Reference: Dreams
Hastings
Sleep impressed primitive savages as a great mystery; and they consequently attributed a peculiar significance to the dreams of sleepers, as phenomena which they could not control by their will or explain by their reason. In the lowest stage of culture all dreams were regarded as objectively real experiences; the god or spirit actually visited the dreamer, the events dreamed actually occurred. Hence any one who was subject to frequent dreaming was looked on as a special medium of Divine energy, and many sought to produce the state by artificial means, e.g. fasting or the use of drugs. In process of time dreams came to be treated rather as Divine warnings than as actual occurrences. Such admonitions could be deliberately sought, e.g. by sleeping in a sacred spot, such as the temples of Asklepios or Serapis or the grotto of Trophonius; or they could come unsought, when the gods wished either to reveal or to deceive. (Plato, however, while allowing that the gods may send dreams, denies that they can wish to deceive men). Thus, for instance, among the Babylonians, the Assyrians, the Arabs, the Egyptians, a profound importance was attached to dreams; there were professional interpreters of them (cf. Ge 40:5,8; 41:1; Da 2:5), and manuals were compiled to aid the work of elucidation (cf. the Oneirocritica of Artemidorus of Ephesus). Wiser theorists might discriminate between dreams, but popular superstition tended to regard them all as omens, to be explained, as far as possible, in accordance with definite rules.
1. Among the Jews.
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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. 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." When Jacob was awaked out of his sleep, he said, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware." And he was afraid, and said, "How fearful is this place? It is none other, but even the house of God and the gate of heaven!" And Jacob stood up early in the morning and took the stone that he had laid under his head, and pitched it up on end, and poured oil on the top of it. And he called the name of the place Bethel, for indeed the name of the city was called Luz before time.
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 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 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.
They answered him, "We have dreamed a dream, and have no man to declare it." And Joseph said unto them, "Interpreting belongeth to God, but tell me yet."
They answered him, "We have dreamed a dream, and have no man to declare it." And Joseph said unto them, "Interpreting belongeth to God, but tell me yet."
And it fortuned, at two years' end, that Pharaoh dreamed; and thought that he stood by a river's side,
Then Joseph said unto Pharaoh, "Both Pharaoh's dreams are one. And God doth show Pharaoh what he is about to do.
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. But my servant Moses is not so, which is faithful in all mine house. read more. Unto him I speak mouth to mouth and he seeth the sight and the fashion of the LORD, and not through riddles. Wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?"
Let there not be found among you that maketh his son or his daughter go through fire, either a bruterer or a maker of dismal days, or that useth witchcraft, or a sorcerer, or a charmer, or that speaketh with a spirit, or a soothsayer, or that asketh the advice of the dead.
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 Samuel said to Saul, "Why hast thou unquieted me, to make me be brought up?" And Saul answered, "I am sore encumbered. For the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me and answered me no more, neither by prophets, neither by dreams. And therefore have I called thee, to tell me what I shall do."
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.
I have heard well enough what the prophets say, that preach lies in my name, saying, 'I have dreamed, I have dreamed.'
The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell it: and he that understandeth my word, let him show it faithfully. For what hath chaff and wheat to do together, sayeth the LORD?
Behold, here am I, sayeth the LORD, against those prophets that dare prophesy lies, and deceive my people with their vanities, and miracles, whom I never sent, nor commanded them. They shall do this people great harm, sayeth the LORD.
And therefore follow not your Prophets, soothsayers, expounders of dreams, charmers and witches, which say unto you: Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon.
"For thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: Let not those prophets and soothsayers that be among you deceive you: and believe not your own dreams.
The king gave the Chaldeans their answer, and said, "It is gone from me: If ye will not make me understand the dream with the interpretation thereof, ye shall die, and your houses shall be prised.
Only God in heaven can open secrets; and he it is, that showeth the king Nebuchadnezzar what is for to come in the latter days. Thy dream, and that which thou hast seen in thine head upon thy bed, is this:
In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, saw Daniel a dream, and a vision was in his head upon his bed. Which dream he wrote, and the sum of the matter is this:
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."
saying, "Arise, and take the child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the child's life."
The night following God stood by him, and said, "Be of good cheer Paul: For as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness at Rome."
For there stood by me this night the angel of God: whose I am, and whom I serve:
Morish
Though associated in some passages with trifles and vanities, Job 7:14; Ec 5:7, there is yet abundant evidence in the scriptures that God often conveyed His mind to people by means of dreams, and this not only to those who obeyed Him, but also to the heathen. Ge 20:3,6; Jg 7:13. "God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed: then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, that he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man." Job 33:14-17. God said that He would instruct His prophets in dreams. Nu 12:6. He also used dreams in the case of Nebuchadnezzar and of Daniel in order to reveal His will and purpose concerning, the future.
Joseph, the reputed father of the Lord, was directed several times by means of dreams; and Pilate was warned by his wife to have nothing to do with that just man because of what she had suffered in a dream. Mt 1:20; 2:12-22; 27:19. It is to be remarked that in the last days when God pours out His Spirit on all flesh the sons and daughters will prophesy, and the young men shall see visions, and the old men shall dream dreams. Joe 2:28; Ac 2:17. This will be the way that God will make known His mind in those days.
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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 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.
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.
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."
For when God doth once command a thing, there should no man be curious to search whether it be right. In dreams and visions of the night season - When slumbering cometh upon men, that they fall a sleep in their beds - read more. he roundeth them in the ears, he informeth them, and showeth them plainly, that it is he, which withdraweth man from evil, delivereth him from pride,
And why? Whereas are many dreams and many words, there are also divers vanities: but look that thou fear God.
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 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." read more. Then he arose, and took the child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt; and was there unto the death of Herod: to fulfill that which was spoken of the Lord by the Prophet, which sayeth, "Out of Egypt have I called my son." Then Herod, perceiving that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, as many as were two years old and under according to the time which he had diligently searched out of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by the Prophet Jeremiah, saying, "On the hills was a voice heard, mourning, weeping and great lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they were not." When Herod was dead, Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, "Arise, and take the child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the child's life." Then he arose up, and took the child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. 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:
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."
'It shall be in the last days, saith God, of my spirit I will pour out upon all flesh. And your sons, and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions. And your old men shall dream dreams.
Smith
Dreams.
The Scripture declares that the influence of the Spirit of God upon the soul extends to its sleeping as well as its waking thoughts. But, in accordance with the principle enunciated by St. Paul in
dreams, in which the understanding is asleep, are placed below the visions of prophecy, in which the understanding plays its part. Under the Christian dispensation, while we read frequently of trances and vision, dreams are never referred to as vehicles of divine revelation. In exact accordance with this principle are the actual records of the dreams sent by God. The greater number of such dreams were granted, for prediction or for warning, to those who were aliens to the Jewish covenant. And where dreams are recorded as means of God's revelation to his chosen servants, they are almost always referred to the periods of their earliest and most imperfect knowledge of him. Among the Jews, "if any person dreamed a dream which was peculiarly striking and significant, he was permitted to go to the high priest in a peculiar way, and see if it had any special import. But the observance of ordinary dreams and the consulting of those who pretend to skill in their interpretation are repeatedly forbidden.
De 13:1-5; 18:9-14
Schaff.
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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. For ye must walk after the LORD your God and fear him and keep his commandments and hearken unto his voice and serve him and cleave unto him. And that prophet or dreamer of dreams shall die for it, because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God which brought you out of the land of Egypt and delivered you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in: and so thou shalt put evil away from thee.
When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, see that thou learn not to do after the abominations of these nations. Let there not be found among you that maketh his son or his daughter go through fire, either a bruterer or a maker of dismal days, or that useth witchcraft, or a sorcerer, read more. or a charmer, or that speaketh with a spirit, or a soothsayer, or that asketh the advice of the dead. For all that do such things are abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth cast them out before thee. Be pure therefore with the LORD thy God. For these nations which thou shalt conquer hearken unto makers of dismal days and bruterers. But the LORD thy God permitteth not that to thee.
What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and will pray with the mind also. I will sing with the spirit, and will sing with the mind also.
Watsons
DREAMS. The easterns, in particular the Jews, greatly regarded dreams, and applied for their interpretation to those who undertook to explain them. The ancient Greeks and Romans had the same opinion of them, as appears from their most eminent writers. We see the antiquity of this attention to dreams in the history of Pharaoh's butler and baker, Genesis 40. Pharaoh himself, and Nebuchadnezzar, are instances. God expressly condemned to death all who pretended to have prophetic dreams, and to foretel futurities, even though what they foretold came to pass, if they had any tendency to promote idolatry, De 13:1-3. But the people were not forbidden, when they thought they had a significative dream, to address the prophets of the Lord, or the high priest in his ephod, to have it explained. Saul, before the battle of Gilboa, consulted a woman who had a familiar spirit, "because the Lord would not answer him by dreams, nor by prophets," 1Sa 28:6-7. The Lord himself sometimes discovered his will in dreams, and enabled persons to explain them. He informed Abimelech in a dream, that Sarah was the wife of Abraham, Ge 20:3,6. He showed Jacob the mysterious ladder in a dream, Ge 28:12-13; and in a dream an angel suggested to him a means of multiplying his flocks, Ge 31:11-12, &c. Joseph was favoured very early with prophetic dreams, whose signification was easily discovered by Jacob, Ge 37:5. God said, that he spake to other prophets in dreams, but to Moses face to face. The Midianites gave credit to dreams, as appears from that which a Midianite related to his companion; and from whose interpretation Gideon took a happy omen, Jg 7:13,15. The Prophet Jeremiah exclaims against impostors who pretended to have had dreams, and abused the credulity of the people: "They prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him tell it faithfully, saith the Lord," Jer 23:25,28-29. The Prophet Joel promises from God, that in the reign of the Messiah, the effusion of the Holy Spirit should be so copious, that the old men should have prophetic dreams, and the young men should receive visions, Joe 2:28.
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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 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.
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.
And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream saying, 'Jacob?' And I answered, 'Here am I.' And he said, 'Lift up thine eyes and see how all the rams that leap upon the sheep are streaked, spotted and party: for I have seen all that Laban doth unto thee.
Moreover, Joseph dreamed a dream and told it his brethren: wherefore they hated him yet the more.
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."
When Gideon heard the telling of the dream and the interpretation of the same, he bowed himself to the earth and returned unto the host of Israel, and said, "Up, for the LORD hath delivered into your hands the host of the Midianites."
And Saul asked counsel of the LORD, but the LORD answered him not: neither by dream, nor by the light, nor yet by prophets. Then said Saul unto his servants, "Seek me a woman that is mistress of a spirit of prophecy; that I may go to her and ask of her." And his servants said to him, "See, there is a woman that hath a spirit of Prophecy in her possession at Endor."
I have heard well enough what the prophets say, that preach lies in my name, saying, 'I have dreamed, I have dreamed.'
The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell it: and he that understandeth my word, let him show it faithfully. For what hath chaff and wheat to do together, sayeth the LORD? Is not my word like a fire, sayeth the LORD, and like a hammer that breaketh the hard stone?
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.