Difference between revisions of "Dream"

<p> ‘Dream’ may be defined as a series of thoughts, images, or other mental states, which are experienced during sleep. The words that are most frequently translated ‘dream’ in the [[Bible]] are חֲלוֹם are ὄναρ. In the OT dreams are described somewhat in detail, especially those of [[Jacob]] (Genesis 28:10-22), of [[Joseph]] (Genesis 37:5-10), of [[Nebuchadrezzar]] (Daniel 2, 4), and of Daniel (Daniel 7). In the NT, the only instances given are those of the appearance of the angel to Joseph (Matthew 1:20-23; Matthew 2:13; Matthew 2:19-20), the dream of the [[Magi]] (Matthew 2:12), and the notable dream of Pilate’s wife (Matthew 27:19). In spite of the fact that certain dreams are set out with considerable fullness of detail, the instances recorded are not numerous, which seems to indicate that God’s revelations by this medium are to be regarded as exceptional and providential rather than as the usual means of communication of the [[Divine]] will. The [[Fathers]] were in the habit of warning the [[Christians]] against the tendency to consider dreams as omens in a superstitions sense. </p> <p> The only references to dreams or dreaming in the apostolic writings are Acts 2:17 ‘your old men shall dream dreams’ (quoted from Joel 2:28), and Judges 1:8 ‘these also (the false teachers of v. 4) in their dreamings defile the flesh’: the reference is understood by Bigg ( <i> [[Second]] Pet. and Jude </i> [ <i> International Critical [[Commentary]] </i> , 1901]), following von Soden and Spitta, to be to the attempt of the false teachers to support their doctrines by revelations. </p> <p> The earliest theories present the dream-world as real but remote-a region where the second self wanders in company with other second selves. The next stage is that of symbolic pictures unfolded to the inner organs of perception by some supernatural being. the general depression of vital activities during sleep may produce complete unconsciousness, especially during the early part of the night, but portions of the brain may be in activity in dreaming, with the accompanying partial consciousness. It was asserted by the Cartesians and Leibniz, and as stoutly denied by Locke, that the soul is always thinking; but many modern writers consider that dreaming takes place only during the process of waking. It is generally admitted that, whilst for the most part the material of our dreams is drawn from our waking experiences, the stimuli, external or internal, acting upon the sense organs during sleep produce the exaggerated and fantastic impressions in the mind which are woven into the fabric of our dreams. On the other hand, F. W. H. Myers ( <i> Human [[Personality]] </i> ) regards dreams, with certain other mental states, as being ‘uprushes’ from the subliminal self, and sleep with all its phenomena as the refreshing of the soul by the influences of the world of spirit. This view, if correct, would afford scope for the revelation of God’s will as narrated in the biblical accounts, if not in exceptional experiences of the present time. At any rate, there is nothing in modern psychology to preclude the possibility of Divine manifestations in dreams. [[Many]] recent writers enjoin the cultivation of restfulness and repose of the soul in order that sleep may be beneficial and may not be disturbed by unpleasant dreams. [[George]] [[Macdonald]] sings in his <i> [[Evening]] [[Hymn]] </i> : </p> <p> ‘Nor let me wander all in vain </p> <p> Through dreams that mock and flee; </p> <p> But even in visions of the brain </p> <p> Go wandering toward Thee.’ </p> <p> Literature.-Article‘Dreams’ in <i> Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) </i> , ‘Dream’ In <i> Dict. of [[Christ]] and the [[Gospels]] </i> , and ‘Dreams and Sleep’ in <i> Encyclopaedia of [[Religion]] and [[Ethics]] </i> ; J. Sully, <i> Illusions </i> ( <i> ISS </i> [Note: SS International Science Series.], 1882); F. W. H. Myers, <i> Human Personality </i> , new ed., 1907; G. T. <i> Ladd, [[Doctrine]] of [[Sacred]] [[Scripture]] </i> , 1883, ii. 429-436; S Freud, <i> [[Die]] Traumdeutung </i> , 1900 (Eng. translation, <i> The [[Interpretation]] of [[Dreams]] </i> , 1913). A full bibliography will be found in Baldwin’s <i> Dict </i> . <i> of [[Philosophy]] and psychology </i> , vol. iii. Pt. ii. [1905] p. 1034. </p> <p> J. G. James. </p>

<p> A. Noun. </p> <p> <em> Chălôm </em> (חֲלֹם, Strong'S #2472), “dream.” This noun appears about 65 times and in all periods of biblical Hebrew. </p> <p> The word means “dream.” It is used of the ordinary dreams of sleep: “Then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions …” (Job 7:14). The most significant use of this word, however, is with reference to prophetic “dreams” and/or “visions.” Both true and false prophets claimed to communicate with [[God]] by these dreams and visions. Perhaps the classical passage using the word in this sense is Deut. 13:1ff.: “If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass.…” This sense, that a dream is a means of revelation, appears in the first biblical occurrence of <em> chălôm </em> (or <em> chălôm </em> ): “But God came to [[Abimelech]] in a dream by night …” (Gen. 20:3). </p> <p> B. Verb. </p> <p> Ch <em> ă </em> lam(חָלַם, Strong'S #2492), “to become healthy or strong; to dream.” This verb, which appears 27 times in the Old Testament, has cognates in Ugaritic, Aramaic, Syriac, Coptic, Arabic, and Ethiopic. The meaning, “to become healthy,” applies only to animals though “to dream” is used of human dreams. Gen. 28:12, the first occurrence, tells how [[Jacob]] “dreamed” that he beheld a ladder to heaven. </p>

<p> (חֲלוֹם, chalom'; Sept. ἐνύπνιον; but καθ᾿ ὕπνον and κατ᾿ ὄναρ in Matthew are generally used for "in a dream"). [[Dreams]] have been the subject of much curious speculation in all ages. The ancients had various theories respecting them, the most notable of which for our present purpose is that of [[Homer]] (Iliad, 1:63), who declares that "they come from Jove." The most philosophic opinion of antiquity respecting dreams was that of Aristotle, who thought that every object of sense produces upon the human soul a certain impression, which remains for some time after the object that made it is removed; and which, being afterwards recognised by the perceptive faculty in sleep, gives rise to the varied images which present themselves. This view nearly approaches that of modern mental science, which teaches that dreams are ordinarily the re-embodiment of thoughts which have before, in some shape or other, occupied our minds (Elwin, Operations of the [[Mind]] in Sleep, Lond. 1843). They are broken fragments of our former conceptions revived, and heterogeneously brought together. If they break off from their connecting chain and become loosely associated, they exhibit oft-times absurd combinations, but the elements still subsist. If, for instance, any irritation, such as pain, fever, etc., should excite the perceptive organs while the reflective ones are under the influence of sleep, we have a consciousness of objects, colors, or sounds being presented to us, just as if the former organs were actually stimulated by having such impressions communicated to them by the external senses; whilst, in consequence of the repose of the reflecting power, we are unable to rectify the illusion, and conceive that the scenes passing before us, or the sounds that we hear, have a real existence. This want of mutual cooperation between the different faculties of the mind may account for the disjointed character of dreams. This is in accordance with the theory of dreams alluded to in Ecclesiastes 5:7; Isaiah 29:8. </p> <p> "The main difference between our sleeping and waking thoughts appears to lie in this, that in the former case the perceptive faculties of the mind (the sensational powers [not their organs; see Butler, Analogy, part 1, c. 1], and the imagination which combines the impressions derived from them) are active, while the reflective powers (the reason or judgment by which we control those impressions, and distinguish between those which are imaginary or subjective and those which correspond to, and are produced by, objective realities) are generally asleep. Milton's account of dreams (in Par. Lost, 5:100-113) seems as accurate as it is striking. [[Thus]] it is that the impressions of dreams are in themselves vivid, natural, and picturesque, occasionally gifted with an intuition beyond our ordinary powers, but strangely incongruous and often grotesque; the emotion of surprise or incredulity, which arises from a sense of incongruity, or of unlikeness to the ordinary course of events, being in dreams a thing unknown. The mind seems to be surrendered to that power of association by which, even in its waking hours, if it be inactive and inclined to 'musing,' it is often carried through a series of thoughts connected together by some vague and accidental association, until the reason, when it starts again into activity, is scarcely able to trace back the slender line of connection. The difference is that, in this latter case, we are aware that the connection is of our own making, while in sleep it appears to be caused by an actual succession of events. Such is usually the case; yet there is a class of dreams, seldom noticed, and, in. deed, less common, but recognized by the experience of many, in which the reason is not wholly asleep. In these cases it seems to look on as it were from without, and so to have a double consciousness: on the one hand we enter into the events of the dream, as though real; on the other we have a sense that it is but a dream, and a fear lest we should awake and its pageant should pass away. In either case the ideas suggested are accepted by the mind in dreams at once and inevitably, instead of being weighed and tested, as in our waking hours. </p> <p> But it is evident that the method of such suggestion is still undetermined, and, in fact, is no more capable of being accounted for by any single cause than the suggestion of waking thoughts. The material of these latter is supplied either by ourselves, through the senses, the memory, and the imagination, or by other men, generally through the medium of words, or, lastly, by the direct action of the [[Spirit]] of God, or of created spirits of orders superior to our own, or the spirit within us. So also it is in dreams. In the first place, although memory and imagination supply most of the material of dreams, yet physical sensations of cold and heat, of pain or of relief, even actual impressions of sound or of light will often mold or suggest dreams, and the physical organs of speech will occasionally be made use of to express the emotions of the dreamer. In the second place, instances have been known where a few words whispered into a sleeper's ear have produced a dream corresponding to their subject. On these two points experience gives undoubted testimony; as to the third, it can, from the nature of the case, speak but vaguely and uncertainly. The [[Scripture]] declares, not as any strange thing, but as a thing of course, that the influence of the Spirit of [[God]] upon the soul extends to its sleeping as well as its waking thoughts. It declares that God communicates with the spirit of man directly in dreams, and also that he permits created spirits to have a like communication with it. Its declaration is to be weighed, not as an isolated thing, but in connection with the general doctrine of spiritual influence, because any theory of dreams must be regarded as a part of the general theory of the origination of all thought." </p> <p> Whatever may be the difficulties attending the subject, still we know that dreams have formed a channel through which [[Jehovah]] was pleased in former times to reveal his character and dispensations to his people. This method of divine communication is alluded to in Job 33:14. The most remarkable instances recorded in the Old [[Testament]] are those of [[Abimelech]] with regard to [[Abraham]] (Genesis 20:3), [[Jacob]] on his way to [[Padan-Aram]] (Genesis 28:8), and again on returning thence (Genesis 31:10), [[Laban]] in pursuing Jacob (Genesis 31:24), [[Joseph]] respecting his future advancement (Genesis 37:6-11), [[Gideon]] (Judges 7) and [[Solomon]] (1 Kings 3:5). In the New Testament (as was predicted, Joel 2:28) we have the equally clear cases of Joseph respecting the infant [[Jesus]] (Matthew 1:20; Matthew 2:12-13; Matthew 2:19), [[Paul]] (Acts 16:9; Acts 18:9; Acts 27:23), and perhaps Pilate's wife (Matthew 27:19). </p> <p> "It must be observed that, in accordance with the principle enunciated by Paul in 1 Corinthians 14:15, dreams, in which the understanding is asleep, are recognized indeed as a method of divine revelation, but placed below the visions of prophecy, in which the understanding plays its part. It is true that the book of Job, standing as it does on the basis of 'natural religion,' dwells on dreams and 'visions of deep sleep' as the chosen method of God's revelation of himself to man (see Job 4:13; Job 7:14; Job 33:15). But in Numbers 12:6; Deuteronomy 13:1; Deuteronomy 13:3; Deuteronomy 13:5; Jeremiah 27:9; Joel 2:28, etc., dreamers of dreams, whether true or false, are placed below 'prophets,' and even below 'diviners;' and similarly in the climax of 1 Samuel 28:6, we read that,'the Lord answered [[Saul]] not, neither by dreams, nor by [[Urim]] [by symbol], nor by prophets.' Under the [[Christian]] dispensation, while we frequently read of trances (ἐκστάσεις ) and visions (ὀπτασίαι, ὁράματα ), dreams are not referred to as regular 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. Thus we have the record of the dreams of Abimelech (Genesis 20:3-7); Laban (Genesis 31:24); of the chief butler and baker (Genesis 40:5); of [[Pharaoh]] (Genesis 41:1-8); of the [[Midianite]] (Judges 7:13); of [[Nebuchadnezzar]] (Daniel 2:1, etc.; Daniel 4:10-18); of the magi (Matthew 2:12), and of Pilate's wife (Matthew 27:19). [[Many]] of these dreams, moreover, were symbolical and obscure, so as to require an interpreter. Again, 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. 'So it is in the case. of Abraham (Genesis 15:12, and perhaps 1-9), of Jacob (Genesis 28:12-15), of Joseph (Genesis 37:5-10), of Solomon (1 Kings 3:5), and, in the N.T., a similar analogy prevails in the case of the otherwise uninspired Joseph (Matthew 1:20; Matthew 2:13; Matthew 2:19; Matthew 2:22). It is to be observed, moreover, that they belong especially to the earliest age, and become less frequent as the revelations of prophecy increase. The only exception to this (at least in the O.T.) is found in the dreams and 'visions of the night' given to Daniel (2:19; 7:1), apparently in order to put to shame the falsehoods of the Chaldaean belief in prophetic dreams and in the power of interpretation, and yet to bring out the truth latent therein (comp. Paul's miracles at Ephesus, Acts 19:11-12, and their effect, 18-20). </p> <p> "The general conclusion therefore is, first, that the Scripture claims the dream, as it does every other action of the human mind, as a medium through which God may speak to man either directly, that is, as we call it, 'providentially,' or indirectly in virtue of a general influence upon all his thoughts; and, secondly, that it lays far greater stress on that divine influence by which the understanding also is affected, and leads us to believe that as such influence extends more and more, revelation by dreams, unless in very peculiar circumstances, might be expected to pass away." (See the [Am.] Christ. Rev. October 1857.) </p> <p> The Orientals, and in particular the Hebrews, greatly regarded dreams, and applied for their interpretation to those who undertook to explain them. Such diviners have been usually called oneirocritics, and the art itself oneiromancy. 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. (See [[Divination]]). It is quite clear from the inspired history that dreams were looked upon by the earliest nations of antiquity as premonitions from their idol gods of future events. One part of Jehovah's great plan in revealing, through this channel, his designs towards Egypt, Joseph individually, and his brethren generally, was to correct this notion. The same principle is apparent in the divine power bestowed upon Daniel to interpret dreams. Jehovah expressly forbade his people from observing dreams, and from consulting explainers of them. He condemned to death all who pretended to have prophetic dreams, and to foretell events, even though what they foretold came to pass, if they had any tendency to promote idolatry (Deuteronomy 13:1-4). 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 (Numbers 12:6; compare the case of Saul, 1 Samuel 28:6-7). False and true dreams are expressly contrasted in Jeremiah 23:25; Jeremiah 23:28. (See [[Night-Vision]]). </p>