Night-monster occurs in the margin of the Auth. Yer. at Isa. xxxiv, 14, as the rendering of the Hebrew Ulith' (n-ib^b), derived from Idyil (^"j^), tiight. The text has screech-oicl, but the marginal reading is prefer- able. The word doubtless refers to the night-spectres or ghosts, supposed by superstitious Hebrews to fre- quent the desert. The Sept. renders In'OKivravpoi, which, as Bochart {Ilieroz. pt. ii, lib. vi, p. 8-iO) shows, refers, not to animals, but to ghostly appearances. (See also Buxtorf, Lex. Chald. p. 1140; Gesen. Comment, in Isa. xiii, 22; xxxiv, 14.) See Spectue.
Night-vision (!^b^b 'pTn, Isa. xxix, 7, etc.; Chald. N^b-b-1'7 N^im, Dan. ii, 19, etc.). The per- plexing but fascinating subject of the visions of sleep has in all ages attracted observation and speculation; but the laws which govern the countless images and fancied experiences of this " realm of dream" are even now imperfectly understood. The subject owes its im- portance, in Biblical studies, to two facts : first, that these visions were often made the means of divine rev- elation ; and, second, that even when uninspired, they were highly valued and diligently studied by many characters in Scripture history. On the immediate cause of dreaming, however, the views of the ancients
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were various, and generally absurd. The first really ra- tional explanation seems to be that of Aristotle, who taught that tlie impression produced by perception re- mains after the object is removed, and affects the per- ceptive faculties during sleep. An opinion much more general among the heathen, and revived and supported with much acuteness in England bj' Baxter {Essai/ on the Phenomenon of Dreaming, 3d ed. 1745), was that spiritual beings have access to the mind during sleep, and fill it with dreams. But the theory generally fol- lowed by English writers is that of Dugald Stewart {Elements of the PhUosophy of the Human Mind, i, 328 sq.), who explains dreams as caused by the natural and spontaneous action of the mental faculties, freed from obedience to the will, but subject to their own usual laws of association. Some find a strong analogy between dreaming and insanity. Dr. Abercrombie states the difference to be that the erroneous impression, in the one case, is permanent, and affects the conduct, but in the other is temporary, and vanishes on awaking. But the distinction is really far wider; for in dreams the will is simply at rest, while in insanity it is a slave to the diseased action of the mental faculties or active powers. See Dkeam.
In regarding dreams as of great importance the Jews agreed with all other ancient nations (Otho, Lex. Rabb. p. 316 sq.). It was the general belief that by means of them, and especially of those which occurred in the last hours of the night, or " morning dreams" (jOdyss. iv, 839 sq. ; Mosch. ii, 2, 5 ; Hor. Sat. i, 10, 31 S(i. ; Cic. Div. i, 51), they could obtain a knowledge of the future (comp. Gen. xxxvii, 5 sq. ; xli, 11 sq. ; Judg. vii, 13 sq. ; Wisd. xviii, 19; Matt, xxvii, 19; see 11. i, 63 ; Herod, i, 34 ; Philostr. Apoll. viii, 7, 5 ; Theophr. Char, xvii; Macrob. Somn. Scip. i, 3; Curt, iii, 3, 2; Arvieux, Nachr. iv, 325 sq.). The ancient philosophers taught various doctrines as to the significance of dreams (see Herod, vii, 16; Cic. Die. ii, 58-62). At a very early period dreams became a medium of divine revela- tion (Gen. XX, 3; xxxi, 10 sq., 24; xlvi, 2; 1 Sam. xxviii, 6; 1 Kings iii, 5; Job xxxiii, 15; Jer. xxiii, 25 sq.; comp. Josephus.ira?-, iii,8, 3), and they are espe- cially associated with prophetic visions (Numb, xii, 6 ; Joel iii, 1 ; Dan. vii, 1) ; yet they are not prominent in the written prophecies until after the captivity (Dan. vii ; 4 Esdras xi). The false prophets, also, gloried in their prophetic dreams (Jer. xxiii, 25, 27, 32 ; Zach. x, 2; comp. Dent, xiii, 1, 3, 5). But revelation, when communicated in dreams, came sometimes by a peculiar divine utterance of audible exhortation, warning, or in- struction (see Gen. xx, 3, 6; xxxi, 24; Matt, i, 20 sq. ; ii, 13, 20 ; comp. 1 Sam. xxviii, 6, 15 ; Pausan. ix, 23, 2; Liv. ii, 36; xxi, 22; Xen. Ci/rop. viii, 7, 2), some- times by visible images and symbols (Gen. xxxvii, 7 ; Judg. vii, 13 ; Job xxxiii, 15 ; comp. Herod, iii, 124 ; V, 56; Curt, iii, 3, 3 ; Josephus, Ant. xvii, 12, 3 ; Xen. Anab. iii, 1, 11), and sometimes by both together (Gen. xxviii, 12 sq.). In each case the vision needed an in- terpreter. Accordingly, interpreters (in Greek oviipo- TToXoi, ovHportKOTToi, oviipoKpiTai) who professed to be able to explain visions (comp. Judg. vii, 13 sq.) were highly esteemed (Gen. xli ; Dan. v, 12), and this power was considered a distinguished gift of God (Dan. i, 17). Princes and generals kept such men near them (Arrian, Alex, ii, 18, 2; Curt, iv, 2). The Chaldee interpreters were especially famous (Dan. ii, 2 sq. ; iv, 3 sq. ; v, 12; see Diod. Sic. ii, 28) ; while among the Jews the Es- senes seem to have cultivated the art with the utmost diligence (Josephus, Ant. xvii, 12, 3). This profession was a means of support (Plutarch, Arv<tid. p. 27; Ju- venal, vi, 547). When dreams of fearful import oc- ciurred, the (ireeks and Romans offered sacrifices (Aris- topli. Ran. 1338 sq. ; Martial, xi, 51, 7). The whole subject of the divination of the ancients by visions is presented with tolerable completeness by Artemidorus, in the 2d century (Oneirocritica, five books), and SjMie- sius in the 5th (Lof/os peri enujmion'). See Divination.