, 1870-05-29

dreases himself In Babylon, he is withont si., :;
II nan dreams thAt he is being caught o.
laid hold Of, It is token that he Is watched
over in hen1en for good.
II he is being bled his sims are forgiven
All d1inkables seen in Aleep arc Of good
which, cuHoualy enough, the authority 9f the
Wise Man is quoted, Prov. XII 8, "as!e
strong drink unto him that is ready to perish
and wine unto those that be of heavy hes1ts.'
II man sees David in his dream, let him
hope to becorae caint.
Il man kees Solomon iu Lis dream, Let him
hops to become wise.
II man sscs Aha. il llis dream, Let him
expect afbic.: y.
several .: nooks Of s's7ipeure have their
own epecia1 f.. !: nee when seen in dreams.
Thus:
The Psalms moan holiness.
Proverbs " wisdom
f{}::s;:sssa's'ssao.s} {::ss'sa =; =" affection.
IsaiAh q consolation.
Book Of Kings 81 greatness.
But all these fade into nothing before the
Book Of Esther, for il this appears to any one
in his sleep, let him know Of certainty that q
miracle will happen to him.
are held to be Of such malignant meaning that
the un1ucky sleeper must keep strict fast for
t1euty-four hours to avert the impending evil.
Not even the Sabbath itself, on which al fast
ing is forbidden, will excuse him from the per-
foimsnee Of the peni'sntial ;9il,; exercise. The
. man has dreamt: l. That the roll
Of the synagogue On which the Scriptures
arc written, Is beingburnt- that be iatsking
part in the prayer which concludes the services
on the Day Of Atonement-{ that tho roof Of
Some Of these interpretations, it will DO
seen, have for long generations taken their
p1aee among popular superstitisns Of our own,
and it is curious to note how their origin may
ton up to the tountain-head Of the Rabyloniaa
captivity. Many q Highland housewife and
Corniah cottager il at t6ia moment repeating
drenmlsnd wonders that were first learnt when
1srachtiah haipa were hanging silent rpou the
willows Of Euphratea.
Of dreams, Which after al ia only 4 fragment
Of much more that remains untold, is not de-
liFefed by the Talmud as mere opinion, but
as an authoritative statement which no ortho-
do1 child Of Abraham may venture to gainaay.
Consistently with this, therc is bold and al
foundation npon which tho system Of iuterpre-
tstion is made to rest Some OF the passages
cited arc so far-fetched IS to say moro for tho
ingenuity OF the leAbbis than for the elucida-
ton OF the matter in band, while others could
be made Ineligible to the general reader by
difficulty will not be felt in what follows, and
the Scrptora1 authorities arc cited aa examples
OF the spirit OF laborious research that guided
the Ta1mudical writer's in their marvellous
compilation.
II man sees river in his dream, he is told
10 1r3 SSht, tYyy
will extend peace to her rlike river, !" lest Chap
liz, 19, should como into his mind first, and
spoil the good omen. When the enemy shall
come in like food"
II he sees . bird, be is to rise and say 1ss.
xxi, g., "As birds dyiug, SO will the Lord de-
think Of Prov. xvii, 8, 'tAs > bird that wan
dereth from her nest, so is man TINT wan
dereth from his place" which would bo very
& unluckT.
- II he sees grapes, b, he must repeat Hosea T.,
ness, M betore Dent 1SaI s Their i cir vine G Is
4 Of the vino Of Sodonl, their grapes arc grapes
| Of gall, their clusters are bitter"
II he sees mountain, he must repeat lisa.
wi, Z, Even them Will bring to my holy
| mountain" before Jer. H., 10, For the noun
tains will take mp weeping and q wailing."
II he sees trumpet, he must repcat 1sa.
I xvii, 13, tThe great trumpet shall be blown,
and they shall come that were ready to Perish,'
before Hosea v, 8, "Blow 20 the cornet in
Gibeah, and the trumpet in Hannah. Ephraim
| shall be deaolate in the day OF rcbuke."
II be secs dog, he must repeat E1od. xi..7.
| Against any Of tho children Of Israel shall
not q dog morc his tongue" before Prov.
| XVI; II, "As a dog 1cturncth to his vomit, 80
Il fool returneth TO his folly"
II he sees lion, he must repeat Hosea H.,
| 10, "They shall walk after the Lord, be shall
rpar like lion, before Jer: w., :, tsThe lion is
come mp from his thicket; he is gone forth
from bis place to make thy land desolate-"
| II he sees razor OF SCISSORS, be must repeat
GenHxG., "A, 1'Then Pharaoh sent and called
Joseph, and they brought him hastily out Of
Judges xvi, II, ''Thcrc hath not come razor
upon mine head; il / be shave1l, then my
strength will go from me, and shall become
weak, and be like any other man."
u he eees we'll, he must repeat Cant. ir.,
Is, IA fountain Of gardens, Weu OF living
watcrs, and streams from Lebanon" before
Jer, vi, 7, a. As the fonntsin caste.h out hcr
waters, 80 she casteth out her wicketincss."
II he Gees reed, he mutt repeat 1sa, xiii. 3,
"A bruised reed ehall he no. break, and the
smoking naI Hhall he not quench: he shall
bring forth Judgment unto truth" before 8
Kings Xviii, Il, s'Now, behold, thou tr1atest
upon the staff Of this bruised reed, even upon
! Egypt, on which it man lean, it viii 60 into
his hnnd, md pierce it."
II he sees m OF. he must repeat Dcut
x.1iii., II, '' H,a Glorr is like the firsting OF
his bullock. and bis horns arc liko tho horns o.
unicorns. before Exodus xxi, g, 'If an o.
goro a man or = woman that they de- then tb.
OF fhall surely be stoned, and his tlcsh shal
not 10 eAten."
Much moro might be written, for this Is
matter iu which the ls2bbis have delighted t
| exercise an over-fertilo ingenuity; but til
above will suffice as sample Of the kind O
use to which familiar toxtA OF tIoly sserirtur
may be turned. 1t would be easy, OF course
to ridicule or to find fault with . mode o
treatment which may possess little in cornmo
, with modern for1ns OF Interpretation bu
: mono tho less does it establish the fact ths
the wonders OF drcamland have boen deems
by the sxges to receive their fullest light frut
. | tho pages Of inspiration.