Ecclesiastes 3:19

For 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. FOR THAT WHICH BEFALLETH THE SONS OF MEN BEFALLETH BEASTS - literally, 'For the sons of men' ( 'aadaam (H120)) are haphazard, as also the beast is haphazard. As regards liability to death, excluding the future judgment, as the sceptic oppressors do, man is on a level with the beast. Life is "vanity" if regarded independently of religion. Man is as powerless as the beast to ward off any haphazard casualty. Apart from the bond which unites him to God, who breathed into him His Spirit, raising him infinitely above the beast (Genesis 2:7), godless man is...

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 the redressing of grievances, though as yet we see it not. Solomon seems to express his wish that men might perceive, that by choosing this world as their portion, they brought themselves to a level with the beasts, without being free, as they are, from present vexations and a future account. Both return to the dust from whence they were taken. What little reason have we to be proud of our bodies, or bodily accomplishments! But as none can fully comprehend, so few consider properly, the difference between the rational soul of man, and the spirit or life of the beast. The spirit of man goes upward, to be judged, and is then fixed in an unchangeable state of happiness or misery. It is as certai...

Verse 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 ONE BREATH_] They respire in the same way; and when they cease to respire, animal life becomes extinct. _BEFALLETH BEASTS__ _- This is wanting in six of _Kennicott's_ and _De_ _Rossi's_ MSS....

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 Ecclesiastes 3:16. As for people, they are placed by God, who is their teacher, in a humble condition, even on a level with inferior animals, by death, that great instance of their subjection to vanity Ecclesiastes 3:18, which reduces to its original form all that was made of the dust of the ground Ecclesiastes 3:20. And though the destinies of man and beast are different, yet in our present lack of knowledge as to God’s future dealing with our spirits...

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; that man can alter nothing, must make the best of things as they are, bear with anomalies, bounding his desires by this present life._ ECCLESIASTES 3:1 The providence of God disposes and arranges every detail of man's life. This proposition is stated first generally, and then worked out in particular by means of antithetical sentences. In Hebrew manuscripts and most printed texts Ecclesiastes 3:2 are arranged in two parallel col

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 both perished in it; several of the plagues of Egypt were inflicted on both; and both are beholden to God for their health, preservation, and safety; see Genesis 7:21; AS THE ONE DIETH, SO DIETH THE OTHER; the Targum compares a wicked man and an unclean beast together, in the former clause; and paraphrases this after this manner, "as an unclean beast dies, so

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 (Ecclesiastes 3:16) Ecclesiastes 3:1. There is a time for everything. Twenty-eight “times” are mentioned, beginning with the time of birth and ending with the time for peace. Everything has a fixed time: Life-death; seeding-harvesting; killing-healing; breaking-down building-up; weeping-laughing; mourning-dancing, etc. These are the times of the entire race; that is what human life

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. Ecclesiastes 3:17 is the insertion of the orthodox glossator; Qoheleth does not regard God as vindicating the godly. Ecclesiastes 3:18 links on to Ecclesiastes 3:16; the corruption already alluded to is God's way of showing that man, despite his vaunt of intelligence, is really on a level with the beasts. They share the same breath, and when it leaves them, the same end, death. Note...

THAT WHICH BEFALLETH. See note on "event", Ecclesiastes 2:14. and App-76. ONE THING: i.e. death. ONE BREATH. one spirit. Hebrew. _ruach._ App-9. Compare Genesis 2:7 with Genesis 1:20; Genesis 1:21; Genesis 1:24; Genesis 1:30. and App-13. NO PREEMINENCE, &C. Compare Psalms 49:12;...

_that which befalleth the sons of men_ More accurately, CHANCE ARE THE SONS OF MEN; CHANCE IS THE BEAST; ONE CHANCE IS TO BOTH OF THEM. The thought is emphasized by the threefold iteration of the depressing word. As so often throughout the book, we have an echo, almost a verbal translation, of a Greek saying. So Solon had said to Crœsus in a discourse which breathes the very spirit of Ecclesiastes (Herod. i. 32), πᾶν ἐστι ἄνθρωπος συμφορή ("man is altogether a chance"). _as the one dieth, so dieth the other_ The words are not without a partial parallel in the more devotional literature of Israel. The writer of Psalms 49 had given utterance to the thought "man that is in honour … is like the beasts that perish." With him, however, this was affirmed only of those that "trust in their wealth," the triumphant, self-indulgent evildoers, and it was balanced by the belief that "God would red