Ecclesiastes 3:19-20 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ecclesiastes 3:16-22

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. In these verses he shows that power (than which there is nothing men are more ambitious of) and life itself (than which there is nothing men are more fond, more jealous of) are nothing without the fear of God. I. Here is the vanity of man as... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 3:19

For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts ,.... Aben Ezra says this verse is according to the thoughts of the children of men that are not wise; but rather the wise man says what he does according to his own thoughts, and proceeds to prove the likeness and equality of men and beasts; even one thing befalleth them ; the same events belong to one as to another; the same diseases and disasters, calamities and distresses: Noah's flood carried away one as well as another; they... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 3:20

All go unto one place ,.... The earth F23 "Magna parens terra est", Ovid. Metamorph. l. 1. Fab. 7. from whence they came; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again ; Adam's body was made of the dust of the earth, and so all his posterity, all of them; in which they agree with beasts, who are made of the dust also; and, when they die, return to it; see Genesis 2:7 . read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 3:19

For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts - From the present comparison of great men to beasts, the author takes occasion to enforce the subject by mentioning the state of mankind in general, with respect to the mortality of their bodies; and then, by an easy transition, touches in the next verse on the point which is of such infinite consequence to religion. As the one dieth, so dieth the other - Animal life is the same both in the man and in the beast. They have all... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 3:20

All go unto one place - "Man was born To die, nor aught exceeds in this respect The vilest brute. Both transient, frail, and vain, Draw the same breath; alike grow old, decay, And then expire: both to one grave descend; There blended lie, to native dust return'd." - C. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 3:1-22

Section 4. In confirmation of the truth that man's happiness depends upon the will of God, Koheleth proceeds to show how Providence arranges even the minutest concerns; that man can alter nothing, must make the best of things as they are, bear with anomalies, bounding his desires by this present life. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 3:16-22

Acknowledging the providential government of God, which controls events and places man's happiness out of his own power, one is confronted also by the fact that there is much wickedness, much injustice, in the world, which oppose all plans for peaceful enjoyment. Doubtless there shall be a day of retribution for such iniquities; and God allows them now in order to try men and to teach them humility. Meantime man's duty and happiness consist, as before said, in making the best use of the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 3:19

For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts ; literally, chance are the sons of men , and chance are beasts (see on Ecclesiastes 2:14 ); Septuagint, " Yea , and to them cometh the event ( συνάντηημα ) of the sons of men, and the event of the beast ." Koheleth explains in what respect man is on a level with the brute creation. Neither are able to rise superior to the law that controls their natural life. So Solon says to Croesus (Herod; 1:32), πᾶν ἐστι... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 3:19-21

are best regarded as a parenthesis explanatory of Ecclesiastes 3:16-18 , elucidating man's impotence in the presence of the anomalies of life. The conclusion in Ecclesiastes 3:22 is connected with Ecclesiastes 3:16-18 . We must acknowledge that there are disorders in the world which we cannot remedy, and which God allows in order to demonstrate our powerlessness; therefore the wisest course is to make the best of present cir-circumstances. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 3:20

All go unto one place . All, men and brutes, are buried in the earth ( Ecclesiastes 12:7 ). The author is not thinking of Sheol, the abode of departed spirits, but merely regarding earth as the universal tomb of all creatures. Plumptre quotes Lueretius, 'De Rer. Nat .,' 5.260— "Omniparens eadem rerum commune sepulchrum." "The mother and the sepulcher of all." Thus Bailey, 'Festus'— "The course of nature seems a course of death; The prize of life's brief race, to cease to... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ecclesiastes 3:16-22

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 3:19

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 3:20

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 3:19

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 3:20

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 3:1-22

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 3:16-22

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 3:19

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 3:19-21

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 3:20

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