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 Both are now superseded by the Bible, our sure and sufficient guide through earth to heaven.
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And God will come to Abimelech in a dream at night, and say to him, Behold, thou dead, for the woman which thou didst take, and she having married a husband. And Abimelech came not near to her: and he will say, Lord, wilt thou also slay a just nation? read more. Did he not say to me, This my sister? and she also, she said he is my brother: in the uprightness of my heart, and in cleanness of my hands have I done this. And God will say to him in a dream, I knew also that in the uprightness of thy heart thou didst this; and I also will restrain thee from sinning against me: for this I suffered thee not to touch her. And now turn back to the man the woman; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and do thou live: and if thou turn her not back, know that dying, thou shalt die, thou and all which are to thee.
And he will dream, and behold a ladder placed in the earth, and the head of it reaching to the heavens: and behold the messengers of God ascending and descending upon it. And behold, Jehovah was set upon it, and he will say, I Jehovah, the God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaak: the land which thou liest upon it, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed. read more. And thy seed was as the dust of the earth, And thou didst spread abroad to the sea and east, and north, and south: and in thee shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed, and in thy seed. And behold, I am with thee, and I preserved thee in all which thou shalt go, and I turned thee back to this land; for I will not forsake thee, till that I have done what I said to thee.
When there shall arise in the midst of you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and he gave to thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come which he spake to thee, saying, We will go after other gods which we know not, and we will serve them, read more. Thou shalt not hear to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer of dreams: for Jehovah thy God tries you to know whether ye are loving Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
And it was after this I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters prophesied, your old men shall dream your young men shall see visions.
And reflecting upon these things, behold a messenger of the Lord appeared to him saying, Joseph, thou son of David, thou shouldest not fear to take to thyself Mary thy wife: for that begotten in her is of the Holy Spirit.
And now I advise you to be cheerful: for there shall be no throwing away of soul from you, but 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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And God will come to Abimelech in a dream at night, and say to him, Behold, thou dead, for the woman which thou didst take, and she having married a husband. And Abimelech came not near to her: and he will say, Lord, wilt thou also slay a just nation? read more. Did he not say to me, This my sister? and she also, she said he is my brother: in the uprightness of my heart, and in cleanness of my hands have I done this. And God will say to him in a dream, I knew also that in the uprightness of thy heart thou didst this; and I also will restrain thee from sinning against me: for this I suffered thee not to touch her. And now turn back to the man the woman; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and do thou live: and if thou turn her not back, know that dying, thou shalt die, thou and all which are to thee.
And he will dream, and behold a ladder placed in the earth, and the head of it reaching to the heavens: and behold the messengers of God ascending and descending upon it.
And it shall be in the time the sheep shall conceive, and I shall lift up mine eyes, and I shall see in a dream, and behold, the he-goats ascending upon the sheep, banded, speckled and sprinkled with spots.
And God will come to Laban the Syrian in a dream of the night and will say to him, Watch to thyself, lest thou shalt speak with Jacob from good to evil.
And he will dream yet another dream, and he will recount it to his brethren, and he will say, Behold I dreamed a dream yet again: and behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars worshipping to me. And he will recount to his father and to his brethren. And his father will rebuke him, and will say to him, What this dream which thou didst dream? Coming, shall I and thy mother and thy brethren come to worship to thee upon the earth? read more. And his brethren will envy him; and his father observed the word.
And they will dream a dream, they two, a man his dream in one night, a man according to the interpretation of his dream; the cup-bearer and the baker which were to the king of Egypt, who were bound in the house of the fortress.
And it will be the end of two years of days, and Pharaoh dreamed; and behold, he stood by the river. And behold, from the river came up seven heifers, fair of look and fat in flesh; and they will feed in marsh grass. read more. Behold, seven other heifers coming up after them out of the river, evil of look, thin in flesh; and they will stand by the heifers by the lip of the river. And the heifers evil of look and thin of flesh, will devour the seven heifers fair of look, and fat. And Pharaoh will awake. And he will sleep, and will dream the second time, and behold seven ears coming upon one stalk, fat and good. And behold, seven ears thin and blasted by the east, springing up after them. And the thin ears will devour the seven ears fat and full. And Pharaoh will awake, and behold, a dream. And it will be in the morning, and his soul will be troubled; and he will send and call all the sacred scribes of Egypt, and all his wise; and Pharaoh will relate to them his dream; and none interpreting them to Pharaoh.
And Gideon will come, and behold, a man recounting a dream to his neighbor; and he will say, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a round cake of barley bread rolling into the camp of Midian; and it will come even to the tent, and it will strike it, and it will fall and will turn it over, so that the tent fell.
In the hill Jehovah was seen to Solomon in a dream at night: and God will say, Ask what I shall give to thee.
And in the second year to the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, and his spirit will be moved, and his sleep was broken upon him.
And the visions of my head upon my bed; I was seeing, and lo, a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height great
This dream, I king Nebuchadnezzar saw. And thou Belteshazzar, tell the interpretation, because that all the wise of my kingdom not being able to make known to me the interpretation: and thou art able, for the spirit of the holy gods is in thee.
And reflecting upon these things, behold a messenger of the Lord appeared to him saying, Joseph, thou son of David, thou shouldest not fear to take to thyself Mary thy wife: for that begotten in her is of the Holy Spirit.
And having received intimation of the divine will in a dream not to turn back to Herod, by another way they went back to their own country.
And having received intimation of the divine will in a dream not to turn back to Herod, by another way they went back to their own country. And they, having gone back, lo, the messenger of the Lord appears in a dream to Joseph, saying, Having risen, take to thyself the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt, and be there till I speak to thee; for Herod is about to seek the young child to destroy him.
And Herod having died, behold a messenger of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying,
And he sitting upon the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, Nothing to thee and that just one: for I have suffered this day many things in a dream, on his account.
And a vision was seen to Paul by night; A certain man, a Macedonian, was standing, beseeching him, and saying, Having passed to Macedonia, help us.
And the Lord said through a vision by night to Paul, Fear not, but speak, and thou shouldest not be silent:
For the messenger of God stood by me in 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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And God will come to Abimelech in a dream at night, and say to him, Behold, thou dead, for the woman which thou didst take, and she having married a husband.
And he will dream, and behold a ladder placed in the earth, and the head of it reaching to the heavens: and behold the messengers of God ascending and descending upon it.
And God will come to Laban the Syrian in a dream of the night and will say to him, Watch to thyself, lest thou shalt speak with Jacob from good to evil.
And Joseph will dream a dream, and he will announce to his brethren: and they will add yet to hate him. And he will say to them, Hear, now, this dream which I dreamed. read more. And behold, we binding sheaves in the midst of the field; and behold, my sheaf arose, and also stood; and behold your sheaves will turn about and will worship to my sheaf. And his brethren will say to him, Reigning, shalt thou reign over us? or ruling, shalt thou rule over us? And they will add yet to hate him for his dreams and for his words. And he will dream yet another dream, and he will recount it to his brethren, and he will say, Behold I dreamed a dream yet again: and behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars worshipping to me. And he will recount to his father and to his brethren. And his father will rebuke him, and will say to him, What this dream which thou didst dream? Coming, shall I and thy mother and thy brethren come to worship to thee upon the earth?
And they will dream a dream, they two, a man his dream in one night, a man according to the interpretation of his dream; the cup-bearer and the baker which were to the king of Egypt, who were bound in the house of the fortress.
And it will be the end of two years of days, and Pharaoh dreamed; and behold, he stood by the river.
And he will say, Hear ye now, my word: If there shall be your prophet of Jehovah, in a vision I will be known to him; in a dream I will speak to him.
When there shall arise in the midst of you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and he gave to thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come which he spake to thee, saying, We will go after other gods which we know not, and we will serve them, read more. Thou shalt not hear to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer of dreams: for Jehovah thy God tries you to know whether ye are loving Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
And Gideon will come, and behold, a man recounting a dream to his neighbor; and he will say, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a round cake of barley bread rolling into the camp of Midian; and it will come even to the tent, and it will strike it, and it will fall and will turn it over, so that the tent fell.
In the hill Jehovah was seen to Solomon in a dream at night: and God will say, Ask what I shall give to thee.
In a dream, in a vision of the night, in the falling of deep sleep upon men, in slumbers upon the bed;
For in the multitude of dreams, and vanities, and many words: but fear thou God.
I saw a dream, and it will terrify me; and the conceptions upon my bed and the visions of my head, will cause me to tremble.
And it was after this I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters prophesied, your old men shall dream your young men shall see visions.
For the family gods spake vanity, and the diviners saw falsehood, and they will speak dreams of falsehood they will comfort in vain: for this, they removed as a flock, they were afflicted for there was no shepherd.
And reflecting upon these things, behold a messenger of the Lord appeared to him saying, Joseph, thou son of David, thou shouldest not fear to take to thyself Mary thy wife: for that begotten in her is of the Holy Spirit.
And they, having gone back, lo, the messenger of the Lord appears in a dream to Joseph, saying, Having risen, take to thyself the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt, and be there till I speak to thee; for Herod is about to seek the young child to destroy him.
And Herod having died, behold a messenger of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying,
And having heard that Archelaus reigned over Judea, instead of Herod his father, he was afraid to go there; and having received intimation of the divine will in a dream, he turned back into the parts of Galilee.
And praying, talk ye not vainly as the nations; for they think that by their profaneness of speech they shall be listened to.
And he sitting upon the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, Nothing to thee and that just one: for I have suffered this day many things in a dream, on his account.