Job 4:13

4:13 In the troubling thoughts ¹  of the dreams ²  in the night

when a deep sleep ³  falls on men,

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 31:24

31:24 But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and warned him, ⁷  “Be careful ⁸  that you neither bless nor curse Jacob.” ⁹ 

Numbers 12:6

12:6 The Lord ¹⁰  said, “Hear now my words: If there is a prophet among you, ¹¹  I the Lord ¹²  will make myself known to him in a vision; I will speak with him in a dream.

Jeremiah 23:28

23:28 Let the prophet who has had a dream go ahead and tell his dream. Let the person who has received my message report that message faithfully. What is like straw cannot compare to what is like grain! ¹³  I, the Lord, affirm it! ¹⁴ 

Daniel 4:5

4:5 I saw a dream that ¹⁵  frightened me badly. The things I imagined while lying on my bed – these visions of my mind – were terrifying me.

Hebrews 1:1

Introduction: God Has Spoken Fully and Finally in His Son

1:1 After God spoke long ago ¹⁶  in various portions ¹⁷  and in various ways ¹⁸  to our ancestors ¹⁹  through the prophets,

[4:13]  ¹ tn Here too the word is rare. The form שְׂעִפִּים (sÿ’ippim, “disquietings”) occurs only here and in 20:2. The form שַׂרְעַפִּים (sar’appim, “disquieting thoughts”), possibly related by dissimilation, occurs in Pss 94:19 and 139:23. There seems to be a connection with סְעִפִּים (sÿ’ippim) in 1 Kgs 18:21 with the meaning “divided opinion”; this is related to the idea of סְעִפָּה (sÿ’ippah, “bough”). H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 47) concludes that the point is that like branches the thoughts lead off into different and bewildering places. E. Dhorme (Job, 50) links the word to an Arabic root (“to be passionately smitten”) for the idea of “intimate thoughts.” The idea here and in Ps 139 has more to do with anxious, troubling, disquieting thoughts, as in a nightmare.

[4:13]  ² tn Heb “visions” of the night.

[4:13]  ³ tn The word תַּרְדֵּמָה (tardemah) is a “deep sleep.” It is used in the creation account when the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam; and it is used in the story of Jonah when the prophet was asleep during the storm. The LXX interprets it to mean “fear,” rendering the whole verse “but terror falls upon men with dread and a sound in the night.”

[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.

[31:24]  ⁷ tn Heb “said to him.”

[31:24]  ⁸ tn Heb “watch yourself,” which is a warning to be on guard against doing something that is inappropriate.

[31:24]  ⁹ 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.

[12:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he.”

[12:6]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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”).

[23:28]  ¹³ tn Heb “What to the straw with [in comparison with] the grain?” This idiom represents an emphatic repudiation or denial of relationship. See, for example, the usage in 2 Sam 16:10 and note BDB 553 s.v. מָה 1.d(c).

[23:28]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[4:5]  ¹⁵ tn Aram “and it.”

[1:1]  ¹⁶ tn Or “spoke formerly.”

[1:1]  ¹⁷ tn Or “parts.” The idea is that God’s previous revelation came in many parts and was therefore fragmentary or partial (L&N 63.19), in comparison with the final and complete revelation contained in God’s Son. However, some interpret πολυμερῶς (polumerw") in Heb 1:1 to mean “on many different occasions” and would thus translate “many times” (L&N 67.11). This is the option followed by the NIV: “at many times and in various ways.” Finally, this word is also understood to refer to the different manners in which something may be done, and would then be translated “in many different ways” (L&N 89.81). In this last case, the two words πολυμερῶς and πολυτρόπως (polutropw") mutually reinforce one another (“in many and various ways,” NRSV).

[1:1]  ¹⁸ tn These two phrases are emphasized in Greek by being placed at the beginning of the sentence and by alliteration.

[1:1]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “to the fathers.”