'Sleep' in the Bible

So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam; and while he slept, He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.

When the sun was setting, a deep sleep overcame Abram; and a horror (terror, shuddering fear, nightmare) of great darkness overcame him.

And he came to a certain place and stayed overnight there because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down there [to sleep].

Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and he said, “Without any doubt the Lord is in this place, and I did not realize it.”

But Leah answered, “Is it a small thing that you have taken my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” So Rachel said, “Jacob shall sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”

When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must sleep with me [tonight], for I have in fact hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he slept with her that night.

This was my situation: by day the heat consumed me and by night the cold, and I could not sleep.

for that is his only covering; it is his clothing for his body. In what shall he sleep? And when he cries to Me [for help], I will hear him, for I am compassionate and gracious.

You shall certainly restore the pledge (security deposit) to him at sunset, so that he may sleep in his garment and bless you; and it will be credited to you as righteousness (right standing) before the Lord your God.

The Lord said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down [in death] with your fathers; and this people will arise and play the prostitute (commit apostasy) with the foreign gods [of the people] of the land, where they go to be among them. They will abandon (turn away from) Me and break My covenant which I have made with them.

But Jael, Heber’s wife, took a tent peg and a hammer in her hand, and came up quietly to him and drove the peg through his temple, and it went through into the ground; for he was sound asleep and exhausted. So he died.

So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks (braids) of his hair and wove them into the web]. And she fastened it with the pin [of the loom] and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and pulled out the pin of the [weaver’s] loom and the web.

She made Samson sleep on her knees, and she called a man and had him shave off the seven braids of his head. Then she began to abuse Samson, and his strength left him.

She said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as I have time after time and shake myself free.” For Samson did not know that the Lord had departed from him.

So David took the spear and the jug of water from beside Saul’s head, and they left, and no one saw or knew nor did anyone awaken, because they were all sound asleep, for a deep sleep from the Lord had fallen on them.

When your days are fulfilled and you lie down [in death] with your fathers (ancestors), I will raise up your descendant after you, who shall be born to you, and I will establish his kingdom.

Otherwise it will come about when my lord the king lies down [in death] with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be considered political enemies.”

On that night the king could not sleep; so he ordered that the book of records and memorable deeds, the chronicles, be brought, and they were read before the king.

“Amid disquieting thoughts from the visions of the night,When deep sleep falls on men,

So man lies down and does not rise [again].Until the heavens are no longer,The dead will not awake nor be raised from their sleep.

“In a dream, a vision of the night [one may hear God’s voice],When deep sleep falls on menWhile slumbering upon the bed,

In peace [and with a tranquil heart] I will both lie down and sleep,For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety and confident trust.

Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;Give light (life) to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,

Awake! Why do You sleep, O Lord?Awaken, do not reject us forever.

The stouthearted have been stripped of their spoil,They have slept the sleep [of death];And none of the warriors could use his hands.

At Your rebuke, O God of Jacob,Both rider and horse were cast into a dead sleep [of death].

Then the Lord awakened as from sleep,Like a [mighty] warrior who awakens from the sleep of wine [fully conscious of his power].

You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep [forgotten as soon as they are gone];In the morning they are like grass which grows anew—

Behold, He who keeps IsraelWill neither slumber [briefly] nor sleep [soundly].

It is vain for you to rise early,To retire late,To eat the bread of anxious labors—For He gives [blessings] to His beloved even in his sleep.

I certainly will not permit my eyes to sleepNor my eyelids to slumber,

When you lie down, you will not be afraid;When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

For the wicked cannot sleep unless they do evil;And they are deprived of sleep unless they make someone stumble and fall.

Give no [unnecessary] sleep to your eyes,Nor slumber to your eyelids;

How long will you lie down, O lazy one?When will you arise from your sleep [and learn self-discipline]?

“Yet a little sleep, a little slumber,A little folding of the hands to lie down and rest”—

When you walk about, they (the godly teachings of your parents) will guide you;When you sleep, they will keep watch over you;And when you awake, they will talk to you.

Laziness casts one into a deep sleep [unmindful of lost opportunity],And the idle person will suffer hunger.

Do not love [excessive] sleep, or you will become poor;Open your eyes [so that you can do your work] and you will be satisfied with bread.

“Yet a little sleep, a little slumber,A little folding of the hands to rest [and daydream],”

The sleep of a working man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the full stomach (greed) of the rich [who hungers for even more] will not let him sleep.

When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to see the activities [of mankind] that take place upon the earth—how some men seem to sleep neither day nor night—

(The Shulammite Bride)“I was asleep, but my heart was awake.A voice [in my dream]! My beloved was knocking:‘Open to me, my sister, my darling,My dove, my perfect one!For my head is drenched with the [heavy night] dew;My hair [is covered] with the dampness of the night.’

For the Lord has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep.He has closed your eyes, [you who are] the prophets;And He has covered your heads, [you who are] the seers.

“What shall I say?For He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done it;I will wander aimlessly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul.

At this I (Jeremiah) awoke and looked, and my [trancelike] sleep was sweet [in the assurance it gave] to me.

“When they are inflamed [with wine and lust during their drinking bouts], I will prepare them a feast [of My wrath]And make them drunk, that they may rejoiceAnd may sleep a perpetual sleepAnd not wake up,” declares the Lord.

“I will make her princes and her wise men drunk,Her governors and her commanders and her mighty warriors;They will sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake up,”Says the King—the Lord of hosts is His name.

“I will make a covenant of peace with them and will eliminate the predatory animals from the land so that they may live securely in the wilderness and sleep [safely] in the woods.

In the second year (604 b.c.) of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams which troubled and disturbed his spirit and [interfered with] his ability to sleep.

Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night fasting; and no music or entertainment was brought before him, and he remained unable to sleep.

Then I heard the sound of his words; and when I heard the sound of his words, I fell on my face in a deep sleep, with my face toward the ground.

Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake (resurrect), these to everlasting life, but some to disgrace and everlasting contempt (abhorrence).

And the angel who was speaking with me came back and awakened me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep.

Then Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him, and he took Mary [to his home] as his wife,

Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.

Taking the child’s hand, He said [tenderly] to her, “Talitha kum!”—which translated [from Aramaic] means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”

But as they were sailing, He fell asleep. And a fierce gale of wind swept down [as if through a wind tunnel] on the lake, and they began to be swamped, and were in great danger.

But Jesus took hold of her hand and spoke, saying, “Child, arise!”

Now Peter and those who were with him had been overcome with sleep; but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and splendor and majesty, and the two men who were standing with Him.

and He said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not fall into temptation.”

He said this, and after that said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him.”

However, Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was referring to natural sleep.

When the jailer, shaken out of sleep, saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped.

and there was a young man named Eutychus (“Lucky”) sitting on the window sill. He was sinking into a deep sleep, and as Paul kept on talking longer and longer, he was completely overcome by sleep and fell down from the third story; and he was picked up dead.

Do this, knowing that this is a critical time. It is already the hour for you to awaken from your sleep [of spiritual complacency]; for our salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed [in Christ].

That [careless and unworthy participation] is the reason why many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep [in death].

So then let us not sleep [in spiritual indifference] as the rest [of the world does], but let us keep wide awake [alert and cautious] and let us be sober [self-controlled, calm, and wise].

For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night.