DREAMS IN THE JEWISH BIBLE
There are more than a dozen dreams and numerous dream-like visions in the Jewish Bible/Old Testament —the Torah, Prophets, and Writings. (There are more than a half dozen dreams in the Christian Bible/New Testament.) God speaks to prophets and kings in dreams and visions; God speaks directly, not through a dream or a vision, only to Moses: Occasionally, dreamers interpret others dreams. The biblical dreams (sefaria.org) offer guidance, prophecy, insight and wisdom:
Genesis 46:2 “God called to Israel in a vision by night: “Jacob! Jacob!” He answered, “Here.”
Exodus 3:2 And the angel of (God) appeared unto him (Moses) in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush.”
Numbers 13:1 “If there is a prophet among you, I, God, do make Myself known unto him in a vision, I do speak with him in a dream.”
Joel 2:28-32 “I will pour out My spirit on all flesh; Your sons and daughters shall prophesy; Your old men shall dream dreams, And your young men shall see visions.”
Jacob’s Ladder
For JASD, the dream, Jacob’s Ladder, a mystical occurrence beautifully told in Genesis 28, is an allegory of the two-way communication dreams tender between God and humankind. Like angels ascending and descending Jacob’s ladder, dreams link the heaven and the earth, the cosmic and the physical.
One night, Jacob, traveling to Haran to find a wife, put a stone under his head and slipped into sleep. Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely יהוה is present in this place, and I did not know it! … How awesome is this place! This is none other than the abode of God, and that is the gateway to heaven.” – Genesis 29:17
OTHER NOTABLE Biblical Dreams:
Two dreams, same message means the prophecy will come to be.
For biblical references (and a wealth of information on Jewish texts, translations, commentaries), go to sefaria.org
Genesis 15 – The word of God came to Abram in a vision and told him, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them — So shall your offspring be.”
Genesis 20: 3-7 — God came to Abimelech, king of Gerar.. in a dream of the night and warned the king against taking Sarah, because she was Abram’s wife, not his sister as they told him.
Genesis: 25 After the dream of angels ascending and descending a ladder, Jacob wrestles with “a figure’” until the ‘break of dawn. The figure, in some versions an angel, said,“Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with beings divine and human, and have prevailed.” Jacob responded: “I have seen a divine being face to face, yet my life has been preserved.”
Genesis 37: 5-8 —Joseph dreams of his future as a powerbroker. He dreams 11 sheaves of grain stand up and bow down to him. Then, he dreams the same dream, but 11 stars, and the moon, and the sun, bow. Joseph tells his brothers the dream, and they sell him into slavery. He is imprisoned in Egypt, where the Pharaoh learns Joseph interprets dreams.
Genesis 41: 1- 4: Pharaoh dreams of seven healthy, fat cows, and then, seven lean, scrawny cows. The thin cows eat the fat cows.
Genesis 41:32: Pharaoh dreams of seven healthy, full sheaves ofgrain, And then seven sheaves of grain blasted by the wind. “The dreams are one and the same,” Joseph explained. “God has told Pharaoh what (God) is about to do,”
Joseph warned Pharaoh there would be seven years of plenty in the land, then seven years of famine. Joseph prescribed a public policy of storing food during the periods of abundance to prevent the Egyptians from starving during the times of abject food shortages. That came to pass.
Numbers 12:4-9 GOD came down in a pillar of cloud, stopped at the entrance of the Tent, and called out, “Aaron and Miriam!”for their jealously God spoke through their brother Moses and not through them. /Hear these My words: When prophets of GOD arise among you, I make Myself known to them in a vision, I speak with them in a dream. /Not so with My servant Moses; he is trusted throughout My household. /With him I speak mouth to mouth, plainly and not in riddles, and he beholds GOD’s likeness. How then did you not shrink from speaking against My servant Moses!” /Still incensed with them for speaking against Moses, GOD departed.
1 Kings 3: God, in a dream, grants King Solomon the gift of wisdom. At Gibeon, God appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God asked Solomon, “What shall I grant you?” Solomon asked for “an understanding mind to judge Your people, to distinguish between good and bad…” God grants Solomon “a wise and discerning mind.”“Then Solomon awoke: it was a dream!”
Daniel 1:17 Daniel, a court adviser to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, like Jospeh, possessed an “understanding in all visions and dreams.” The king, famous for magnificent gardens outside his palace, demanded interpretation of a dream “troubling his spirit.” The image in the dream Daniel 2:28 was a huge figure made of metal but “its feet part of iron, and part of clay.”
Daniel told the king the dream portended his domain was destined to collapse. Filled with hubris rather than gratitude for his lavish reign, Nebuchadnezzar defied God, with dire consequences. The king commanded the people worship a golden image. His kingdom disintegrated, and he descended into madness. The king became, as another dream portended, a grass-eating beast. His understanding returned after seven years. “Nebuchadnezzar’s sanity returned and his kingdom and glory were restored.”
In the five books of the Torah, there are no women dreamers and few commoners dreaming. Fortunately, the power of dreams is open to all of us to call upon in our daily lives: Job 33:14-18 –“In a dream, a night vision, When deep sleep falls on everyone/While they slumber on their beds./Then everyone’s understanding is opened.”
Dreams are one way. God communicates with humankind. It’s up to us to listen to and express the guidance, wisdom, and understanding in the messages from the Divine.
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