Psalms 73:20 · Bible study
Psalms 73:20 Commentary: When the Dream Ends
Hebrew · 10 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Psalm 73:20 compares the wicked's prosperity to a vanishing dream.
Research Summary
- Meaning: The prosperity of the wicked is as insubstantial as a dream; when God acts in judgment, all their pretensions will be despised.
- Key words: Dream (חֲלוֹם, H2472), Awake (קִיץ H6974 and עוּר H5782), Image (צֶלֶם, H6754), Despise (בָּזָה, H0959).
- Main debate: Whether “when you awake” refers to God rousing Himself to judgment or to the dreamer waking from sleep, and how the “image” should be understood.
- Theological theme: Divine retribution and the reality of God’s justice beyond present appearances.
- Best use: A comfort for those troubled by the success of the wicked; a call to patience and trust in God’s ultimate judgment.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
Like one waking from a dream, so You, O Lord, awaken and despise their form.
WEB World English Bible 2000
As a dream when one wakes up, so, Lord, when you awake, you will despise their fantasies.
KJV King James Version 1769
As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
As a dream when one awaketh, So, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou wilt despise their image.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
As a dream from awakening, O Lord, In awaking, their image Thou despisest.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
As a dream, when one awaketh, wilt thou, Lord, on arising despise their image.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
Have regard to thy covenant: for they that are the obscure of the earth have been filled with dwellings of iniquity.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Como sueño del que despierta, así, Señor, cuando despertares, menospreciarás sus apariencias.
Como o sonho depois de acordar, ó Senhor, quando tu acordares desprezarás a aparência deles;
Comme un songe au réveil,
Wie ein Traum, wenn einer erwacht, so machst du, Herr, ihr Bild in der Stadt verschmäht.
Als een droom na het ontwaken! Als Gij opwaakt, o Heere, dan zult Gij hun beeld verachten.
Come avviene d’un sogno quand’uno si sveglia, così tu, o Signore, quando ti desterai, sprezzerai la loro vana apparenza.
Są jako sen temu, co ocucił; Panie! gdy ich obudzisz obraz ich lekce poważysz.
Призри на завет Твой; ибо наполнились все мрачные места земли жилищами насилия.
人睡醒了，怎樣看夢；主啊，你醒了 也必照樣輕看 他們的影像。
As a dream when one is awake, they are ended; they are like an image gone out of mind when sleep is over.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Psalms 73:20
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that the first line compares the prosperity of the wicked to a dream that vanishes when a person wakes. The dream is vivid while it lasts; the reality is the absence of the treasure. Barnes, Gill and the Cambridge Bible all stress this contrast. They also agree that the Hebrew word for “their image” (צַלְמָם, tzalmam) means a semblance or phantom, the outward show of wealth and honour that has no lasting substance. The second half of the verse is more debated. Barnes argues that the verb “when you awake” refers to the dreamer waking, so that the line reads: just as the dreamer wakes and the dream is gone, so the wicked awake (from the sleep of life) and find their glory vanished. Gill and the Cambridge Bible, however, read it as God awakening, rousing Himself to act in judgment. In either case, the core affirmation stands: God ultimately dismantles every false front and assesses human life at its true value.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- God’s awakening to judgment: The verb עור is used elsewhere of God rousing to action (Psalm 7:6, 35:23); the context of vv.18–19 describes God’s active destruction of the wicked.
- The dreamer’s awakening: Barnes argues the parallelism demands the same subject as the first line; the Hebrew בָּעִיר can be parsed as a form of the verb ‘to awake’ referring to the dreamer, not God.
What is clear: The wicked’s prosperity is as fleeting as a dream, and in the end God will hold it in contempt.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Subject of 'awake' in the second line | Both sides agree the verse compares the end of the wicked to the vanishing of a dream. | Barnes reads it as the dreamer awakening; Gill and the Cambridge Bible read it as God awakening to judgment. |
| Nature of 'their image' (צלם) | All see the word as describing something unsubstantial, a mere appearance. | Barnes and Cambridge call it a phantom or counterfeit of reality; Gill sees it as the sinful nature and earthly pomp that will be destroyed in hell. |
| Temporal setting of the judgment | The wicked face a sudden, decisive end (vv.18, 19). | Some commentators (Matthew Henry, Wesley) see this as a present-life calamity; Gill connects it to the resurrection and final judgment. |
| Role of the sanctuary in gaining perspective | The sanctuary is the place where the psalmist gains divine insight. | Poole takes it as referring to the literal temple oracle; Calvin emphasizes meditative communion with God. |
| Source of the psalmist's ultimate confidence | Confidence in God's presence and guidance (vv.23, 24) is the antidote. | Historic Reformed readings see the final hope as earthly restoration; others (Gill, Targum) see an eschatological hope of resurrection and glory. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Psalm 73 belongs to a group of psalms attributed to Asaph, a Levitical musician (1 Chronicles 16:5). It wrestles with the classic problem of theodicy: why do the wicked prosper while the righteous suffer? Calvin describes the psalmist as almost abandoning faith when he saw the wicked “abounding in wealth” and “mocking God” while the godly were weighed down. The turning point comes in verse 17: “until I entered God’s sanctuary, and considered their latter end.” The sanctuary was not only a place of worship but also a place of divine oracle and instruction (as Poole notes). There the psalmist received perspective that he could not reach by reasoning alone.
The Hebrew text of verse 20 contains a well-known ambiguity. The word translated “when you awake” is בָּעִיר (ba'ir). As Barnes and Cambridge explain, the same spelling can mean “in the city.” The ancient versions (Septuagint, Vulgate, Targum) all read it as a form of the verb “to awake” (ur), and the context of the dreaming and waking makes that interpretation far more natural. The Targum even saw this as a resurrection passage: “when they awake out of their graves.” The dream motif was already familiar in wisdom literature (Job 20:8, Isaiah 29:7, 8), and the psalmist uses it to announce that the apparent stability of the wicked is a mirage.
Textual Notes
The Hebrew word בָּעִיר (ba’ir) can be parsed as “in the city” or as a syncopated form of “when awaking” (from עור, to rouse). The KJV, ASV, and most English translations follow the latter reading. The R.V. margin notes “in the city” as an alternative, but the Cambridge Bible and Barnes both reject that rendering as making no sense in context. The Targum, Septuagint, and Vulgate all support the reading “when awaking.” No other significant textual variants are noted in the supplied sources.
Reception History
The Targum interpreted “when you awake” as the resurrection: “on the day of the great judgment, when they awake out of their graves, in wrath abandon their image to contempt.” Calvin and the Geneva Bible read it as God rousing Himself to judgment, providing immediate comfort to the afflicted. Barnes, writing in the 19th century, shifted the emphasis to the dreamer’s awakening, stressing the subjective experience of the wicked who face reality only when their life-dream ends. The verse has been used in Christian hymnody to express confidence in God’s final justice, though no specific hymn titles appear in the supplied sources. Regardless of era, the church has found here a sobering and hopeful reminder that the false glory of this world will not survive the encounter with the living God.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The dream. The wicked live in a fantasy of security and success, but it has no more substance than a night vision.
- The awakening. Whether the dreamer wakes or God stirs Himself to action, the moment of truth arrives. The fantasy evaporates.
- The despised image. Everything the wicked relied on, money, reputation, power, is treated by God as a cheap imitation. The only thing that lasts is what God has made real.
Five-point outline
- The temptation of envy (vv.2, 14): the psalmist almost loses his footing.
- The turning point: entering the sanctuary (v.17) changes everything.
- The end of the wicked (vv.18, 20): they stand on slippery ground; their end is sudden and terrifying.
- The psalmist’s repentance (vv.21, 22): he calls himself a brute beast for doubting.
- The secure hope (vv.23, 28): “Nevertheless I am continually with you.”
Illustration hooks
- A college student works all night on an essay, then dreams she earned an A. She wakes to find the essay still half-finished. The dream gave confidence that had no basis.
- A real estate developer builds a skyscraper with a beautiful facade, but the concrete is faulty. The building is condemned before it opens. Appearances masked a fatal weakness.
- A child at a carnival wins a giant stuffed prize. By the time they get home, the prize looks cheap and forgotten. The thrill of winning evaporated as soon as the game ended.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Why do people who cheat and lie seem to get ahead while honest people struggle?
- Does God notice when I am treated unfairly? Does He plan to do anything about it?
- How can I keep believing when the evidence of my eyes contradicts what the Bible says about God’s justice?
Leading a Discussion
This verse captures the turning point in the psalmist’s journey from envy to confidence. The dream of the wicked is about to end. As you discuss, pay attention to how the psalmist moves from “almost lost” to “I am continually with you.”
Discussion questions
- Read verses 16, 20. What does the psalmist learn when he goes into the sanctuary? How does that change his view of the wicked?
- The verse uses two different words for “awake” (קיץ in line one, עור in line two). Why do you think the poet shifts words? What might that difference signal?
- Barnes says the “awakening” is the dreamer waking up; Gill says it is God awakening to judge. How does each interpretation affect the meaning of the verse?
- What does “their image” refer to? How does the Hebrew word צֶלֶם (tselem, used elsewhere of idols and of mankind’s likeness to God) shape your understanding?
- Have you ever felt like the psalmist, envying people who seem to succeed without honour? What helped you see more clearly?
- How does the certainty of God’s eventual justice change the way you handle present injustice or disappointment?
- Verses 23, 24 show the psalmist’s confidence. In your own words, what is the “real” that replaces the “dream” of the wicked?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Job 20:8 | He will fly away as a dream, and will not be found. Yes, he will be chased away like a vision of the night. |
| Psalms 7:6 | Arise, Yahweh, in your anger. Lift up yourself against the rage of my adversaries. Awake for me. You have commanded judgment. |
| Psalms 39:6 | “Surely every man walks like a shadow. Surely they busy themselves in vain. He heaps up, and doesn’t know who shall gather. |
| Psalms 78:65 | Then the Lord awakened as one out of sleep, like a mighty man who shouts by reason of wine. |
| Psalms 90:5 | You sweep them away as they sleep. In the morning they sprout like new grass. |
| Isaiah 29:7 | The multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all who fight against her and her stronghold, and who distress her, will be like a dream, a vision of the night. |
| Isaiah 29:8 | It will be like when a hungry man dreams, and behold, he eats; but he awakes, and his hunger isn’t satisfied; or like when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he drinks; but he awakes, and behold, he is faint, and he is still thirsty. The multitude of all the nations that fight against Mount Zion will be like that. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
9 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke highlights the contrast between illusion and reality: the wicked person's prosperity is only a dream, while their loss is painfully real. Without true religion, their apparent greatness is nothing more than a hollow image that God despises.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes treats the whole of earthly life as a vivid dream that ends only at death. The reality, he insists, is what remains after the dreamer awakes. God will then judge people by their true character, not by the fleeting illusions of wealth, status, or comfort they once enjoyed.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin emphasizes that the psalmist nearly abandoned faith by judging only from present circumstances. The remedy is patience: we must let God's providence work in the hidden way He has determined, trusting that in the end the righteous will not lose their reward and the wicked will not escape judgment.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The wicked’s apparent prosperity is nothing more than a phantom, a hollow counterfeit of real substance. When God stirs Himself to judgment, He sees through their pomp and values it at nothing. Their splendid image is merely a fleeting dream.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva Note compares the fleeting prosperity of the wicked to a dream that vanishes at waking. When God lifts up His people, He makes the enemies' proud image seem contemptible and worthless.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill stresses that the wicked person's earthly happiness is nothing more than a dream. At the resurrection, when God awakens them, they will discover it was all an illusion, leaving them with nothing. At that point, God will despise the sinful image they bear, their fallen nature and empty worldly glory.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil-Delitzsch highlights the poet's resolve: after receiving divine insight into the fate of the wicked, he considers any return to doubt as beneath human dignity. To doubt again would make him as stupid as the hippopotamus, a plump, unthinking colossus, rather than a man who stands before God with understanding.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry emphasizes that the psalmist's victory over envy began with a simple act of restraint: he refused to voice his doubt. Henry draws a sharp line between thinking ill and speaking it, arguing that uttering such thoughts would offend God's people and spread corruption. Suppressing the evil thought, even while still wrestling with it, is itself a sign of repentance.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley sees the awakening as coming out of the pleasant but deceptive dream of earthly life. At that moment, the wicked are made despicable to themselves and to everyone else, raised to shame and everlasting contempt. Their former happiness and glory is shown to be nothing real, only an image or shadow.