dreams

Visions widely attested in the early books of the Bible (e.g., Jacob’s dream, Gen 28:12; Joseph’s dreams, Gen 37), yet often viewed with distrust in the later tradition, as in (Jer 23:28) “Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let the one who has my word speak my word faithfully” (Deut 13:2-6); (Jer 27:9-10); (Jer 29:8-9); (Sir 34:1-8). Dreams are rehabilitated as a mode of revelation in the apocalyptic literature. Daniel interprets the dreams of the gentile king and receives his own revelations in dream visions (also cf. Zech 1:8) with the prophecy of (Joel 2:28). In the NT dreams figure most prominently in the nativity story of Matthew.