Vision

 Vision
vision, the sight of things normally hidden from human eyes. Visions, dreams, and heavenly journeys are closely related phenomena through which secrets are thought to be revealed. These media of revelation are especially characteristic of apocalyptic literature. Visions can be distinguished from theophanies and epiphanies of angels or of Jesus. In theophanies and epiphanies the emphasis is on the appearance or presence of a heavenly being and often on the message conveyed by that being. In visions the emphasis is on an object, a scene, or a sequence of events that is enacted.
Accounts of visions have certain typical formal features. They are usually in the first person: the visionary describes his or her experience. The setting is often given near the beginning: the date, place, and time at which the vision occurred. Then follows the content of the vision, usually introduced by the words ‘I saw.’ Sometimes the account concludes with remarks about how the visionary reacted to the vision or what he or she did immediately afterward.
Ancient Jewish and Christian visions may be grouped into five types: 1 Visions of the enthroned deity or the divine council (Exod. 24:9-11; 1 Kings 22:19-23; Isa. 6; Ezek. 1:1-3:15; Rev. 4:2-11). 2 Visions of some other heavenly reality or of an earthly reality: present, threatened, or to come (1 Kings 22:17; Amos 7:1-3, 4-6; Jer. 4:23-26; Ezek. 8-11; 40-48; Zech. 1:7-17; 3; 6:1-8; 1 Enoch 57, 66; T. Levi 8; 2 Bar. 6-8; 2 Esd. 13). 3 Visions based on a play on words or a symbol (Amos 7:7-9; 8:1-3; Jer. 1:11-12, 13-14; Jer. 24; Ezek. 37:1-14; Zech. 2:5-9; 5:1-4; 1 Enoch 61:1-5). 4 Allegorical visions, that is, visions in which each object, being, or event represents in a figurative or pictorial way a corresponding entity in reality (Zech. 1:18-21; 4; 5:5-11; Dan. 8; 1 Enoch 85-90; 2 Bar. 36-37; 53; Rev. 12, 13, 17; 2 Esd. 9:38-10:59; 11-12). 5 Visions that combine two or more of the above types (Dan. 7; 1 Enoch 14:8-36:4; 40:1-41:7 plus 43-44; 46; 52; 53:1-54:6; 60:1-6; 71; T. Levi 2:5-5:7; 2 Bar. 22-30).
Vision accounts, especially the symbolic and allegorical types, grasp the imagination and evoke feelings in ways that ordinary language cannot. Like poetry they present an interpretation of reality and invite the reader or listener to share it. They combine cognitive insight with emotional response. Although they were originally experienced and recorded to address a particular historical situation of the past, their symbolic character gives them meaning and application beyond their original contexts. See also Apocalyptic Literature; Dreams; Epiphany; Symbol; Theophany; Throne.      A.Y.C.


Achtemeier, Paul J., Harper & Row and Society of Biblical Literature. Harper’s Bible dictionary 1985 : 1115. Print.