Enypnion (ἐνύπνιον) is the noun form of 'dream' — a vision received during sleep. The word appears in Acts 2:17 in Peter's Pentecost sermon quoting Joel 2:28, where the Spirit's outpouring on 'all flesh' includes old men dreaming enypnia. The word carries the sense of a night vision that carries meaning beyond mere fantasy — a divinely-sourced communication. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament (LXX), enypnion frequently translates the Hebrew chalom (dream), including the dreams of Joseph, Pharaoh, and Nebuchadnezzar.
Biblical dreams (enypnion) are a consistent vehicle of divine revelation across both Testaments: Jacob's ladder (Genesis 28:12), Joseph's prophetic dreams (Genesis 37), Daniel's visions (Daniel 7), Joseph the carpenter's guidance dreams (Matthew 1:20; 2:12-22). The Pentecost promise of Acts 2:17 democratizes this experience — no longer limited to patriarchs and prophets, dreams of the Spirit are available to young and old, male and female, slave and free. Yet Scripture consistently emphasizes testing such experiences against God's revealed word.