Geneva Study Bible Commentary
Ecclesiastes 3:21
Who (k) knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?
(k) Meaning, that reason cannot comprehend that which faith believes in.
Who (k) knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?
(k) Meaning, that reason cannot comprehend that which faith believes in.
Verse 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 fra...
That great anomaly in the moral government of this world, the seemingly unequal distribution of rewards and punishments, will be rectified by God, who has future times and events under His control Ecc...
2. FURTHER RESULTS OF THE SEARCH CHAPTER 3 _ 1. The times of man under the sun (Ecclesiastes 3:1)_ 2. When then is the good? (Ecclesiastes 3:12) 3. Concerning judgment and the future ...
MAN NO BETTER THAN THE BEASTS. Ecclesiastes 3:16. Both in the administration of the law and the observances of religion, wickedness is prevalent; righteousness is here equivalent to piety. Ecclesiast...
SPIRIT. Hebrew. _ruach._ App-9. OF MAN. Hebrew "of the sons of Adam". See notes on verses: Ecclesiastes 3:3; Ecclesiastes 3:10; Ecclesiastes 3:13;...
_Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward_ The words imply a strictly sceptical rather than a negative answer. They do not actually deny, still less do they affirm, as some have thought, that t...
WHO KNOWETH THE SPIRIT OF MAN, &C.— _Who knoweth the breath of the sons of man, whether it ascendeth upward; and the breath of a brute, whether it descendeth downward to the earth?_ We have, from Eccl...
2. Working outside the framework of God's providence results in frustration and defeat. Ecclesiastes 3:9-22 TEXT 3:9-22 9 What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils? 10 I have...
Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? WHO KNOWETH. Not doubt of the destination of man's spirit (). The question expresses '...
3:21 spirit (f-4) 'Breath' and 'spirit' are the same word in Hebrew. go (g-12) go (g-22) Or 'that goeth.'...
THE PRACTICAL IDEAL. ACCEPTANCE OF THE UNIVERSAL SCHEME 1-15. God is a God of order. The problem which the writer has set himself is not yet solved. He has found that wisdom, culture, pleasure, are al...
M en wrest judgment; but God shall right all wrongs, though how, is beyond our ken. 16, 17. The judges of his time troubled the writer. Yet in GOD'S purposes, either here or in the future, unrighteou...
THAT GOETH] RV 'whether it goeth upward.. downward,' thus neither denying nor affirming that there is an intrinsic difference in the soul of man. Christ had not yet come to bring 'life and immortality...
THE TEACHER SEARCHES FOR THE PURPOSE OF OUR LIVES BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES _HILDA BRIGHT AND KITTY PRIDE_ CHAPTER 3 A POEM ABOUT TIME – ECCLESIASTES 3:1-8...
The LXX., followed by a great body of interpreters, ancient and modern, translate, “Who knoweth whether the spirit of man goeth upward?” &c, and this agrees better with the context of this paragraph....
מִ֣י יֹודֵ֗עַ ר֚וּחַ בְּנֵ֣י הָ אָדָ֔ם הָ
TO PRODUCE A MATERIALISTIC SCEPTICISM; Ecclesiastes 3:18 (c) The "speculation" in the eye of business men is not commonly of a philosophic cast, and therefore we do not look to find them arguing them...
AND BY HUMAN INJUSTICE AND PERVERSITY. Ecclesiastes 3:16; Ecclesiastes 4:1 But not only are our endeavours to find the "good" of our labours thwarted by the gracious, inflexible laws of the just God;...
SECOND SECTION The Quest Of The Chief Good In Devotion To The Affairs Of Business Ecclesiastes 3:1 - Ecclesiastes 5:20 I. IF the true Good is not to be found in the School where Wisdom utters her vo...
The vanity of life under the sun is evidenced not merely in the experience of the preacher himself, but in the wider outlook which he has been able to take. He now gives us some of the results of that...
Who knoweth, &c., viz., experimentally; since no one in this life can see a spirit. But as to the spirits of the beasts, which is merely animal, and becomes extinct by the death of the beast, who can...
And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there. (17) I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and...
THE FOLLOWING COMMENTARY COVERS CHAPTER S 1 THROUGH 12. The Book of Ecclesiastes is, up to a certain point, the converse of the Book of Proverbs. (see NOTE TO PROVERBS below) It is the experience of a...
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 immor...
Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? Ver. 21. _Who knoweth the Spirit?_] _q.d., _ Who but a man that is spiritually rational,...
_All go unto one place_ To the earth, as it is expressed Ecclesiastes 3:21, out of which they were both taken. _All turn to dust again_ All their bodies, as it is explained Ecclesiastes 12:7. _Who kno...
THE NATURE OF HUMAN HAPPINESS...
Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? How can we expect the ordinary person, without the illumination of the Word, to distingui...
OF MAN: _ Heb._ of the sons of man GOETH UPWARD: _ Heb._ is ascending...
"WHO KNOWS THAT THE BREATH OF MAN ASCENDS UPWARD AND THE BREATH OF THE BEAST DESCENDS DOWNWARD TO THE EARTH?" Points To Note: 1 Solomon isn't an agnostic, for he knew what happened when people died ...
16-22 Without the fear of the Lord, man is but vanity; set that aside, and judges will not use their power well. And there is another Judge that stands before the door. With God there is a time for t...
It might be objected, that the conditions of men and beasts are vastly differing, because man's spirit goeth upward to God, ECCLESIASTES 12:7, but the spirit of a beast goeth downward, together with i...
Ecclesiastes 3:21 knows H3045 (H8802) spirit H7307 sons H1121 men H120 goes H5927 (H8802) upward H4605 spir
DEATH IS THE GREAT LEVELLER (ECCLESIASTES 3:18). Now we discover the conflict taking place within him. He has had a concept of everlastingness and of the necessity for future judgement. How then does...
Ecclesiastes 3:19 Has man, then, no real pre-eminence over the beast? Apparently, if we grant the assumption of the Epicurean, this is the conclusion to which we must come. If man have merely an anim...
Ecclesiastes 1:12-3 Koheleth now mentions the unusual advantages which he had possessed for enjoying life and making the best of it. His opportunities could not have been greater, he considers, had h...
CONTENTS: The mutability of all human affairs and the unchangeableness and unsearchableness of the divine counsels. CHARACTERS: God, Solomon. CONCLUSION: We live in a world of changes. The events of...
Ecclesiastes 3:1. _To every thing there is a season._ The seasons of the year are four. But the Zodiac, Job 9., divides the times into twelve signs. In a similar manner are the labours of the husbandm...
_For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts._ MAN AND BEAST It is difficult to determine the exact object of Ecclesiastes in instituting this comparison: partly because the Hebrew is c...
ECCLESIASTES—NOTE ON ECCLESIASTES 3:21 For the Preacher, the human SPIRIT is a mysterious thing. While he affirms that the spirit returns to God when a person dies, he does not know how it comes to re...
CRITICAL NOTES.— ECCLESIASTES 3:22. FOR WHO SHALL BRING HIM TO SEE WHAT SHALL BE AFTER HIM?] Man cannot tell what God will do in the future with all his earthly circumstances—how far, in the great fu...
EXPOSITION ECCLESIASTES 3:1 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;...
Now we get into the weary, monotony of life. This has been used poetically as something that is very beautiful. "A time to love," and it's been made very beautiful, but in the Hebrew idea, it was mono...
2 Corinthians 5:1; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Acts 1:25; Ecclesiastes 12:7;...
Who knoweth? — True it is, there is a difference, which is known by good men; but the generality of mankind never mind it: their hearts are wholly set on present and sensible things, and take no thoug...
If there is life after death, why does Solomon declare that man has no advantage over the beasts? PROBLEM: The Bible teaches that the soul survives death (Philippians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Revelati...