Ecclesiastes 3:19-21

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

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 3:21

Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward ?.... There is indeed a difference between a man and a beast; though they have one breath, they have not one spirit or soul; man has a rational and immortal soul, which, when he dies, goes upwards to God that gave it; to be judged by him, and disposed of by him, in its proper apartment, until the day of the resurrection of the body; and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth ? when the beast dies, its spirit goes down to... 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

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 3:21

Who knoweth the spirit of man - I think the meaning of this important verse is well taken by the above able writer: - The nobler part of man, 'tis true, survives The frail corporeal frame: but who regards The difference? Those who live like beasts, as such Would die, and be no more, if their own fate Depended on themselves. Who once reflects, Amidst his revels, that the human soul, Of origin celestial, mounts aloft, While that of brutes to earth shall downward go?" The word... 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

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