Dreams in the Bible: Joseph, Daniel and Christian tradition

The short answer

Dream interpretation is not prediction and not diagnosis. This article separates what sleep research observes from what popular interpretation associates with the theme, always saying which is which.

The Bible tells of dreams that change the course of a story. The best known are in Genesis, with Joseph in Egypt, in the book of Daniel, with King Nebuchadnezzar, and at the start of Matthew, with Joseph of Nazareth. In the first two cases, the dream comes in images that need to be interpreted. In the third, the message arrives clearly and asks for a response: to obey.

Christian tradition treats these accounts as part of revelation, but it does not usually teach that every dream is a message from God. The most common path is discernment. Sleep research, for its part, observes that most dreams follow the worries of the day. Both readings appear side by side here.

Read also: Dreaming about God and Dreaming about Jesus.

Joseph in Egypt: from sheaves to Pharaoh's cows

Joseph's dreams (Genesis 37). Joseph, the favorite son of Jacob, dreams that his sheaf stands up and his brothers' sheaves bow down before it. Then he dreams that the sun, the moon and eleven stars bow down to him. His brothers come to hate him even more, and soon after he is sold and taken to Egypt.

The cupbearer and the baker (Genesis 40). In prison, two of Pharaoh's servants dream on the same night. The cupbearer sees a vine with three branches, squeezes the grapes into Pharaoh's cup and hands it to him. The baker carries three baskets on his head, and the birds eat the bread from the top basket. Joseph says that interpretations belong to God and announces that, in three days, the cupbearer would be restored to his post and the baker would be put to death. So it happens, but the cupbearer forgets Joseph for two years.

Pharaoh and the cows (Genesis 41). Pharaoh dreams that seven thin cows devour seven fat cows that came up out of the Nile; he falls asleep again and sees seven withered ears of grain swallow seven full ears. None of the wise men of Egypt can explain it. Called in, Joseph says the answer comes from God: there will be seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine, and the dream came twice because the matter is firmly settled. He suggests storing part of the harvests, and Pharaoh puts him in charge of Egypt. See also dreaming about an ox or a cow and recurring dreams.

Source: The Bible (Genesis 37, 40 and 41; Daniel 2, 4 and 7; Matthew 1 and 2).

Daniel and the dreams of Nebuchadnezzar

The statue (Daniel 2). The king of Babylon demands that his wise men tell him both the dream and its interpretation; no one can, and he orders them killed. Daniel asks for time, prays with his companions and receives the revelation at night. The king had seen a statue with a head of gold, a chest of silver, a belly of bronze, legs of iron and feet of iron mixed with clay. A stone cut out without the help of hands smashes it and becomes a mountain that fills the earth. Daniel explains: the head of gold is the king, other kingdoms will come, and God will raise up a kingdom that will never be destroyed.

The tree (Daniel 4). The king sees an enormous tree that reaches the sky, with animals in its shade and birds in its branches. A holy one comes down and orders it cut down, but tells them to leave the stump with its roots. Daniel explains that the tree is the king, who would be driven away from people until he acknowledged that the Most High rules, and that the stump means the kingdom would be restored to him. He advises justice and mercy toward the poor. According to the text, everything comes to pass, and the king ends up praising God. See dreaming about a tree.

Source: The Bible (Genesis 37, 40 and 41; Daniel 2, 4 and 7; Matthew 1 and 2).

See also: I dreamed it and it happened and Children's nightmares by age and how to comfort your child.

Joseph of Nazareth: dreams that ask for obedience

In Matthew 1, Joseph learns that Mary, his betrothed, is pregnant and decides to leave her quietly, without exposing her. An angel of the Lord appears to him in a dream, tells him not to be afraid to take her as his wife, because the child is from the Holy Spirit, and says the boy will be named Jesus. Joseph wakes up and does what the angel told him.

In chapter 2, the Magi are warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, and Joseph receives in a dream the order to flee to Egypt, then the message that he can return, and finally the guidance that takes him to Nazareth. Matthew does not record a single word spoken by him: the text only shows him getting up and acting. See also dreaming about an angel.

Source: The Bible (Genesis 37, 40 and 41; Daniel 2, 4 and 7; Matthew 1 and 2).

How Christian tradition and science read dreams today

Among Catholics and Protestants, the most common pastoral advice is calm. The Bible itself gives a reason: Ecclesiastes, in chapter 5, links dreams to having too many cares, and Deuteronomy, in chapter 13, warns that not even a sign that comes true gives anyone the right to lead the people away from God. Many believers bring the dream to prayer, compare it with what their faith teaches and talk to a priest or pastor before deciding anything. See dreaming about a church and dreaming about a pastor.

Science does not judge whether a dream is revelation; it measures where the material comes from. Michael Schredl and Friedrich Hofmann, in 2003, found continuity between waking life and dreams, and William Dement and Edward Wolpert, in 1958, saw outside stimuli make their way into the dreamed story. In the biblical accounts, the cupbearer dreams of grapes, the baker of bread and Pharaoh of the Nile: the dream speaks the language of the dreamer, which does not take away the meaning of the text for those who believe.

Sources: Schredl and Hofmann, Continuity between waking activities and dream activities, Consciousness and Cognition, 2003; Dement and Wolpert, Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1958.

Freud, Jung and faith before the biblical dreams

In Freud's psychoanalysis. Freud uses Joseph and Pharaoh as an example of the ancient symbolic method: the whole dream is swapped for other, similar content, and the thin cows devouring the fat ones become the famine that would consume the years of plenty. For him, this method depends on intuition and fails with confused dreams. Further on, he notes that Pharaoh's two dreams on the same night were saying the same thing.

In Jung's psychology. Jung took religious images seriously and saw in them a very old way for the psyche to give meaning to life. Read through Jung, Nebuchadnezzar's enormous tree can also be seen as a portrait of pride that grew too large.

In symbols and in faith. For Christians, Joseph and Daniel teach humility: both say that interpretation comes from God. Even O Livro dos Sonhos, a Brazilian dream book by L. P. Baçan, opens by recalling Joseph, the king of Egypt and the angel who warns Joseph of Nazareth.

Bringing the two readings together. Faith asks what to do with the dream; science asks where it came from. Believers can pray about a dream and also recognize in it the worries of the week.

Sources: Freud, Die Traumdeutung, 1900; Jung (ed.), Man and His Symbols; L. P. Baçan, O Livro dos Sonhos, 2014.

What popular belief does with these texts

Pharaoh's story made its way into everyday language: in Portuguese, "a time of thin cows" became a way of saying times are tight, and some people read a dream about a fat cow as a sign of plenty. Others say that a repeated dream "is God confirming it." These are popular uses, not teachings of the churches and not predictions. See what dream meanings look like according to science and culture.