Sleep in the Bible 💤

Sleep in the Bible 💤 – We all have to have sleep. Sometimes sleep is easier for some and harder for others. What does the Bible say about it? #Sleep #BGBG2

Let us first see what the dictionary says sleep means.

a condition of body and mind such as that which typically recurs for several hours every night, in which the nervous system is relatively inactive, the eyes closed, the postural muscles relaxed, and consciousness practically suspended.

Oxford Dictionary

Sometimes we refer to sleep as peace in death.

תַּרְדֵּמָה

tardêmâh /tar-day-maw’/ This is a deep sleep. See H8639

When God created woman, he put man (Adam) in a deep sleep. This is one of the most famous sleeps in the Bible. See below.

So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.

Genesis 2;21 NASB

There are other Lexicons used as well for sleep both from Hebrew (Old Testament), Aramaic (Old Testament) and Greek (New Testament). See the charts below.

Here are the Hebrew uses …

H1957	הָזָה	hazah	sleeping
H3462	יָשַׁן	yashen	sleep, remained long, old, old store
H3463	יָשֵׁן	yashen	sleep, asleep
H7290	רָדַם	radam	..deep sleep, was fast asleep, sleep, sleeper
H7901	שָׁכַב	shakab	lie, sleep, lie down, rest, lien, misc
H8142	שֵׁנָא	shehah	sleep
H8153	שְׁנָת	shĕnath	sleep
H8639	תַּרְדֵּמָה	tardemah	deep sleep

Here is the Aramaic use

H8139

שְׁנָה

shĕnah

sleep

Here are the Greek uses

G879	ἀφυπνόω	aphypnoō	fall asleep
G1852	ἐξυπνίζω	exypnizō	awake out of sleep
G1853	ἔξυπνος	exypnos	awake out of sleep
G2518	καθεύδω	katheudō	sleep
G2837	κοιμάω	koimaō	sleep, fall asleep, be asleep, fall on sleep, be dead
G5258	ὕπνος	hypnos	sleep

These charts are from Blue Letter Bible.

ὕπνος

hypnos / hü’p-nos / This type was only used in 5 verses like this one below. This is where we get the word hypnosis. See G5258

I think most of us know about this incident of sleep in the bible where a man fell out of a window due to sleeping.

And there was a young man named Eutychus sitting on the window sill, sinking into a deep sleep; and as Paul kept on talking, he was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor and was picked up dead.

Acts 20:9

Don’t Count Sheep!

Don’t Count Sheep … 

Sermon on Sleeping

There you have it! A lot of sleep study to do!

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