from
The Dream Theophany of Samuel: its structure
in relation to Ancient Near Eastern Dreams and
its Theological Significance (1983)
by Robert Karl Gnuse
cites 1956 work by A. Leo Oppenheim
The Interpretation of Dreams in the Ancient
Near East: with a Translation of an Assyrian
Dream Book (1956)
Page 91 forward =
"The symbolic dreams in the Joseph
story are simple, pictorial
prefigurations of coming events which
present a silent scene with no divine
address and a worldly content. Despite
the simplicity of the dreams, Joseph
alone is able to understand his dreams
and the dreams of the Egyptians. They
are not an oracular revelation but they
have a meaning in themselves which is
open to human interpretation. These
dreams, simple though they may be,
require an interpreter. Joseph is this
interpreter, "The Master of Dreams." . . .
The Joseph dreams have symbols taken
from real life, which express their
meaning by extraordinary activity, but
the Daniel dreams have fantastic symbols,
which are the product of a frenetic
imagination. Daniel seems to have been
patterned after Joseph to be the servant
of God who can decide the symbolic
dreams sent by God to a gentile king. . . .
The dreams of interest are in chapters 2 - 4.
By chapter 7 the dreams have really become
visions, and Daniel receives and interprets
them. In chapters 2 - 4, "visions of my
head upon my bed," is the description,
which may be non-Semitic terminology.
There seems to have been a division in the
views of post-exilic writers concerning the
value of dreams as revelation ( page 101 ).
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