Ecclesiastes 3:18

I said in mine heart The word "estate" expresses fairly the meaning of the Hebrew noun, which may be rendered "word," "matter," or "subject." In the next clause for "that God might manifest them," we may better read, that God might separate, sift, or try them, i.e.in modern phrase, He leaves the disorders of the world unredressed, as part of man's probation. This comes into the heart of the seeker as a partial explanation of the disorders noted in Ecclesiastes 3:16.

that they might see that they themselves are beasts The pronoun in the original has, as in the English version, the strong emphasis of iteration, that they are beasts, they by themselves. The thought implied is that without a higher faith of some kind whether in the Divine Righteousness or in Immortality, is not yet defined Man stands, as having only an animal life, on the same level as other animals. In the words of an old English poet:

"Unless above himself he can

Erect himself, how poor a thing is man!"