind an assurance of the certainty of whatever he revealed. Both are now superseded by the Bible, our sure and sufficient guide through earth to heaven.
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But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, Behold, thou are but a dead man, because of the woman whom thou have taken, for she is a man's wife. Now Abimelech had not come near her. And he said, LORD, will thou slay even a righteous nation? read more. Did he not himself say to me, She is my sister? And she, even she herself said, He is my brother. In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this. And God said to him in the dream, Yes, I know that in the integrity of thy heart thou have done this. And I also withheld thee from sinning against me. Therefore I did not allow thee to touch her. Now therefore restore the man's wife. For he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shall live. And if thou do not restore her, know thou that thou shall surely die, thou, and all that are thine.
And he dreamed, and, behold, a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And, behold, the agents of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold, LORD stood above it, and said, I am LORD, the God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac. The land on which thou lay, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed. read more. And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shall spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. And in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee wherever thou go, and will bring thee again into this land. For I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.
If there arise in the midst of thee a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou have not known, and let us serve them, read more. thou shall not hearken to the words of that prophet, or to that dreamer of dreams, for LORD your God proves you, to know whether ye love LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your old men shall dream dreams. Your young men shall see visions.
But while he considered these things, behold, an agent of Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take Mary to be thy wife, for that which was begotten in her is from Holy Spirit.
And now I exhort you to cheer up, for there will not be one loss of life from you, except of the ship.
Easton
God has frequently made use of dreams in communicating his will to men. The most remarkable instances of this are recorded in the history of Jacob (Ge 28:12; 31:10), Laban (Ge 31:24), Joseph (Ge 37:9-11), Gideon (Jg 7), and Solomon (1Ki 3:5). Other significant dreams are also recorded, such as those of Abimelech (Ge 20:3-7), Pharaoh's chief butler and baker (Ge 40:5), Pharaoh (Ge 41:1-8), the Midianites (Jg 7:13), Nebuchadnezzar (Da 2:1; 4:10,18), the wise men from the east (Mt 2:12), and Pilate's wife (Mt 27:19).
To Joseph "the Lord appeared in a dream," and gave him instructions regarding the infant Jesus (Mt 1:20; 2:12-13,19). In a vision of the night a "man of Macedonia" stood before Paul and said, "Come over into Macedonia and help us" (Ac 16:9; see also Ac 18:9; 27:23).
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But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, Behold, thou are but a dead man, because of the woman whom thou have taken, for she is a man's wife. Now Abimelech had not come near her. And he said, LORD, will thou slay even a righteous nation? read more. Did he not himself say to me, She is my sister? And she, even she herself said, He is my brother. In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this. And God said to him in the dream, Yes, I know that in the integrity of thy heart thou have done this. And I also withheld thee from sinning against me. Therefore I did not allow thee to touch her. Now therefore restore the man's wife. For he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shall live. And if thou do not restore her, know thou that thou shall surely die, thou, and all that are thine.
And he dreamed, and, behold, a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And, behold, the agents of God ascending and descending on it.
And it came to pass at the time that the flock conceive, that I lifted up my eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold, the he-goats which leaped upon the flock were ringstreaked, speckled, and grizzled.
And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream of the night, and said to him, Take heed to thyself that thou not speak to Jacob either good or bad.
And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brothers. And said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream again. And, behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars made obeisance to me. And he told it to his father, and to his brothers. And his father rebuked him, and said to him, What is this dream that thou have dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brothers indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the ear read more. And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the saying in mind.
And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream, in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were bound in the prison.
And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed. And, behold, he stood by the river. And, behold, there came up out of the river seven cows, well-favored and fat-fleshed, and they fed in the reed grass. read more. And, behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the river, ill-favored and lean-fleshed, and stood by the other cows upon the brink of the river. And the ill-favored and lean-fleshed cows ate up the seven well-favored and fat cows. So Pharaoh awoke. And he slept and dreamed a second time. And, behold, seven ears of grain came up upon one stalk, fat and good. And, behold, seven ears, thin and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them. And the thin ears swallowed up the seven fat and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and, behold, it was a dream. And it came to pass in the morning, that his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men of it. And Pharaoh told them his dream, but there was no man who could interpret them to
And when Gideon came, behold, there was a man telling a dream to his fellow. And he said, Behold, I dreamed a dream. And, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian, and came to the tent, and smote it so that it fel
In Gibeon LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.
And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams. And his spirit was troubled, and his sleep went from him.
Thus were the visions of my head upon my bed: I saw, and, behold, a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height of it was great.
This dream I, king Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. And thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation, inasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known to me the interpretation. But thou are able, for the spirit o
But while he considered these things, behold, an agent of Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take Mary to be thy wife, for that which was begotten in her is from Holy Spirit.
And divinely warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed into their own country by another way.
And divinely warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed into their own country by another way. Now after they departed, behold, an agent of Lord appears to Joseph in a dream, saying, After rising, take the child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and thou be there until I tell thee, for Herod is going to seek the child to
But when Herod perished, behold, an agent of Lord appears in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying,
And while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, There is nothing for thee and that righteous man. For I suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.
And a vision appeared to Paul during the night. A certain Macedonian man was standing, imploring him, and saying, After crossing over into Macedonia, help us.
And the Lord spoke to Paul by a vision at night, Fear not, but speak, and be not silent,
For there stood by me this night an agent of the God whose I am, whom also I serve,
Fausets
The revelation of God's will in dreams is characteristic of the early and less perfect patriarchal times (Ge 28:12; 31:24; 37:5-10); to Solomon, 1Ki 3:5, in commencing his reign; the beginnings of the New Testament dispensation (Mt 1:20; 2:13,19,22); and the communications from God to the rulers of the pagan world powers, Philistia, Egypt, Babylon (Ge 20:3; 40:5; 41:1); Elihu, Job 33:15; Daniel 2; Da 4:5, etc. The dream form of revelation is that most appropriate to those outside the kingdom of God. So the Midianite (Jg 7:13), Pilate's wife (Mt 27:19). But it is the Israelites Joseph and Daniel who interpret; for pagandom is passive, Israel active, in divine things to the glory of the God of Israel. Dreams were a frequent means of imposture and idolatry De 13:1-3; Zec 10:2).
The dream form of revelation is placed below that of prophecy and even divination (Nu 12:6; Joe 2:28; 1Sa 28:6). "Trances" and "visions" are mentioned in the Christian church, but not dreams. While God has acted and can act on the mind in a dream (wherein the reason and judgment are dormant, but the sensations and imaginations active and uncontrolled by the judgment), His higher mode of revelation is that wherein the understanding is active and conscious; consequently, the former mode appears more in imperfect stages of the development of God's scheme than in the advanced stages. "In the multitude of dreams are divers vanities" (Ec 5:7), i.e., God's service becomes by "dreams" (foolish fancies as to what God requires of worshippers); and random "words," positive vanity of manifold kinds; compare Mt 6:7, "they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking."
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But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, Behold, thou are but a dead man, because of the woman whom thou have taken, for she is a man's wife.
And he dreamed, and, behold, a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And, behold, the agents of God ascending and descending on it.
And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream of the night, and said to him, Take heed to thyself that thou not speak to Jacob either good or bad.
And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him yet the more. And he said to them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed. read more. For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright. And, behold, your sheaves came round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf. And his brothers said to him, Shall thou indeed reign over us? Or shall thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words. And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brothers. And said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream again. And, behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars made obeisance to me. And he told it to his father, and to his brothers. And his father rebuked him, and said to him, What is this dream that thou have dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brothers indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the ear
And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream, in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were bound in the prison.
And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed. And, behold, he stood by the river.
And he said, Hear now my words. If there be a prophet among you, I LORD will make myself known to him in a vision. I will speak with him in a dream.
If there arise in the midst of thee a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou have not known, and let us serve them, read more. thou shall not hearken to the words of that prophet, or to that dreamer of dreams, for LORD your God proves you, to know whether ye love LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
And when Gideon came, behold, there was a man telling a dream to his fellow. And he said, Behold, I dreamed a dream. And, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian, and came to the tent, and smote it so that it fel
In Gibeon LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.
In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, in slumberings upon the bed.
For in the multitude of dreams there are vanities, and in many words. But fear thou God.
I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me.
And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your old men shall dream dreams. Your young men shall see visions.
For the teraphim have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and they have told FALSE dreams. They comfort in vain. Therefore they go their way like sheep. They are afflicted, because there is no shepherd.
But while he considered these things, behold, an agent of Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take Mary to be thy wife, for that which was begotten in her is from Holy Spirit.
Now after they departed, behold, an agent of Lord appears to Joseph in a dream, saying, After rising, take the child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and thou be there until I tell thee, for Herod is going to seek the child to
But when Herod perished, behold, an agent of Lord appears in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying,
But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And divinely warned in a dream, he withdrew into the parts of Galilee.
And while praying do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that they will be heard by their much speaking.
And while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, There is nothing for thee and that righteous man. For I suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.