איוב, פרק כ׳, פסוק ח׳

The success and greatness of the wicked vanish from the world without leaving a single trace, as if they never existed at all. The primary comparison here is to the illusions of sleep, which evaporate the moment a person wakes up [מלבי״ם, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Just as a dream flies away and disappears upon waking, the wicked will suddenly depart from the world. Because of this sudden disappearance, anyone searching for them—especially their friends and acquaintances—will be entirely unable to find them [רש״י, מצודת דוד].

This sudden departure is further compared to being chased away like a vision in the night, emphasizing that the wicked will be removed and forced to wander away from existence [רלב״ג, אבן עזרא, מצודת דוד], fading away like the sights seen in a dream [מצודת ציון]. While some view this as a simple repetition of the same idea for emphasis [מצודת דוד], others draw a delicate distinction between the two concepts. According to this approach, a dream is an abstract thought without a clear picture, which is why it is described as flying through the air of thoughts. A vision, on the other hand, involves actual visual imagination, and therefore it is described as something that wanders and walks upon the earth [מלבי״ם].

Ultimately, comparing the wicked to night dreams does more than just highlight how unreal their success truly is; it captures the immense speed of their downfall. A person might dream of being a powerful king only to wake up with absolutely nothing, or imagine being in one city and instantly find themselves in another. In the exact same way, the wicked fall from the heights of power to absolute ruin in a single instant, without any delay or gradual decline [אלשיך].