Job 33:14-16

Elihu Disagrees With Job’s View of God

33:14 “For God speaks, the first time in one way,

the second time in another,

though a person does not perceive ¹  it.

33:15 In a dream, a night vision,

when deep sleep falls on people

as they sleep in their beds.

33:16 Then he gives a revelation ²  to people,

and terrifies them with warnings, ³ 

Genesis 20:3

20:3 But God appeared ⁴  to Abimelech in a dream at night and said to him, “You are as good as dead ⁵  because of the woman you have taken, for she is someone else’s wife.” ⁶ 

Genesis 28:12

28:12 and had a dream. ⁷  He saw ⁸  a stairway ⁹  erected on the earth with its top reaching to the heavens. The angels of God were going up and coming down it

Genesis 31:24

31:24 But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and warned him, ¹⁰  “Be careful ¹¹  that you neither bless nor curse Jacob.” ¹² 

Genesis 46:2

46:2 God spoke to Israel in a vision during the night ¹³  and said, “Jacob, Jacob!” He replied, “Here I am!”

Numbers 12:6

12:6 The Lord ¹⁴  said, “Hear now my words: If there is a prophet among you, ¹⁵  I the Lord ¹⁶  will make myself known to him in a vision; I will speak with him in a dream.

Numbers 22:19-20

22:19 Now therefore, please stay ¹⁷  the night here also, that I may know what more the Lord might say to me.” ¹⁸  22:20 God came to Balaam that night, and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, get up and go with them; but the word that I will say to you, that you must do.”

Daniel 2:19

2:19 Then in a night vision the mystery was revealed to Daniel. So Daniel praised ¹⁹  the God of heaven,

Daniel 2:28-29

2:28 However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, ²⁰  and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the times to come. ²¹  The dream and the visions you had while lying on your bed ²²  are as follows.

2:29 “As for you, O king, while you were in your bed your thoughts turned to future things. ²³  The revealer of mysteries has made known to you what will take place.

Daniel 4:5

4:5 I saw a dream that ²⁴  frightened me badly. The things I imagined while lying on my bed – these visions of my mind – were terrifying me.

[33:14]  ¹ tn The Syriac and the Vulgate have “and he does not repeat it,” a reading of the text as it is, according to E. Dhorme (Job, 403). But his argument is based on another root with this meaning – a root which does not exist (see L. Dennefeld, RB 48 [1939]: 175). The verse is saying that God does speak to man.

[33:16]  ² tn The idiom is “he uncovers the ear of men.” This expression means “inform” in Ruth 4:4; 1 Sam 20:2, etc. But when God is the subject it means “make a revelation” (see 1 Sam 9:15; 2 Sam 7:27).

[33:16]  ³ tc Heb “and seals their bonds.” The form of the present translation, “and terrifies them with warnings,” is derived only by emending the text. Aquila, the Vulgate, Syriac, and Targum Job have “their correction” for “their bond,” which is what the KJV used. But the LXX, Aquila, and the Syriac have “terrifies” for the verb. This involves a change in pointing from יָחְתֹּם (yakhtom) to יְחִתֵּם (yÿkhittem). The LXX has “appearances of fear” instead of “bonds.” The point of the verse seems to be that by terrifying dreams God makes people aware of their ways.

[20:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “came.”

[20:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “Look, you [are] dead.” The Hebrew construction uses the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) with a second person pronominal particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) with by the participle. It is a highly rhetorical expression.

[20:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “and she is owned by an owner.” The disjunctive clause is causal or explanatory in this case.

[28:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “and dreamed.”

[28:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “and look.” The scene which Jacob witnessed is described in three clauses introduced with הִנֵּה (hinneh). In this way the narrator invites the reader to witness the scene through Jacob’s eyes. J. P. Fokkelman points out that the particle goes with a lifted arm and an open mouth: “There, a ladder! Oh, angels! and look, the Lord himself” (Narrative Art in Genesis [SSN], 51-52).

[28:12]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew noun סֻלָּם (sullam, “ladder, stairway”) occurs only here in the OT, but there appears to be an Akkadian cognate simmiltu (with metathesis of the second and third consonants and a feminine ending) which has a specialized meaning of “stairway, ramp.” See H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena (SBLDS), 34. For further discussion see C. Houtman, “What Did Jacob See in His Dream at Bethel? Some Remarks on Genesis 28:10-22,” VT 27 (1977): 337-52; J. G. Griffiths, “The Celestial Ladder and the Gate of Heaven,” ExpTim 76 (1964/65): 229-30; and A. R. Millard, “The Celestial Ladder and the Gate of Heaven,” ExpTim 78 (1966/67): 86-87.

[31:24]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “said to him.”

[31:24]  ¹¹ tn Heb “watch yourself,” which is a warning to be on guard against doing something that is inappropriate.

[31:24]  ¹² tn Heb “lest you speak with Jacob from good to evil.” The precise meaning of the expression, which occurs only here and in v. 29, is uncertain. Since Laban proceeded to speak to Jacob at length, it cannot mean to maintain silence. Nor does it seem to be a prohibition against criticism (see vv. 26-30). Most likely it refers to a formal pronouncement, whether it be a blessing or a curse. Laban was to avoid saying anything to Jacob that would be intended to enhance him or to harm him.

[46:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “in visions of the night.” The plural form has the singular meaning, probably as a plural of intensity.

[12:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he.”

[12:6]  ¹⁵ tn The form of this construction is rare: נְבִיאֲכֶם (nÿvi’akhem) would normally be rendered “your prophet.” The singular noun is suffixed with a plural pronominal suffix. Some commentators think the MT has condensed “a prophet” with “to you.”

[12:6]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew syntax is difficult here. “The Lord” is separated from the verb by two intervening prepositional phrases. Some scholars conclude that this word belongs with the verb at the beginning of v. 6 (“And the Lord spoke”).

[22:19]  ¹⁷ tn In this case “lodge” is not used, but “remain, reside” (שְׁבוּ, shÿvu).

[22:19]  ¹⁸ tn This clause is also a verbal hendiadys: “what the Lord might add to speak,” meaning, “what more the Lord might say.”

[2:19]  ¹⁹ tn Or “blessed.”

[2:28]  ²⁰ tn Aram “a revealer of mysteries.” The phrase serves as a quasi-title for God in Daniel.

[2:28]  ²¹ tn Aram “in the latter days.”

[2:28]  ²² tn Aram “your dream and the visions of your head upon your bed.”

[2:29]  ²³ tn Aram “your thoughts upon your bed went up to what will be after this.”

[4:5]  ²⁴ tn Aram “and it.”