A Letter That Has Not Been Read: Dreams in the Hebrew Bible (review)

The Jewish Quarterly Review, XCIII, Nos. 3-4 (January-April, 2003) 678-681 Shaul Bar. A Letter That Has Not Been Read: Dreams in the Hebrew Bible. Translated by Lenn J. Schramm. Monographs of the Hebrew Union College 25. 1. Edward Kiev Library Foundation Book. Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 2001. Pp. xii + 257. This study offers a thematic and literary survey of evidence for dreams. The main title of the work, taken from bBer 55b ("A dream that has not been interpreted is like a letter that has not been read"), indicates one of its positive features, namely the inclusion of rabbinic materials in the discussion . The biblical material on dreams is the focus, and its treatment is more complete, while the ancient Near Eastern material is used selectively to illuminate the biblical material. Following A. L. Oppenheim, Bar's first two chapters distinguish dreams according to two basic types, the prophetic and the symbolic. In the first type, the divine word is an announcement, an injunction or warning delivered to the dreamer; the meaning of the dream is clear and unambiguous, and the dreamer immediately grasps it. In such dreams, God or an angel appears to the dreamer, stands nearby and speaks. The message is primarily verbal, with the visual elements more restricted. In this category are the dreams of Jacob (Genesis 28 and 31), Solomon (1 Kings 3), and Abimelech (Genesis 20). In symbolic dreams, however, the visual is primary. There is no appearance from God; instead, the dreamer has visions that function as symbols with hidden meanings. Dreams in this category include Joseph's dreams (Genesis 37), those of the butler and baker (Genesis 39) and of Pharaoh (Genesis 41), the dream of the Midianite soldier (Judges 7), and Nebuchadnezzar's dreams (Daniel 2 and 4). Regarding the first type, Bar cites Y. Kaufman's observation (seconded by Oppenheim) that the Bible reserves prophetic dreams "for members of the chosen people and symbolic dreams for members of other peoples as well." This is an interesting claim and one that calls for some cultural analysis. In any case, it is to be noted that both types of dreams appear in extrabiblical literature. Chapter 3 examines various facets of dream interpretations: the etymology of *ptr and *pSr (following the work of S. D. Sperling), ancient terms for dream interpreters, dream books, dream interpreters in Israel, and dream interpretation in the Talmud (where literary aspects nicely come to the fore as compared to the more oral or visual modes of association in biblical material ). Egypt and Mesopotamia both had a literature of dream interpretation and professional dream-interpreters. In contrast, the Bible presents Joseph and Daniel as the only two such Israelite experts. Both figures are presented as active in foreign royal courts, and their abilities are designed ]it— erarily in order to confirm the superiority of the God of Israel. Chapter 4 surveys the perception of dreams in prophetic and wisdom literature. Pro- BAR, A LETTER THAT HAS NOT BEEN READ—SMITH679 phetic literature is ambivalent about dreams and visions. Unlike the Bible, the Talmud points to a guild of professional interpreters in Jerusalem (it also contains a short "dream book"). At the same time, the Talmud records skepticism about the value of dreams. The order of biblical books treated in this chapter is unclear; why Jeremiah before Isaiah, and why are Deuteronomy 13 and Psalm 126 included in this chapter? The chapter raises an interesting issue about objections to the claim that dreams are rooted in Israelite prophecy's rejection of determinism, a question that needs more comment and explanation; yet this conclusion needs to be brought into discussion with the positive treatment of dreams noted in Joel. Chapter 5 examines visions that seem possibly to be dreams or, at least, related to them by various features. Two particularly interesting examples involve Balaam and Samuel. The former is said in Num 24:4 to be "prostrate , but with eyes unveiled," a phrase that begs relating to psychological research on open-eyed visual experience during sleep. In his discussion of Samuel's initial experience of the divine in 1 Samuel 3, Bar notes A. MaIamat 's citation of...