“The senseless have vain hopes.
The senseless have false hopes.
Dreams give wings to fools.
As one who catches at a shadow,
As one who pursues the wind,
So is anyone who believes in dreams.
What is seen in dreams
Is but a reflection.
It is like a face
Looking at itself.
From an unclean thing
What can be clean?
From something false,
What can be true?
Divinations are unreal.
Omens are unreal.
Dreams are unreal.
Like a woman in labor,
The mind has fantasies.
Unless they are by intervention
From the Most High,
Pay no attention to them.
Dreams have deceived many.
Those who put their hope in them
Have failed.
Without such deceptions,
The law will be fulfilled.
Wisdom is complete
In the mouth of the faithful.”
Sirach takes on the role of dreams. The dreams of Joseph in Egypt played a major role in the Genesis story. However, Sirach seems to point holes in theory of dreams. He believes that the dreams of the senseless fools are in vain. They give false hope to these fools. They are like trying to catch a shadow or a gust of wind as they easily disappear. A dream is nothing more than a reflection of yourself. Your dreams are nothing more than looking at yourself. How can anything good or clean come from an unclean person? No truth can come from falsehood. Dreams are like unreal divinations and omens. They are like the fantasies of a woman in labor. Unless they are sent from the Most High God, dreams should be disregarded. Many people have been deceived by dreams. Sirach believes that the law and wisdom are more important than dreams.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 