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 Both are now superseded by the Bible, our sure and sufficient guide through earth to heaven.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 by night and said to him, Behold, thou art a dead man, for the woman whom thou hast taken, for she is a man's wife. But Abimelech had not come near her, and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous person? read more. Did he not say unto me, She is my sister? And she, even she herself said, He is my brother; in the simplicity of my heart and cleanness of my hands I have done this. And God said unto him in a dream, Yes, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me; therefore I did not allow thee to touch her. Now therefore restore the man his wife, for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live. And if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt 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 angels of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold, the LORD stood above it and said, I AM the God of Abraham, thy father, and the God of Isaac; the land upon which thou dost lie, to thee will I give it and to thy seed; read more. and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt multiply to the west and to the east and to the Aquilon and to the Negev; 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 in all places where thou goest 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.
When there arises among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and gives thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them, read more. thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God proves you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
And it shall come to pass after this 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 thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in dreams, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife; for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
And now I exhort you to be of good cheer, for there shall be no loss of any person's life among you, but only 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 by night and said to him, Behold, thou art a dead man, for the woman whom thou hast taken, for she is a man's wife. But Abimelech had not come near her, and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous person? read more. Did he not say unto me, She is my sister? And she, even she herself said, He is my brother; in the simplicity of my heart and cleanness of my hands I have done this. And God said unto him in a dream, Yes, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me; therefore I did not allow thee to touch her. Now therefore restore the man his wife, for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live. And if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt 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 angels of God ascending and descending on it.
And it came to pass at the time that the sheep conceived, that I lifted up my eyes and saw in dreams, and, behold, the rams which leaped upon the females were ringstraked, speckled, and grisled.
And God came to Laban the Aramean in dreams by night, and said unto him, Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.
And he dreamed yet another dream and told it to his brethren, saying, Behold, I have dreamed another dream; and, behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars made obeisance to me. And he told it to his father and to his brethren; and his father reprehended him and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? read more. And his brethren envied him; but his father kept the word.
And both of them dreamed a dream, each man his dream in the same 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 beautiful cows and very fat, and they fed in a meadow. read more. And, behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the river, ugly and lean-fleshed, and stood by the other cows upon the brink of the river. And the ugly and lean-fleshed cows ate up the seven beautiful and fat cows. So Pharaoh awoke. And he slept and dreamed the second time; and, behold, seven heads of wheat came up upon one stalk, full and beautiful. And, behold, seven thin heads, blasted with the east wind sprung up after them. And the seven thin heads devoured the seven full and beautiful heads. 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 thereof; and Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one that could interpret them unto Pharaoh.
And when Gideon arrived, behold, a man was telling a dream to his fellow, saying, Behold, I dreamed a dream that I saw a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and come unto the tents, and it smote them so that they fell and overturned them, and the tents fell.
In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, Ask what you wish that I shall give thee.
And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, with which his spirit was troubled, and his sleep fled from him.
Thus were the visions of my head in my bed: It seemed that I saw a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great.
I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw this dream. Now thou, O Belteshazzar, shall declare its interpretation, forasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom could never show me its interpretation; but thou art able, for the spirit of the holy God in thee.
But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in dreams, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife; for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
And being warned by divine revelation in dreams that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.
And being warned by divine revelation in dreams that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in dreams, saying, Arise and take the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt and remain there until I bring thee word, for Herod will seek the young child to kill him.
But when Herod was dead, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared in dreams to Joseph in Egypt,
When he was seated upon the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man, for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.
And a vision was shown to Paul in the night: There stood a man of Macedonia, asking him, saying, Come over into Macedonia and help us.
Then the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent,
For the angel of God stood by me this night, whose I am and whom 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 by night and said to him, Behold, thou art a dead man, for the woman whom thou hast 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 angels of God ascending and descending on it.
And God came to Laban the Aramean in dreams by night, and said unto him, Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.
And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brethren; and they hated him yet the more. And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: read more. For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about and made obeisance to my sheaf. And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? Or shalt 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 brethren, saying, Behold, I have dreamed another dream; and, behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars made obeisance to me. And he told it to his father and to his brethren; and his father reprehended him and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?
And both of them dreamed a dream, each man his dream in the same 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 is a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision and will speak unto him in dreams.
When there arises among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and gives thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them, read more. thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God proves you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
And when Gideon arrived, behold, a man was telling a dream to his fellow, saying, Behold, I dreamed a dream that I saw a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and come unto the tents, and it smote them so that they fell and overturned them, and the tents fell.
In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, Ask what you wish that I shall give thee.
In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, in slumberings upon the bed;
Because dreams abound, and vanities and the words are many, but fear thou God.
I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the imaginations and visions of my head troubled me in my bed.
And it shall come to pass after this 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 idols have spoken vanity and the diviners have seen a lie and have told vain dreams; they comfort in vain; therefore they went their way like sheep; they were humbled because there was no shepherd.
But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in dreams, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife; for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in dreams, saying, Arise and take the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt and remain there until I bring thee word, for Herod will seek the young child to kill him.
But when Herod was dead, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared in dreams to Joseph in Egypt,
But when he heard that Archelaus reigned in Judaea in the place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there; notwithstanding, being warned by divine revelation in dreams, he withdrew into the parts of Galilee,
But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions as the worldly do, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
When he was seated upon the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man, for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.