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 Both are now superseded by the Bible, our sure and sufficient guide through earth to heaven.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 came to Abimelech by night in a dream and said to him, "See, thou art but a dead man for the woman's sake which thou hast taken away, for she is a man's wife." But Abimelech had not yet come nigh her, and therefore said, "LORD, wilt thou slay righteous people? read more. Said not he unto me, that she was his sister? Yea, and said not she herself that he was her brother? With a pure heart and innocent hands have I done this!" And God said unto him in a dream, "I know it well that thou didst it in the pureness of thy heart: And therefore I kept thee that thou shouldest not sin against me, neither suffered I thee to come nigh her. Now, therefore, deliver the man his wife again, for he is a prophet. And let him pray for thee that thou mayest live. But and if thou deliver her not again, be sure that thou shalt die the death, with all that thou hast."
And he dreamed: and behold there stood a ladder upon the earth, and the top of it reached up to heaven. And see, the angels of God went up and down upon it. Yea, and the LORD stood upon it and said, "I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father and the God of Isaac: The land which thou sleepest upon will I give thee and thy seed. read more. And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth: And thou shalt spread abroad: west, east, north and south. And through thee and thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. And see, I am with thee, and will be thy keeper in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land: Neither will I leave thee; until I have made good all that I have promised thee."
If there arise among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and give thee a sign or a wonder - and that sign or wonder which he hath said come to pass - and then say, 'Let us go after strange gods which thou hast not known, and let us serve them': read more. hearken not unto the words of that prophet or dreamer of dreams. For the LORD thy God tempteth you, to wete whether ye love the LORD your God with all your hearts and with all your souls.
After this, will I pour out my spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy: your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.
While he thus thought, Behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, 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 ghost.
And now I exhort you to be of good cheer, for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you: save of the ship only.
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 came to Abimelech by night in a dream and said to him, "See, thou art but a dead man for the woman's sake which thou hast taken away, for she is a man's wife." But Abimelech had not yet come nigh her, and therefore said, "LORD, wilt thou slay righteous people? read more. Said not he unto me, that she was his sister? Yea, and said not she herself that he was her brother? With a pure heart and innocent hands have I done this!" And God said unto him in a dream, "I know it well that thou didst it in the pureness of thy heart: And therefore I kept thee that thou shouldest not sin against me, neither suffered I thee to come nigh her. Now, therefore, deliver the man his wife again, for he is a prophet. And let him pray for thee that thou mayest live. But and if thou deliver her not again, be sure that thou shalt die the death, with all that thou hast."
And he dreamed: and behold there stood a ladder upon the earth, and the top of it reached up to heaven. And see, the angels of God went up and down upon it.
For in bucking time, I lifted up mine eyes and saw in a dream: and behold, the rams that bucked the sheep were streaked, spotted and party.
And God came to Laban the Sirian in a dream by night, and said unto him, "Take heed to thyself, that thou speak not to Jacob ought save good."
And he dreamed yet another dream and told it his brethren, saying, "Behold, I have had one dream more: me thought the sun and the moon and eleven stars made obeisance to me." And when he had told it unto his father and his brethren, his father rebuked him, and said unto him, "What meaneth this dream which thou hast dreamed: shall I and thy mother and thy brethren come and fall on the ground before thee?" read more. And his brethren hated him, but his father noted the saying.
And they dreamed, either of them, in one night: both the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt which were bound in the prison house, either of them his dream, and each man's dream of a sundry interpretation.
And it fortuned, at two years' end, that Pharaoh dreamed; and thought that he stood by a river's side, and that there came out of the river seven goodly cows and fat fleshed, and fed in a meadow. read more. And him thought that seven other cows came up after them out of the river; evil favored and lean fleshed and stood by the other upon the brink of the river. And the evil favored and lean fleshed cows ate up the seven well favored and fat cows: and he awoke therewith. And he slept again and dreamed the second time, that seven ears of corn grew upon one stalk, rank and goodly. And that seven thin ears, blasted with the wind, sprang up after them: and that the seven thin ears devoured the seven rank and full ears. And then Pharaoh awaked: and see, here is his dream. When the morning came, his spirit was troubled. And he sent and called for all the soothsayers of Egypt and all the wise men thereof, and told them his dream: but there was none of them that could interpret it unto Pharaoh.
And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow and said, "Behold, I dreamed a dream and me thought that a broiled loaf of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along."
And in Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night. And God said, "Ask what I shall give thee."
In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, had Nebuchadnezzar a dream, wherethrough his spirit was vexed, and his sleep brake from him.
I saw a vision in my head upon my bed: and behold, there stood a tree upon the ground,
This is the dream, that I, king Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Therefore O Balteshazzar, tell thou me what it signifieth: forsomuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to show me, what it meaneth. But thou canst do it, for the spirit of the holy gods is in thee."
While he thus thought, Behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, 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 ghost.
And after they were warned of God in a dream that they should not go again to Herod, they returned into their own country another way.
And after they were warned of God in a dream that they should not go again to Herod, they returned into their own country another way. When they were departed, Behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream saying,. "Arise, and take the child and his mother, and fly into Egypt, and abide there till I bring thee word: For Herod will seek the child to destroy him."
When Herod was dead, Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,
When he was set down to give judgment, his wife sent to him, saying, "Have thou nothing to do with that just man, I have suffered many things this day in a dream about him."
and a vision appeared to Paul in the night. There stood a man of Macedonia and prayed him saying, "Come into Macedonia and help us."
Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, "Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace:
For there stood by me this night the angel of God: 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 came to Abimelech by night in a dream and said to him, "See, thou art but a dead man for the woman's sake which thou hast taken away, for she is a man's wife."
And he dreamed: and behold there stood a ladder upon the earth, and the top of it reached up to heaven. And see, the angels of God went up and down upon it.
And God came to Laban the Sirian in a dream by night, and said unto him, "Take heed to thyself, that thou speak not to Jacob ought save good."
Moreover, Joseph dreamed a dream and told it his brethren: wherefore they hated him yet the more. And he said unto them, "Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed. read more. Behold, we were making sheaves in the field: and lo, my sheaf arose and stood upright, and yours stood round about and made obeisance to my sheaf." Then said his brethren unto him, "What, shalt thou be our king or shalt thou reign over us?" And they hated him yet the more, because of his dream and of his words. And he dreamed yet another dream and told it his brethren, saying, "Behold, I have had one dream more: me thought the sun and the moon and eleven stars made obeisance to me." And when he had told it unto his father and his brethren, his father rebuked him, and said unto him, "What meaneth this dream which thou hast dreamed: shall I and thy mother and thy brethren come and fall on the ground before thee?"
And they dreamed, either of them, in one night: both the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt which were bound in the prison house, either of them his dream, and each man's dream of a sundry interpretation.
And it fortuned, at two years' end, that Pharaoh dreamed; and thought that he stood by a river's side,
And he said, "Hear my words. If there be a prophet of the LORD's among you, I will show myself unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.
If there arise among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and give thee a sign or a wonder - and that sign or wonder which he hath said come to pass - and then say, 'Let us go after strange gods which thou hast not known, and let us serve them': read more. hearken not unto the words of that prophet or dreamer of dreams. For the LORD thy God tempteth you, to wete whether ye love the LORD your God with all your hearts and with all your souls.
And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow and said, "Behold, I dreamed a dream and me thought that a broiled loaf of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along."
And in Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night. And God said, "Ask what I shall give thee."
In dreams and visions of the night season - When slumbering cometh upon men, that they fall a sleep in their beds -
And why? Whereas are many dreams and many words, there are also divers vanities: but look that thou fear God.
saw a dream, which made me afraid: and the thoughts that I had upon my bed, with the visions of mine head, troubled me.
After this, will I pour out my spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy: your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.
For vain is the answer of Idols. The soothsayers see lies, and tell but vain dreams. The comfort that they give, is nothing worth. Therefore go they astray like a flock of sheep, and are troubled, because they have no shepherd.
While he thus thought, Behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, 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 ghost.
When they were departed, Behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream saying,. "Arise, and take the child and his mother, and fly into Egypt, and abide there till I bring thee word: For Herod will seek the child to destroy him."
When Herod was dead, Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,
But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Jewry in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, after he was warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:
"And when ye pray, babble not much, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard, for their much babbling's sake.
When he was set down to give judgment, his wife sent to him, saying, "Have thou nothing to do with that just man, I have suffered many things this day in a dream about him."