DREAM
886
DRESS
ilarly in the climax of 1 Sam. xzriii, 6, we read tiiat
* the Lord answered Saol not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim [by symbol], nor by prophets.' Under the Christian dispensation, while we freqaentiy read of trances (jbetrrdmic) and visions (6iiTa<riat, opAfiaTa\ dreams are not refierred to as regular yehicles of di- vine revelation. In exact accordance with this prin- ciple 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 (Gen. xx, 8-7) ; Laban (Gen. xxxi, 24) ; of the chief butler and baker (Gen. xl, 5) ; of Pharaoh (Gen. xU, l-«); of the Midlanite (Judg. vii, 18) ; of Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. ii, 1, etc. ; iv, 10- 18) ; of the magi (Matt ii, 12), and of Pikte's wife (Matt, xxvil, 19). Many of these dreams, moreover, were symbolical and obscure, so as to require an inter- preter. Again, where dreams are recorded as means of God's revdation to his chosen servants, they are al- most always referred to the periods of their earliest and most imperfect knowledge of him. 8o it is in the case of Abraham (Cren. xv, 12, and perhaps 1-9), of Jacob (Gen. xxviii, 12-15), of Joseph (Gen. xxxvii, 5-10), of Solomon (1 Kings iii, 5), and, in the N. T., a similar analogy prevails in the case of the otherwise uninspired Joseph (Matt, i, 20 ; ii, 18, 19, 22). It lb to be observed, moreover, that they belong especially to the earliest age^ and become less frequent as the reve- lations of prophecy increase. The only exception to thb (at least in the O. T.) is found in the dreams and
* visions of the night' given to Daniel (ii, 19 ; vii, 1), apparently in order to put to shame the fiilsehoods of the Chaldean 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 xix, 11, 12, and their effect, 18-20).
**The general conclusion therefore is, first, that the Scripture claims the dream, as it does every other ac- tion 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 gen- eral 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 OS to believe that as such influence extends more and more, revelation by dreams, unless in very pe- culiar circumstances, might be expected to pass away" (Smith). (See the [Am.] Christ. Rev. Oct. 1857.)
The Orientals, and in particular the Hebrews, great- ly regarded dreams, and applied for their interpreta- tion to those who undertook to explain them. Such diviners have been usually called oneirocritics, and the art itself onnromancp. We see the antiquity of this custom in the history of Pharaoh's butler and baker (Gen. xl, 1-28) ; and Pharaoh himself, and Nebuchad- nezzar, 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 pre- monitions from their idol gods of future events. One part of Jehovah's great plan in revealing, through this channel, his designs towards Egypt, Joseph individu- ally, and his brethren generally, was to correct this notion. The same principle is apparent in the divine power bestowed upon Daniel to interpret dreams. Je- hovah expressly forbade his people from observing dreams, and from consulting explainers of them. He condemned to death all who pretended to have pro- phetic dreams, and to foretell events, even though what they foretold came to pass, if they had any ten- dency to promote idolatry (Deut. xili, 1-4). But they were not forbidden, when they thought they had a sig- nificant dream, to address the prophets of the Lord, or the high-priest in his ephod, to have it explained (Num. xii, 6 ; compare the case of Saul, 1 Sam. xxviii, 6, 7). False and true dreams are expressly contrasted in Jer. xxiii, 25, 28. See Nioht-vision.
Dregs (fi*^*;!^)?, ikemarim^, leet of wise [■ where rendered except in] Psa. txxv, 8; i» (h>m settling or being hq4; ra^^, £«Ma'^h.;| 17, 22, means a ^oMe<-cap merely). Soe Lib. ^| best wines of the Eaat are much mixed wiik fep. the vessels in which they are pc«acrved, so tbi » monly when drawn out the liqaor is atcahwdlir* It is to this condition of the wine that the ftalsK* pears to refer: **He pooreth out of the mmt; tcik dregs thereof; all the wicked of the earth sbaO them out and drink them" (Pba. Ixxt, 8). Tb t probably intended to denote that the pore aai dn wine should be g^ven as a wine of hleaua^ to t- righteous, while the wicked should drink tbt tUrk a turbid residue. The puniahmeotB which God b&« upon the wicked are compared to a cnpfol of fnaac- ing wine mixed with intoxicatiiig hertM, tiiHAi thoee to whom it is given must drink the die^ vpi- iment. The same image occurs in sercfal ii^r poets. Thus Taabbata Sharran a^i, *'To tbw i* the tribe of Hodafl we g^ve the cop of deatii,vW dregs were confusion, shame, and rcpnack." v Wink.