Topical Encyclopedia
In biblical literature, the term "trance" refers to a state of altered consciousness in which an individual experiences visions or receives divine revelations. This phenomenon is mentioned in several passages of the Bible, where it is often associated with prophetic experiences or significant spiritual encounters.
Old Testament ReferencesWhile the specific term "trance" is not commonly used in the Old Testament, the concept is present in various narratives. For example, the experiences of the prophets often involved visions or divine communications that could be likened to a trance-like state. In
Numbers 24:4, Balaam, a non-Israelite prophet, describes his experience as one who "hears the words of God, who sees a vision from the Almighty, who falls prostrate, and whose eyes are opened." This description suggests a state of altered consciousness akin to a trance.
New Testament ReferencesThe New Testament provides more explicit references to trances. One of the most notable instances is found in the Book of Acts. In
Acts 10:9-10, the Apostle Peter falls into a trance while praying on a rooftop: "About noon the following day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance." During this trance, Peter receives a vision that leads to the inclusion of Gentiles in the early Christian community, marking a pivotal moment in the spread of the Gospel.
Another significant occurrence is in
Acts 22:17-18, where Paul recounts his own experience: "When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance and saw the Lord speaking to me. 'Quick!' he said. 'Leave Jerusalem immediately, because they will not accept your testimony about me.'" This trance serves as a divine directive for Paul's mission and ministry.
Theological SignificanceIn the biblical context, trances are often seen as a means by which God communicates with His chosen servants. They are not self-induced or sought after for personal gain but are divinely initiated experiences that serve a specific purpose in God's plan. The individuals who experience trances are typically engaged in prayer or worship, indicating a posture of openness and receptivity to God's voice.
From a theological perspective, trances underscore the belief in a God who actively intervenes in human history and communicates with His people. They highlight the importance of spiritual discernment and obedience to divine guidance. The experiences of Peter and Paul, in particular, demonstrate how trances can lead to significant developments in the early Church and the fulfillment of God's redemptive purposes.
Cautions and ConsiderationsWhile trances are depicted positively in the Bible, it is important to approach the concept with caution. The Bible warns against practices that seek to manipulate spiritual experiences or engage with the supernatural outside of God's will. In
Deuteronomy 18:10-12, the Israelites are instructed to avoid divination, sorcery, and other occult practices. Therefore, any experience resembling a trance should be tested against Scripture and the leading of the Holy Spirit to ensure it aligns with God's truth and purposes.
In summary, trances in the Bible are extraordinary experiences through which God reveals His will and guidance to His people. They serve as reminders of God's sovereignty and the importance of being attuned to His voice in the life of faith.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
Trance(1) In the only passage-- (Numbers 24:4,16) --in which this word occurs in the English of the Old Testament italics show no corresponding word in Hebrew. In the New Testament we meet with the word three times -- (Acts 10:10;11:6;22:17) Theekstasis (i.e. trance) is the state in which a man has passed out of the usual order of his life, beyond the usual limits of consciousness and volition, being rapt in causes of this state are to be traced commonly to strong religious impressions. Whatever explanation may be given of it, it is true of many, if not of most, of those who have left the stamp of their own character on the religious history of mankind, that they have been liable to pass at times into this abnormal state. The union of intense feeling, strong volition, long-continued thought (the conditions of all wide and lasting influence, aided in many cases by the withdrawal from the lower life of the support which is needed to maintain a healthy equilibrium, appears to have been more than the "earthen vessel" will bear. The words which speak of "an ecstasy of adoration" are often literally true. As in other things, so also here, the phenomena are common to higher and lower, to true and false systems. We may not point to trances and ecstasies as proofs of a true revelation but still less may we think of them as at all inconsistent with it. Thus though we have not the word, we have the thing in the "deep sleep" the "horror of great darkness," that fell on Abraham. (Genesis 15:12) Balaam, as if overcome by the constraining power of a Spirit mightier than his own, "sees the vision of God, falling, but with opened eyes." (Numbers 24:4) Saul, in like manner, when the wild chant of the prophets stirred the old depths of feeling, himself also "prophesied" and "fell down" --most, if not all, of his kingly clothing being thrown off in the ecstasy of the moment --"all that day and all that night." (1 Samuel 19:24) Something there was in Jeremiah that made men say of him that he was as one that" is mad and maketh himself a prophet." (Jeremiah 29:26) In Ezekiel the phenomena appear in more wonderful and awful forms. (Ezekiel 3:15) As other elements and forms of the prophetic work were revived in "the apostles and prophets" of the New Testament, so also was this. Though different in form, it belongs to the same class of phenomena as the gift of tongues, and is connected with "visions and revelations of the Lord" In some cases, indeed, it is the chosen channel for such revelations. (Acts 10:11;22:17-21) Wisely for the most part did the apostle draw a veil over these more mysterious experiences. (2 Corinthians 12:1-4)
ATS Bible Dictionary
TranceA state of the human system distinguished from dreaming and revery; it is one in which the bodily senses are licked up and almost disconnected from the spirit, which is occupied either with phantasms, as in trances produced by disease, or, as in ancient times, with revelations from God. Numerous instances are mentioned in Scripture: as that of Balaam,Numbers 24:4,16; those of Peter and Paul,Acts 10:10 22:1721 Corinthians 12:1-4. Compare alsoGenesis 2:21-24 15:12-21Job 4:13-21.
Easton's Bible Dictionary
(Gr. ekstasis, from which the word "ecstasy" is derived) denotes the state of one who is "out of himself." Such were the trances of Peter and Paul,
Acts 10:10;
11:5;
22:17, ecstasies, "a preternatural, absorbed state of mind preparing for the reception of the vision", (Comp.
2 Corinthians 12:1-4). In
Mark 5:42 and
Luke 5:26 the Greek word is rendered "astonishment," "amazement" (Comp.
Mark 16:8;
Acts 3:10).
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
1. (
n.) A tedious journey.
2. (n.) A state in which the soul seems to have passed out of the body into another state of being, or to be rapt into visions; an ecstasy.
3. (n.) A condition, often simulating death, in which there is a total suspension of the power of voluntary movement, with abolition of all evidences of mental activity and the reduction to a minimum of all the vital functions so that the patient lies still and apparently unconscious of surrounding objects, while the pulsation of the heart and the breathing, although still present, are almost or altogether imperceptible.
4. (v. t.) To entrance.
5. (v. t.) To pass over or across; to traverse.
6. (v. i.) To pass; to travel.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
TRANCEtrans (ekstasis): The condition expressed by this word is a mental state in which the person affected is partially or wholly unconscious of objective sensations, but intensely alive to subjective impressions which, however they may be originated, are felt as if they were revelations from without. They may take the form of visual or auditory sensations or else of impressions of taste, smell, heat or cold, and sometimes these conditions precede epileptic seizures constituting what is named the aura epileptica. The word occurs 5 times in the King James Version, twice in the story of Balaam (Numbers 24:4, 16), twice in the history of Peter (Acts 10:10;Acts 11:5), and once in that of Paul (Acts 22:17). In the Balaam story the word is of the nature of a gloss rather than a translation, as the Hebrew naphal means simply "to fall down" and is translated accordingly in the Revised Version (British and American). Here Septuagint has en hupno, "in sleep" (see SLEEP, DEEP). In Peter's vision on the housetop at Joppa he saw the sail (othone) descending from heaven, and heard a voice. Paul's trance was also one of both sight and sound. The vision on the Damascus road (Acts 9:3-9) and that recorded in2 Corinthians 12:2-4 were also cases of trance, as were the prophetic ecstasies of Saul, Daniel and Elisha, and the condition of John in which he says that he was "in the Spirit" (Revelation 1:10).
The border line between trance and dream is indefinite: the former occurs while one is, in a sense, awake; the latter takes place in the passage from sleep to wakefulness. The dream as well as the vision were supposed of old to be channels of revelation (Job 33:15). In Shakespearean English, "trance" means a dream (Taming of the Shrew, I, i, 182), or simply a bewilderment (Lucrece, 1595).
In the phenomena of hypnotic suggestion, sometimes affecting a number of persons simultaneously we have conditions closely allied to trance, and doubtless some of the well-authenticated phantom appearances are similar subjective projections from the mind affecting the visual and auditory centers of the brain.
Alex. Macalister
Greek
1611. ekstasis -- a displacement (of the mind), ie bewilderment...... stas-is) Short Definition: bewilderment, amazement Definition: (properly: distraction
or disturbance of mind caused by shock), bewilderment, amazement; a
trance...Strong's Hebrew
8639. tardemah -- deep sleep... deep sleep. From radam; a lethargy or (by implication)
trance -- deep sleep. see
HEBREW radam. 8638, 8639. tardemah. 8640 . Strong's Numbers.
935. bo -- to come in, come, go in, go
... let, thing for) to come (against, in, out, upon, to pass), depart, X doubtless again, +
eat, + employ, (cause to) enter (in, into, -tering, -trance, -try), be...
Library
To Queen Giovanna of Naples (Written inTrance)
... LETTERS TO QUEEN GIOVANNA OF NAPLES (WRITTEN INTRANCE). Giovanna, recalcitrant...
Faith. It will be noticed that she writes intrance. Whatever...
Synopsis. --Arbitrary Criticism of the Biblical Narratives of the...
... Arbitrary criticism of the Biblical narratives of the raising of the "dead.""Facts
which it ignores."The subject related to the phenomena oftrance....
Treats of How God Suspends the Soul in Prayer by aTrance, Ecstasy...
... THE SIXTH MANSIONS CHAPTER IV. TREATS OF HOW GOD SUSPENDS THE SOUL IN PRAYER BY
ATRANCE, ECSTASY OR RAPTURE, WHICH I BELIEVE ARE ALL THE SAME THING....
To Misser Lorenzo Del Pino of Bologna, Doctor in Decretals...
... LETTERS TO MISSER LORENZO DEL PINO OF BOLOGNA, DOCTOR IN DECRETALS (WRITTEN INTRANCE)....
It is a curiously tranquil letter to have been written intrance....
The Bones and Flesh of Wisdom; the Side Out of which the Spiritual...
... and flesh; and it was for this cause that the Word, leaving His Father in heaven,
came down to be "joined to His wife;" [2571] and slept in thetrance of His...
Relation iv. Of the Graces the Saint Received in Salamanca at the...
... began in my hands, and no efforts of mine could hinder it; but as I go out of myself
in raptures of joy, so then my soul was thrown into atrance through the...
Rome Protects Paul
... XIII TO END ROME PROTECTS PAUL. 'And it came to pass, that, when I was come again
to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the Temple, I was in atrance; 18....
Raising of Jairus's Daughter. --And of the Widow's Son at Nain.
... that might be disappointed; he would have said, in words, that his expectations
were founded only on the supposition that the girl was in atrance; and as...
Relation viii. Addressed to F. Rodrigo Alvarez.
... of this prayer comes usually what is called a sleep of the faculties; but they are
not so absorbed nor so suspended as that it can be called atrance; nor is...
Peter's Apologia
... 4. But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it by order
unto them, saying, 5. I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in atrance I saw...
Thesaurus
Trance (7 Occurrences)... 6. (vi) To pass; to travel. Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia.
TRANCE. trans
... voice. Paul's
trance was also one of both sight and sound.
...Deep (237 Occurrences)
... 1:5), but the King James Version used "deep sleep" as a translation only in Daniel
8:18; Daniel 10:9, where a sleep supernaturally caused (a "trance") is meant...
Sleep (136 Occurrences)
... 1:5), but the King James Version used "deep sleep" as a translation only in Daniel
8:18; Daniel 10:9, where a sleep supernaturally caused (a "trance") is meant...
Praying (71 Occurrences)
... Acts 11:5 "I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in atrance I saw a vision: a
certain container descending, like it was a great sheet let down from heaven...
Trampling (8 Occurrences)
Fell (331 Occurrences)
... (WEB ASV NAS RSV). Acts 10:10 He became hungry and desired to eat, but while they
were preparing, he fell into atrance. (WEB KJV WEY ASV WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)....
Unusually (1 Occurrence)
... Unusually (1 Occurrence). Acts 10:10 He had become unusually hungry and wished for
food; but, while they were preparing it, he fell into atrance. (WEY)....
Object (76 Occurrences)
... Acts 11:5 "I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in atrance I saw a vision: a
certain container descending, like it was a great sheet let down from heaven...
Jaffa (10 Occurrences)
... sea.' (WEY). Acts 11:5 "While I was in the town of Jaffa, offering prayer,"
he said, "in atrance I saw a vision. There descended...
Lowered (14 Occurrences)
... Acts 11:5 "I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in atrance I saw a vision: a
certain container descending, like it was a great sheet let down from heaven...
Resources
What is neurotheology? | GotQuestions.orgWhat is Thelema? | GotQuestions.orgWhat is Faithism and the Oahspe Bible? | GotQuestions.orgTrance: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.comBible Concordance •
Bible Dictionary •
Bible Encyclopedia •
Topical Bible •
Bible Thesuarus
