Texts in Conversation
Sirach presents a skeptical view of dreams and visions, a perspective that contrasts with apocalyptic traditions such as in 1 Enoch, that rely heavily on dreams and visions to present their own narratives and teachings as authoritative.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Sirach 34:1
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon
1 The senseless have vain and false hopes, and dreams give wings to fools. 2 As one who catches at a shadow and pursues the wind, so is anyone who believes in dreams. 3 What is seen in dreams is but a reflection, the likeness of a face looking at itself. 4 From an unclean thing what can be clean? And from something false what can be true? 5 Divinations and omens and dreams are unreal, and like a woman in labor, the mind has fantasies. 6 Unless they are sent by intervention from the Most High, pay no attention to them.
1 Enoch 14:8
Pseudepigrapha
7 And your petition on their behalf shall not be granted, nor yet on your own, even though you weep and pray and speak all the words contained in the writing which I have written. 8 And the vision was shown to me: Behold, in the vision clouds called me and a mist summoned me, and the course of the stars and the lightnings sped and hastened me, and the winds in the vision caused me to fly and lifted me upward, and took me into heaven. 9 And I went in until I drew near to a wall built of crystals and surrounded by tongues of fire: and it began to frighten me. And I entered the tongues of fire and drew near to a large house built of crystals: and the walls of the house were like a mosaic floor of crystals, and its foundation was of crystal.
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Notes and References
"... This poem is ben Sira’s polemic against dreams. It is included in the present group of passages because it illustrates that dream interpretation has no place in his teaching activity. The Hebrew breaks off in verse one, and therefore the Greek version is the basis for our translation. The presupposition behind this didactic essay is that dreams have given hope to some Jews (Sirach 34:1, 7), a hope with which ben Sira is not at all sympathetic. Ben Sira provides no specifics about the content of the dreams in question, but his satirical remark in 34:1b may provide something of a clue. The colon “fools are sent winging” (ἀναπτερόω) by dreams may be aimed at those who claim visionary ascents to heaven (compare 1 Enoch 14:8). Ben Sira is aware of the “dream-vision” (ὅρασις ἐνυπνίου) and its parabolic-like interpretation (ὁμοίωμα). The fact that he belittles those who place their hope in dreams as “stupid men” and “fools” (34:1) ..."
Argall, Randal A.
1 Enoch and Sirach: A Comparative Literary and Conceptual Analysis of the Themes of Revelation, Creation and Judgment
(p. 81) Scholar's Press, 1995
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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