In the biblical context, dreams are often seen as a means through which God communicates with individuals. Throughout the Scriptures, dreams serve as a vehicle for divine revelation, guidance, and prophecy. They are significant in both the Old and New Testaments, playing crucial roles in the lives of key biblical figures.

Old Testament

Dreams in the Old Testament are frequently depicted as messages from God. One of the earliest mentions is found in Genesis 20:3, where God warns Abimelech in a dream not to take Sarah as his wife. This instance underscores the protective and corrective nature of divine dreams.

Joseph, the son of Jacob, is perhaps the most famous dreamer in the Bible. His dreams, recorded in Genesis 37, foretold his future rise to power and the eventual bowing of his family before him. These dreams were pivotal in the unfolding of God's plan for the Israelites. Joseph's ability to interpret dreams also played a crucial role in his life, as seen in Genesis 40-41, where he interprets the dreams of Pharaoh's cupbearer, baker, and Pharaoh himself. His interpretations led to his rise to prominence in Egypt.

Another significant dream is that of King Nebuchadnezzar in the Book of Daniel. In Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar dreams of a great statue, which Daniel interprets as a prophecy concerning future kingdoms. This dream, along with others in the book, highlights the sovereignty of God over earthly kingdoms and the unfolding of divine plans.

New Testament

In the New Testament, dreams continue to serve as a means of divine communication. The Gospel of Matthew records several dreams associated with the birth and early life of Jesus. In Matthew 1:20, an angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in a dream, instructing him not to fear taking Mary as his wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. This dream reassures Joseph of God's plan and his role in it.

Further dreams guide the Holy Family's actions. In Matthew 2:12-13, the Magi are warned in a dream not to return to Herod, and Joseph is instructed in a dream to flee to Egypt with Mary and Jesus to escape Herod's wrath. These dreams emphasize God's protective guidance.

Theological Significance

Dreams in the Bible are often seen as a form of divine revelation, a way for God to communicate His will, provide guidance, or reveal future events. They are not random or insignificant but are purposeful and meaningful within the biblical narrative. The ability to interpret dreams is also portrayed as a gift from God, as seen in the lives of Joseph and Daniel.

While dreams are a significant means of communication in the Bible, they are always subject to God's sovereign will and purpose. They are not to be seen as a primary source of revelation today, as the canon of Scripture is complete. However, they serve as a reminder of God's intimate involvement in the lives of His people and His ability to guide and direct through various means.Acts 2:17
And it shall come to pass in the last days, said God, I will pour out of my Spirit on all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
Topicalbible.org

Matthew 2:13
And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be you there until I bring you word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
Topicalbible.org

Daniel 2:28-30
But there is a God in heaven that reveals secrets, and makes known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head on your bed, are these;
Topicalbible.org

Matthew 2:19-22
But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appears in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,
Topicalbible.org

Joel 2:28
And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
Topicalbible.org

Daniel 7:1-28
In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head on his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters.
Topicalbible.org

Daniel 2:4
Then spoke the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.
Topicalbible.org

Daniel 2:16-23
Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would show the king the interpretation.
Topicalbible.org

Acts 16:9
And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.
Topicalbible.org

Acts 10:10-16
And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance,
Topicalbible.org

Dream

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, Genesis 40:1-23; 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, Genesis 20:3-7 28:12-15 1 Samuel 28:6 Daniel 2:1-49 Joel 2:28 Matthew 1:20 Acts 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.

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 (Genesis 28:12; 31:10), Laban (31:24), Joseph (37:9-11), Gideon (Judges 7), and Solomon (1 Kings 3:5). Other significant dreams are also recorded, such as those of Abimelech (Genesis 20:3-7), Pharaoh's chief butler and baker (40:5), Pharaoh (41:1-8), the Midianites (Judges 7:13), Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 2:1; 4:10, 18), the wise men from the east (Matthew 2:12), and Pilate's wife (27:19).

To Joseph "the Lord appeared in a dream," and gave him instructions regarding the infant Jesus (Matthew 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" (Acts 16:9; see also 18:9; 27:23).

1. (n.) The thoughts, or series of thoughts, or imaginary transactions, which occupy the mind during sleep; a sleeping vision.

2. (n.) A visionary scheme; a wild conceit; an idle fancy; a vagary; a revery; -- in this sense, applied to an imaginary or anticipated state of happiness; as, a dream of bliss; the dream of his youth.

3. (n.) To have ideas or images in the mind while in the state of sleep; to experience sleeping visions; -- often with of; as, to dream of a battle, or of an absent friend.

4. (n.) To let the mind run on in idle revery or vagary; to anticipate vaguely as a coming and happy reality; to have a visionary notion or idea; to imagine.

5. (v. t.) To have a dream of; to see, or have a vision of, in sleep, or in idle fancy; -- often followed by an objective clause.

DREAM; DREAMER

drem, drem'-er (chalom, chelem; onar): In all time dreams and their interpretation have been the occasion of much curious and speculative inquiry. Because of the mystery by which they have been enshrouded, and growing out of a natural curiosity to know the future, much significance has been attached to them by people especially of the lower stages of culture. Even the cultured are not without a superstitious awe and dread of dreams, attaching to them different interpretations according to local color and custom.

Naturally enough, as with all other normal and natural phenomena for which men could assign no scientific and rational explanation, they would be looked upon with a certain degree of superstitious fear. "Dreams, Which are the children of an idle brain, Begot of nothing but vain fantasy, Which is as thin of substance as the air And more inconstant than the wind." -Shakespeare.

1. Physiological and Psychological Ground:

While a fully satisfactory theory of dreams has not yet been established and while it is hardly possible that there will ever be a satisfactory explanation for each individual dream, yet through the rapid discoveries of physiological psychology in the recent decade or more, much new light is thrown on the subject. With the contribution modern psychology has made to our knowledge of the association of ideas through the connected relation of certain cortical centers and areas, it has come to be pretty well established that the excitation of certain bodily organs or surfaces will stimulate certain brain areas. Conversely the stimulation of certain cortical areas will produce a response in certain bodily regions over which these centers or areas preside.

Connecting thought processes are therefore dependent upon the proper correlation of ideas through what are known physiologically as the association centers. If then it comes to pass that, as occurs in dreams, only fragmentary ideas or loosely connected trains of thought occur, and if, as frequently happens, there is momentary connection, but little connection with normal waking experience, it will easily be seen that the excitation of certain centers will awaken certain trains of thought which are but poorly related to the balance of one's thinking processes. Much is being said about the dissociation of ideas and the disturbance of personality of which dreams are one of several forms. Others are hallucinations, trances, visions, etc.

Dreams are abnormal and sometimes pathological. Sleep is a normal experience. Perfect and natural sleep should be without dreams of any conscious occurrence. Perhaps psychologically there can be no such thing as perfectly dreamless sleep. Such a condition would probably be death itself. Nature doubtless has her silent vigils, keeping watch in the chambers of the soul during the deepest sleep. The only difference is that they do not come to the threshold of consciousness. Thus, dreams are to the sleeping state what visions and hallucinations are to the waking state, and like them have their ground in a distorted image-making function. While the source of the materials and the excitant may not be the same in each case, yet functionally they are the same.

The stimuli of dreams may be of two kinds. First, they may be physical and objective, or they may be due to suggestions and the association of ideas. They may be due to some physical disorder, such as imperfect digestion or circulation, improper ventilation or heating, or an uncomfortable position. Since by the very nature of the case dreams do not occur in a conscious state, the real cause cannot easily be discoverable and then only after the subject is entirely awakened through the effects of it.

They may also be due to the association of ideas. Suggestion plays a large part. The vividness and recency of a conscious impression during the waking state may be thrown up from the subconscious region during the sleeping hours. The usual distorted aspect of dreams is doubtless due to the uncoupling of groups of ideas through the uncoupling of the cortical association areas, some of them being less susceptible than others to the existing stimulus.

The materials of dreams need not be recent; they may have been furnished by the conscious processes a long time before, but are brought to the threshold only by means of some train of ideas during a semi-conscious state. It is interesting to note that while time and space seem quite real in dreams, the amount covered in a single dream may occupy but a moment of time for the dreamer.

2. History of Belief in Dreams:

Dreams have always played an important part in the literature and religion of all peoples. They have furnished mythologies; they have been the sources of systems of necromancy; they have become both the source and the explanation of otherwise inexplicable acts of Providence. Growing out of them we have a theory of nightmares and demonology. They have become the working material of the prophet both Biblical and pagan. Medieval civilization is not without its lasting effects of dreams, and modern civilization still clings with something of reverence to the unsolved mystery of certain dreams. While we have almost emerged from anything like a slavish adherence to a superstitious belief in dreams, we must still admit the possibility of the profound significance of dreams in the impressions they make upon the subject.

3. Dreams in the Old Testament:

The Bible, contrary to a notion perhaps too commonly held, attaches relatively little religious significance to dreams. Occasionally, however, reference is made to communications from God through dreams (Genesis 20:6 1 Kings 3:5 Matthew 1:20; Matthew 2:12, 13, 19, 22). It recognizes their human relations more frequently. In the Old Testament literature, dreams play but little part except in the books of Genesis and Daniel, in which there are abundant references to them. For their moral bearings the most important ones perhaps are those referred to in Genesis 37:5-10. An uncritical attitude will give to them a lifeless and mechanical interpretation. A sympathetic and rational explanation gives them beauty, naturalness and significance. Joseph was the youngest and most beloved son of Jacob. He was just in the prime of adolescence, the very period of day dreaming. He was perhaps inordinately ambitious. This was doubtless heightened by the attentions of a doting father. The most natural dream would be that suggested by his usual waking state, which was one of ambition and perhaps unhealthy rivalry (see ASTRONOMY, sec. II, 6). The source of Pharaoh's dreams and his solicitude are likewise capable of interpretation on somewhat natural grounds (Genesis 41:7-32). The significance of them was given by Joseph.

Another illustration of the psychological exposition preceding is the dream of Solomon (1 Kings 3:5, 11-15). In this narrative, after Solomon had done what pleased Yahweh and had offered a most humble prayer on an occasion which to him was a great crisis and at the same time a moment of great ecstasy in his life, he doubtless experiences a feeling of sweet peace in consequence of it. His sleep would naturally be somewhat disturbed by the excitement of the day. The dream was suggested by the associations and naturally enough was the approving voice of Yahweh.

Dreaming and the prophetic function seem to have been closely associated (Deuteronomy 13:1, 3, 1). Whether from a coldly mechanical and superstitious, a miraculous, or a perfectly natural point of view, this relation is consistent. The prophet must be a seer, a man of visions and ideals. As such he would be subject, as in his waking states, so in his sleeping states, to extraordinary experiences. The remarkable dreams of Nebuchadnezzar, who stands out as an exceptional example, afford an illustration of what may be styled a disturbed personality (Daniel 2:3-45; Daniel 4:5-19). The effort made by the magicians, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers, according to the best skill of the Orientals, was unavailing. Daniel, whether by extraordinary intellectual insight or by Divine communication, was able by his interpretation and its moral to set before the king a powerful lesson.

The New Testament gives still less place and importance to dreams than the Old Testament. There are only six references and one citation to dreams or dreamers. It is significant that all these references are by Matthew, and still more significant that Jesus nowhere refers to dreams, evidently attaching little if any importance to them. The references in Matthew are confined entirely to warnings and announcements (Matthew 1:20; Matthew 2:12, 13, 19, 22; Matthew 27:19). Once a citation (Acts 2:17) is used for illustrative purposes (compare Joel 2:28). See also AUGURY, IV, 5; DIVINATION, VI, 1, l(b); MAGIC; REVELATION.

Whether God communicates directly or indirectly by dreams is still unsettled. With our present knowledge of spirit communication it would not seem unreasonable to assume that He may reveal Himself directly; and yet on the other hand the safest and perhaps surest explanation for our own day and experience is that in dream states the mind is more impressionable and responsive to natural causes through which God speaks and operates. That dreams have been and are valuable means of shaping men's thoughts and careers cannot be denied, and as such, have played an important part in the social and moral life of individuals and of society. A valuable modern illustration of this is the dream of Adoniram Judson Gordon (see How Christ Came to Church), through the influence of which his entire religious life and that of his church were completely transformed.

LITERATURE.

Judd, Psychology; Cutten, The Psychological Phenomena of Christianity; Ladd, Philosophy of Knowledge; Baldwin, Dictionary of Philosophy and Psychology; Ellis, The World of Dreams (Houghton, Mifflin Co.).

Walter G. Clippinger

JOSEPH'S DREAM

See ASTRONOMY, sec. II, 6; JOSEPH.

3677. onar -- a dream, in a dream
... a dream, in a dream. Part of Speech: Noun, Indeclinable, Other Type Transliteration:
onar Phonetic Spelling: (on'-ar) Short Definition: a dream Definition: a ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3677.htm - 6k

1797. enupniazomai -- to dream
... to dream. Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: enupniazomai Phonetic Spelling:
(en-oop-nee-ad'-zom-ahee) Short Definition: I dream Definition: I dream (see ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1797.htm - 7k

1798. enupnion -- a dream
... a dream. Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter Transliteration: enupnion Phonetic Spelling:
(en-oop'-nee-on) Short Definition: a dream, vision Definition: a dream, vision ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1798.htm - 7k

2493. chelem -- a dream
... 2492b, 2493. chelem. 2494 . a dream. Transliteration: chelem Phonetic
Spelling: (khay'-lem) Short Definition: dream. Word Origin ...
/hebrew/2493.htm - 6k

2472. chalom -- a dream
... 2471, 2472. chalom. 2473 . a dream. Transliteration: chalom Phonetic
Spelling: (khal-ome') Short Definition: dream. Word Origin ...
/hebrew/2472.htm - 6k

2492b. chalam -- to dream
... 2492a, 2492b. chalam. 2493 . to dream. Transliteration: chalam Short
Definition: had. Word Origin a prim. root Definition to dream ...
/hebrew/2492b.htm - 5k

1957. hazah -- to dream, rave
... to dream, rave. Transliteration: hazah Phonetic Spelling: (haw-zaw') Short Definition:
dreamers. ... root Definition to dream, rave NASB Word Usage dreamers (1). ...
/hebrew/1957.htm - 6k

2492. chalam -- to be healthy or strong
... to be healthy or strong. Transliteration: chalam Phonetic Spelling: (khaw-lam')
Short Definition: dream. cause to dreamer, be in good liking, recover ...
/hebrew/2492.htm - 5k

2370. chazah -- see, behold
... 10), see (2), seen (4), usually (1). behold, have a dream, see, be wont.
(Aramaic) or chazah (Aramaic) {khaz-aw'}; corresponding ...
/hebrew/2370.htm - 6k

2494. Chelem -- "strength," an Israelite
... NASB Word Usage Helem (1). Helem. From chalam; a dream; Chelem, an Israelite --
Helem. Compare Chelday. see HEBREW chalam. see HEBREW Chelday. 2493, 2494. ...
/hebrew/2494.htm - 6k

6622. pathar -- to interpret
... interpretation,. A primitive root; to open up, ie (figuratively) interpret (a dream) --
interpret(-ation, -er). 6621, 6622. pathar. 6623 . Strong's Numbers
/hebrew/6622.htm - 6k

7667. sheber -- a breaking, fracture, crushing, breach, crash
... Or sheber {shay'-ber}; from shabar; a fracture, figuratively, ruin; specifically,
a solution (of a dream) -- affliction, breach, breaking, broken(-footed ...
/hebrew/7667.htm - 6k

6623. pithron -- interpretation
... interpretation. Or pithron {pith-rone'}; from pathar; interpretation (of a dream) --
interpretation. see HEBREW pathar. 6622, 6623. pithron. 6624 . ...
/hebrew/6623.htm - 6k

The Fulfilment of a Dream of Pastor Hsi's
The Fulfilment of a Dream of Pastor Hsi's. <. The Fulfilment of
a Dream of Pastor Hsi's A. Mildred Cable. Produced by ...
//christianbookshelf.org/cable/the fulfilment of a dream of pastor hsis/

Dream and Reality
... THE ACTS CHAP. XIII TO END DREAM AND REALITY. 'The ... Word. That the gods come
down in the likeness of men is the dream of heathenism. ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture the acts/dream and reality.htm

A Terrible Dream
... Chapter 10. Retirement in Paddington; Wesley Slandered; Premonitions; A
Dream A Terrible Dream. Thursday, June 3.--- I received a ...
//christianbookshelf.org/wesley/the journal of john wesley/a terrible dream.htm

A Remarkable Dream
... Chapter 16. Windsor Park; Wesley as Art Critic; Glasgow and Perth; At 70,
Wesley Preaches to 30,000 People A Remarkable Dream. Tuesday ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/wesley/the journal of john wesley/a remarkable dream.htm

The Dream of the Tree Cut Down
... STORIES VI THE DREAM OF THE TREE CUT DOWN. ... I saw a dream which made me afraid; and
the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me. ...
/.../various/select masterpieces of biblical literature/vi the dream of the.htm

Dream Concerning the Founding of Constantinople.
... Chapter III Writings. 5. Dream concerning the Founding of Constantinople.
"As Constantine was sleeping in this city [Byzantium], he ...
/.../pamphilius/the life of constantine/5 dream concerning the founding.htm

Nebuchadnezzar's Dream
... In the Lands of the Heathen Chapter 40 Nebuchadnezzar's Dream. [This chapter
is based on Daniel 2..] Soon after Daniel and his companions ...
/.../white/the story of prophets and kings/chapter 40 nebuchadnezzars dream.htm

A Dream of the Future. February 3.
... A Dream of the Future. February 3. God grant that the day may come when in
front of the dwellings of the poor we may see real fountains ...
//christianbookshelf.org/kingsley/daily thoughts /a dream of the future.htm

My Dream Message
... TALK TWENTY-FIVE. MY DREAM MESSAGE. ... If they have some peculiar dream, they try to
interpret it or to get somebody else to do so. Now, God is reasonable. ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/naylor/heart talks/talk twenty-five my dream message.htm

Human Life a Dream
... Third Series Sermon 121 Human Life a Dream. "Even like as a dream when one awaketh;
so shalt thou make their image to vanish out of the city." Ps.73:20. ...
/.../wesley/sermons on several occasions/sermon 121 human life a.htm

Dream (82 Occurrences)
... 19). To Joseph "the Lord appeared in a dream," and gave him instructions
regarding the infant Jesus (Matthew 1:20; 2:12, 13, 19). ...
/d/dream.htm - 47k

Dreamed (20 Occurrences)
... (imp. & pp) of Dream. ... (WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS RSV). Genesis 37:5 Joseph dreamed
a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him all the more. ...
/d/dreamed.htm - 12k

Interpret (27 Occurrences)
... Genesis 40:8 They said to him, "We have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who
can interpret it." Joseph said to them, "Don't interpretations belong to God? ...
/i/interpret.htm - 15k

Dreamt (6 Occurrences)
... Noah Webster's Dictionary (pp) of Dream. ... Dreamt (6 Occurrences). Genesis 37:6 And
he said to them, Hear, I pray you, this dream, which I have dreamt: (DBY). ...
/d/dreamt.htm - 8k

Recounteth (13 Occurrences)
... Genesis 37:9 And he dreameth yet another dream, and recounteth it to his brethren,
and saith, 'Lo, I have dreamed a dream again, and lo, the sun and the moon ...
/r/recounteth.htm - 10k

Belteshaz'zar (8 Occurrences)
... Daniel 2:26 The king hath answered and said to Daniel, whose name 'is' Belteshazzar,
'Art thou able to cause me to know the dream that I have seen, and its ...
/b/belteshaz'zar.htm - 9k

Belteshazzar (8 Occurrences)
... Daniel 2:26 The king answered Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Are you able
to make known to me the dream which I have seen, and its interpretation? ...
/b/belteshazzar.htm - 10k

Dreams (34 Occurrences)
... Your old men will dream dreams. ... (BBE). Genesis 40:8 Then they said to him, We
have had a dream, and no one is able to give us the sense. ...
/d/dreams.htm - 17k

Butler (9 Occurrences)
... Genesis 40:5 And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream in one night,
each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the ...
/b/butler.htm - 11k

Cupbearer (10 Occurrences)
... Genesis 40:5 They both dreamed a dream, each man his dream, in one night, each man
according to the interpretation of his dream, the cupbearer and the baker of ...
/c/cupbearer.htm - 12k

What are some biblical examples of dream interpretation? | GotQuestions.org

Is it wrong for a Christian to have a dream catcher? | GotQuestions.org

What is the meaning of Nebuchadnezzar's dream in Daniel 2? | GotQuestions.org

Dream: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com

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