Charles Ellicott Commentary Psalms 126:1

"When Jehovah brought back those that returned to Zion, We were like unto them that dream." — Psalms 126:1 (ASV)

When the Lord ... —Literally, In turning by Jehovah the turning of Zion. The phrase is not precisely the same as that in Psalms 126:4, which is usual and offers no difficulty. Here the form of the noun “turning” presents some difficulty; but, after the analogy of a few other words, it can bear the concrete meaning “returned:” when Jehovah brought back the returned of Zion.

Like them that dream. —The Septuagint and Vulgate have “as if consoled.” The Hebrew word primarily means “to be fat,” or “fleshy,” and in Isaiah 38:16 is rendered “recover”—a meaning that would make good sense here, and which is adopted by the Chaldean paraphrases: “We were like such men who have recovered.” On the other hand, the usual rendering suggests that the news of the restoration appeared too good to be true. “Surely you are dreaming” is a common saying.

An apt illustration is provided by Livy’s description of the feelings of the Greeks. At the Isthmian games (B.C. 196), after the defeat of the Macedonians by T. Flaminius, they heard the herald's proclamation that, by the free gift of the Roman people, they would retain their liberty. “The joy was too great for men to take it all in. None could quite believe that he had heard correctly, and they looked on one another in wonder, like the empty show of a dream” (Livy, xxxiii. 32).