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17 1 Divine Dream Dilemmas Biblical Visions and Dreams BART J. KOET The biblical traditions frequently mentioned dreams and visions as vital means of human-divine communication, and these traditions form the foundation for understanding Christianity’s approach to dreams. As expressed in the wisdom attributed to the wise King Solomon: “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Prov. 29:18).1 However, this might lead us to the hasty conclusion that all dreams were understood to come from God. It is often assumed that in ancient times every dream was believed to come from God or the gods. In early Greek culture, Homer’s epic poems the Iliad and Odyssey presented dreams as coming from divine sources. But the philosopher Aristotle did not accept that dreams were from a divine source. So we must look for scriptural evidence to determine whether, in the Bible, all dreams were understood to be from a divine origin. These are our divine dream dilemmas: Are dreams in Christian Holy Scripture regarded as coming from the divine realm? If not all dreams are seen as coming from the divine realm, where do the other ones come from? How can we tell the difference between the two? There is no single definition of dreams and no universal view on dreams in the biblical traditions. I write about the biblical traditions in the plural because there are many different streams in the Old Testament (OT), New Testament (NT), rabbinical material, and early Church literature. This chapter thus sketches a broad portrait of the biblical views on dreams and visions. Dreams in the Bible: Some Philological Facts Let us start with the language used to describe dreams. For the OT, which was written in Hebrew, the most important word for dreaming is chalom. However, an important dictionary provides the definition: “be healthy,” 18 BA RT J. KOET “dream,” “become a man.”2 These multiple connotations indicate an intriguing relation between dreaming and male development, which could be interpreted to include a sexual dimension. If we look to the Greek language—for the NT was written in Greek—we see another interesting phenomenon. In Greek there are dozens of words that can be used to indicate dreamlike phenomenona.3 This suggests that dreams are a kind of experience quite difficult to grasp in simple conceptual terms. In fact, in both the Greek and Hellenistic literature we find an inconsistent use of words for dreams and visions (e.g., the NT authors Matthew and Luke use different Greek terms to refer to dreaming). Opinions Regarding the Origin of Dreams In the ancient world, the interpretation of dreams was closely related to religion. An example of this was the Persian magian. The magian could read God’s laws in the stars and also interpret dreams as messages from God. The three wise men at the birth of Jesus are described in Matthew 2:1 as such magoi (the plural of magian), insofar as they follow a star and interpret their dreams. It is therefore not surprising that this gospel in the beginning mentions not only the dreams of Joseph but also those of the so-called wise men (Matt. 2:12). The reading of the stars, the interpretation of dreams, and the analysis of the scriptures in this story are strongly linked. This is an example of how in ancient times these activities were seen as a way to gain a better understanding of the divine laws of the universe, of the divine wisdom, and even of the future. In ancient Greek literature we often find that dreams are seen as messages from a god.5 A good example is the beginning of the first book of Homer’s Iliad, in which Achilles said to the assembly: “Son of Atreus, I deem that we should now turn roving home if we would escape destruction, for we are being cut down by war and pestilence at once. Let us ask some priest or prophet, or some reader of dreams; for dreams, too, are from Jove” (A 59–63). One may also find in Apuleius’s Metamorphoses several good examples that illustrate how the Greeks regarded dreams as an important way of communicating with the divine.6 However, the Greek philosopher Aristotle (38–322 B.C.E.) discussed dreams and their meaning in depth in three essays and did not see a divine origin for dreams.7 Aristotle claimed that dreams are a magnified...

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