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Ecclesiastes 3:20-21 KJV
Ecclesiastes · chapter 3 · verses 20–21
20All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. 21Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?Ecclesiastes 3:20-21 · King James Version
Ecclesiastes 3:20-21 in context
18I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.
19For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.
20All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
21Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?
22Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?
Commentary
Key words (Strong's)
- downwardmaṭṭâhdownward, below or beneathH4295 →
- knowethyâdaʻto knowH3045 →
- spiritrûwachwindH7307 →
- upwardmaʻalproperly, the upper part, used only adverbially with prefix upward, above, overhead, from…H4605 →
- placemâqôwmproperly, a standingH4725 →
- goethʻâlâhto ascend, intransitively or activelyH5927 →
- beastbᵉhêmâhproperly, a dumb beastH929 →
- goethyâradto descend (literally, to go downwardsH3381 →
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Solomon is still showing that every thing in this world, without piety and the fear of God, is vanity. Take away religion, and there is nothing valuable among men, nothing for the sake of which a wise man would think it worth while to live in this world.
— Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on verses 16-22