Tardemah Sleep

Gen 2:21
And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
Gen 15:12
And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.
1Sa 26:12
So David took the spear and the cruse of water from Saul's bolster; and they gat them away, and no man saw [it], nor knew [it], neither awaked: for they [were] all asleep; because a deep sleep from the LORD was fallen upon them.
Job 4:13
In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men,
Job 33:15
In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed;
Pro 19:15
Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.
Isa 29:10
For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.

Sleep Story

“Why doesn’t he move anymore?”

“Shh...Look at his eyes,” Christopher said.

Matthias and Christopher stood together at the edge of the clearing leading to the pond. In their confusion they moved closer together, shoulders touching. On the lush grass lay a naked man. They had been tracking him for a long time now: watching and learning. Not sure what he was much less why he was. But they did know their job - to bear witness to all the things that had happened since the first day. And so much had happened.

For what seemed like eons, the man had moved through the forest, looking at everything. He would bend down and scratch in the dirt, then stand and scratch his head. He spent hours under trees, watching the movement in the branches, then sighing suddenly as he stood and moved on. Many times, the man spoke, especially when the other creatures were near, but neither Matthias or Christopher were never close enough to make sense of his words. They had been told to stay close, but not to interfere. As far as they knew, the man did not know of their presence.

And so, after a such a long time of following the man through the forest, watching him as he in turn watched the other creatures, he came to this pond, to the thick green mat, and lay down. This, in itself, was not unusual. Christopher and Matthias had often seen him lie down and stare at the clouds in the sky. Or if it were night, he would watch the stars and moon.

But this time was different - very different. The man had not moved at all for such a long time that Christopher and Matthias finally crept closer to him than ever before. They could see the gentle rise and fall of his chest, the dappling of the leaves from a near-by tree on his legs. They were so close they could see his hair was not just one color, but each strand seemed to be a different shade. His curls spread out beneath his head, one hand resting to his side, the other stretched out in the grass, palm up as if waiting to receive something from the sky.

It was his eyes that captured them, that drew them even closer. They were shut as he sometimes did when looking at the bright sky with the sun directly overhead. But eventually he would always look down and open them again. Now they could see his eyes moving back and forth, back and forth, beneath the frail lids. A slight breeze stirred and carried a strand of hair across his face. Still the man did not move.

Matthias jerked suddenly and stood up straight. “Did you hear that?”

Christopher didn’t reply, Matthias could see, because he had fallen face down on the grass beside the man. Matthias followed suit.

“Now watch, Christopher. Matthias, look! See what I am about to do.”

Genesis 2:19-22
Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

Jewish Tradition

Interesting article on the Jewish legend of Eve. There are some interesting thoughts on Adam's deep sleep and Eve's creation. I don't understand the whole "Lilith" thing. Interesting excerpts:

"The purpose of the sleep that enfolded Adam was to give him a wife, so that the human race might develop, and all creatures recognize the difference between God and man. When the earth heard what God had resolved to do, it began to tremble and quake. "I have not the strength," it said, "to provide food for the herd of Adam's descendants." But God pacified it with the words, "I and thou together, we will find food for the herd." Accordingly, time was divided between God and the earth; God took the night, and the earth took the day. Refreshing sleep nourishes and strengthens man, it affords him life and rest, while the earth brings forth produce with the help of God, who waters it. Yet man must work the earth to earn his food."

Adam was first made to fall into a deep sleep before the rib for Eve was taken from his side. For, had he watched her creation, she would not have awakened love in him. To this day it is true that men do not appreciate the charms of women whom they have known and observed from childhood up. Indeed, God had created a wife for Adam before Eve, but he would not have her, because she had been made in his presence. Knowing well all the details of her formation, he was repelled by her. But when he roused himself from his profound sleep, and saw Eve before him in all her surprising beauty and grace, he exclaimed, "This is she who caused my heart to throb many a night!"

The Deep Sleep

Tardemah
1) deep sleep, trance

There are many references to sleep in the Bible, the first being when God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep so He could take a rib from which Eve, the crowning masterpiece of Creation, was formed. The Hebrew word used here is tardemah and is only found six other times in the Bible. Tardemah literally means a deep sleep or trance, so it’s a bit different from everyday sleep which is called shehah.

Abraham also experienced this deep sleep when God made a covenant with him in Genesis chapter 15. He promised that Abraham’s offspring would be as plentiful as the stars in the sky and that he would possess the land he had been led to from Ur. After having Abraham provide a severed heifer, goat, and ram, plus a pigeon and a dove, God caused a deep sleep to fall on Abraham during which Abraham was told of the slavery his descendants would suffer for 400 years.

Dr. Henry Morris from the Institute for Creation Research pointed out that in the first instance of tardemah a bride was born. In the second, a nation. In Adam’s case, God placed him in a deep sleep to take what was needed from him to create Eve and I think, probably, to protect him from the pain of removing his rib. With Abraham, God used the deep sleep to take him to a place that was dark and dreadful, maybe somehow muting the sorrow of knowing that his children would suffer in slavery for 400 years.

A bride...a nation...Morris also says that as Adam and Abram are both types of Christ, these deep sleeps of theirs point us to Christ's 'deep sleep' of death on the cross. In His death, He gave life to His Bride and in His resurrection He gave birth to a new nation of the Redeeemed. On the cross and in the tomb, 'heaven and hell were judged and a new world was born.'

Morris' article can be found here.

A Sermon on Sleep!

Never seen this before. Here's a sermon from Sovereign Grace ministries on the Biblical Doctrine of Sleep.

Three main points: 1)Sleep is a gift from God, 2)Sleep is a reminder of our dependence from God, and 3)Sleep is an opportunity for us to search our hearts before God.

(Find written summary from the Proverbs 27:17 Project here.)