DREAMS IN THE BIBLE

Dreams sent from God represent an important theme that runs throughout the Bible, both OT and NT. Their association with the visions and oracles received by the prophets is a bit uncertain. For example, Thomson notes the close association of dreams with prophets in passages such as Deuteronomy 13:15; I Samuel 9:9; and Jeremiah 23:25,32. However, he feels that the last verses mentioned indicate that the Word of God given through the prophets was superior. And Bright goes as far as to state: “So far as we know, the classical prophets never received divine revelation through dreams (as contrasted to visionary experiences).”

Stead, however, rightly points out that “Jeremiah 23:28 is not a denunciation of all visions and dreams per se but rather an attack on the false dreamers.” He also notes the poetic parallelism between prophecy and dream in passages such as Numbers 12:6; Isaiah 29:7; Job 4:13, 7:14, 20:8; 33:15; and Joel 2:28.

Stead also notes that there are some cases that are difficult to classify. For example, the eight night visions found in Zechariah are usually called such because of their introduction in Zechariah 1:8, which reads literally: “I saw the night.” He particularly points to Zechariah 4:1 which “implies that the preceding vision in Zechariah 3 occurred during sleep.”

Moving to the New Testament, Croy notes that the Greek word for dream only appears in Matthew's Gospel. However, the same word is used in Acts10:3 to seeing a vision in the afternoon and a dream in Acts 16:9. Because of that, J. Miller says, “A number of scholars prefer combinative expressions such as 'dream-vision' or 'dream/vision.'”

In terms of teachings in the Bible regarding dreams in general (not just divinely inspired ones), one can point to the following passages:

    Ecclesiastes 5:3 – “For dreams come with many cares.” The Teacher compares them to the words of fools.

    Isaiah 29:7-8 – A dream is called “a vision of the night.”

    Job 20:8 – Zophar also calls them visions of the night and implies that they are insubstantial, fleeting.

    Numbers 12:6 is another passage that has been invoked to prove that dreams are inferior to prophetic visions. However, Thomson rightly points out that both dreams and visions are only being compared to God's direct communication with Moses.

Next, let's consider specific dream-visions given by God throughout the Bible. Prior to the Joseph Cycle in Genesis, there are only four definite instances of God communicating through dreams:

    Genesis 20:3-6: God warns King Abimelech to avoid having relations with Sarah.

    Genesis 28:10-17: Jacob has his vision of angels going up and down a staircase to heaven, and God predicts a bright future of Jacob and his descendants.

    Genesis 31:10-11: Jacob has a dream in which the angel of God tells him how he can increase his flock.

    Genesis 31:24: God comes to Laban in a dream by night and warns him not to take any action against Jacob for leaving with his rightful possessions.

In addition, I think we should consider the strange nighttime encounter of Jacob wrestling with the angel in Genesis 32:24-30 as a possible dream revelation for the following reasons.With the inclusion of this last passage, the five instances above form a symmetrical pattern shown below.

A. Warning against taking action against a patriarch (Genesis 20:3-6)

        B. Jacob is blessed by God (Genesis 28:10-17)

                C. Specific instructions to Jacob (Genesis 31:10-11)

A'. Warning against taking action against a patriarch (Genesis 31:24)

        B'. Jacob is blessed by God (Genesis 32:24-30)

The similarities between A and A' have been enumerated by Victor Hamilton as the fact that “an outsider is duped by a Hebrew. The outsider is enraged and intent on settling the score. Before he can retaliate, God speaks to him in a nocturnal dream, and deters him from reciprocation.” Interestingly, A and A' involve God protecting tricksters, but in Section C it is God Himself who is the trickster.

Concerning B and B', one can note that both events are supernatural encounters with the Divine taking place at night right at the border of the Promised Land. And the end result of both is a blessing on Jacob. Hunt says, “These two events parallel each other symmetrically at two significant points in the cycle...extending from a promise to his realization...”

Moving on to the story of Joseph, we see that dreams become even more important to the flow of the narrative. In fact, the word “dream” appears 28 times. This is significant because the number 7 and its exact multiples in the Bible symbolically imply perfection or completion. There is a definite pattern to the six specific dreams in the story, and each pair moves the narrative along to the next important stage.

    A. Joseph's two dreams concerning his future elevation above the rest of his family are the direct precipitating factor in his subsequent treatment by his brothers which moves him from Canaan to Egypt (Genesis 37).

    B. Joseph's interpretation of his two cell-mates' dreams serves as the eventual reason behind his release from prison (Genesis 40).

    C. Joseph's interpretation of the Pharaoh's two dreams elevates him to a position of power from which he can save the rest of his family (Genesis 41).

Interestingly, the first and last of these six dreams involves sheaves/stalks of grain. Also, the interpretations of the first three are positive in nature whereas the last three predict dire consequences.

Concerning the first two dreams, it has been pointed out that whereas the first one accurately foretold Joseph's elevation over his brothers and obviously came from God, there is some doubt as to the second dream. It has been suggested that it appears to be more a case of wish fulfillment than actual prophecy in light of the fact that (a) Joseph's parents never did bow down to him since his mother died before the family was reunited in Egypt and (b) we see that instead it was Joseph who fell down before Jacob instead (Genesis 46:29). If this interpretation is true then it may help to explain why God allowed Joseph to suffer so much since those experiences were needed to turn him from the spoiled favorite child into a mature person.

The above may also explain why God no longer trusted Joseph to receive any more dream-visions himself but was subsequently relegated to explaining others' dreams. There is an interesting word play between the Joseph's explanations of the two dreams in prison. With the cup-bearer, Pharaoh will lift up his head (i.e. elevate his position) whereas the baker will have his head lifted off of him. The same Hebrew idiom can be translated as “lift up” or “lift off.”

The pair of dreams in Genesis 41 may actually serve as an illustration of Sigmund Freud's contention (in his The Interpretation of Dreams) that people often have multiple dreams in one night concerning the same situation. In those cases, the last of the dreams is usually the one with the least symbolism and is closer to the subject at hand. Note that it is Pharaoh's second dream that comes closest to predicting the upcoming failure of the grain crop.

The story of Joseph and that of Daniel have notable parallels in that both of them not only received dream-visions from God but they were also well known in royal circles for being able to interpret them for non-Israelites in pagan lands. Also, the dreams appear in pairs in both cases. However, there is a marked difference between the two situations in that Joseph first receives dreams and only later interprets them for others whereas Daniel first interprets them for others and only later receives his own dream revelations. I am not sure of the reason behind this difference unless it indicates that Daniel, unlike Joseph, was spiritually mature at an early age and could be better trusted to handle personal revelations.

The dreams in Daniel 2 and 4 both occur during the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar, and although they are separated from one another in the text, they really are a matched pair. The King's first dream concerns the famous statue with feet of clay. It is a mighty edifice with elements representing various coming kingdoms, and Nebuchadnezzar himself has the place of honor as the head of gold. But the statue as a whole suffers a mighty fall and is destroyed. In Daniel 4, the vision involves a mighty tree which also suffers a fall when it is chopped down leaving only its stump and roots. Again, the tall object is the King, and he will suffer a fall when his reason is taken away temporarily.

The next two dreams are those given to Daniel himself during Belshazzer's reign and are recorded in chapters 7 and 8. These both involve conflicts between bizarre animals (nations) having multiple horns (rulers). In both cases, Daniel is unable to make sense out of the visions until supernatural entities reveal the interpretations to him. For a further discussion of the visions in Daniel see my post “The Book of Daniel: Introduction to the Literary Structure.”

The next group of night-visions we encounter are those found in Zechariah. Stead outlines the eight dreams as a simple chiastic (mirror-image) structure. My more detailed literary analysis in the post entitled “Zechariah 1-8: Introduction to the Literary Structure” indicates that the picture is a little more complicated than that. However, there is a definitely symmetrical pattern present. For more on these visions, see that post.

Moving on to the New Testament, we find that the word “dream” is found in the Gospels only in Matthew. Again, one can discern a pattern behind the various dream occurrence there:

    A. Joseph is told not to be afraid of taking Mary as his wife (Matthew 1:20)

        B. The wise men are warned not to return to Herod (Matthew 2:12)

            C'. Angel of the Lord tells Joseph to flee to Egypt (Matthew 2:13)

            C'. Angel of the Lord tells Joseph to leave Egypt (Matthew 2:19)

    B'. Joseph is warned to avoid Herod's son Archelaus (Matthew 2:22)

A'. Pilate's wife tells her husband to avoid Jesus (Matthew 27:19)

Although the parallel between A and A' is not that obvious, both dreams concern husbands and wives. Croy notes that the first dream gives reassurance to a husband while the last dream in Matthew gives a warning to one.

The last definite dreams found in the NT appear in the Book of Acts, and they also occur as a matched pair. In Acts 16:9, Paul has a night-vision in which a man from Macedonia appears saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” It has been asked how Paul knew he was a Macedonian, with all sorts of far-fetched explanations given. The most obvious reason is found right in the man's speech. Of course he is a Macedonian.

Then in Acts 18:9, Paul receives another night-vision in which Paul is told by God not to be worried about remaining in Corinth to minister. As a result of that similar direction as to where to continue his missionary efforts, Paul stays in Corinth for 1½ years. Note that in both cases, Paul is directed by God to concentrate on the European continent instead of Asia, both Macedonia and Corinth being located in modern day Greece.

By considering such a single theme as “dreams” and tracing their occurrences throughout the Bible, it can be seen how God weaves certain recurring patterns through biblical history. And it also helps us to better interpret the specific instances in which dreams are featured.