In Hebrew, there are two words for sleep, not counting their synonyms. On the one hand, we have the word SHERA or SHEHAH, and on the other, we have the word TADERMAH. It is clear that even at that time, the Hebrews were aware of the two types of sleeps.

Shehah: it means “sleep” or “to sleep.”

The only time it is associated with a dream is in the story of Jacob seeing the ladder and angels ascending and descending on it (Genesis 28:16). But it seems to express more ordinary sleeps or, in rare cases, sleep following a dream or preceding a vision (Zechariah 4:1; Daniel 2:1).

Apart from these isolated cases, we do not see this term being linked to dreams and night visions. We can therefore say that this word seems more likely to be attributed to slow-wave sleep, which can sometimes carry dreams, but which are forgotten or more or less vague.

The proof is that it is the word used in Daniel 2:1 when Nebuchadnezzar has a dream, but he has forgotten it and it is imprecise.

Tadermah: it means “deep sleep” or “trance.”

We find this word already at the beginning of the story of creation when God causes man to fall into a deep sleep for the formation of woman.

“Then the Lord God caused a deep sleep (Tardemah) to fall upon the man, and he slept;” Genesis 2:21a

And it is the word found in Job 4:13, which is also one of the key verses of this book.

“In the night visions, when deep sleep is upon men“

But also in Job 33:15, “He speaks in dreams, in visions of the night, when deep sleep is upon men, when they sleep on their beds.”

We therefore understand that this word refers to deep or REM sleep. And the Bible links this word not only to dreams but also to what it seems to call “night vision.”

So if sleep is necessary for dreaming, mastering your sleep gives you greater control over your dreams and their content. And it is this sleep that becomes a gateway or facilitator that allows you to access the senses of your spiritual being, primarily sight, but also hearing, smell, and touch, through dreams.

On the other hand, if sleep is a gateway, then sleep is a moment of transference between the spiritual and the physical. Consider this text from Psalm 127:2:

“In vain you rise early and lie down late, and eat the bread of sorrows; so much the same He gives to His beloved in their sleep.“

The Bible tries to make us understand that there are things God gives during sleep and not during waking, because sleeps facilitates the transfer, but it is also during sleep that He “usually works,” if one must say so. This leads me to briefly discuss a very complex subject, which I will return to in a future book…

This text is an excerpt from the book “Understanding Sleep and the World of Dreams” written by Ezekiel Michael Sankinka.

We invite you to read the following article “Dreams and the Eyes of Dreams.”