Ecclesiastes 3:19

19 After all, the same things that happen to people happen to animals, the very same thing - just as the one dies, so does the other. Yes, their breath is the same; so that humans are no better than animals; since nothing matters, anyway.

Ecclesiastes 3:19 Meaning and Commentary

Ecclesiastes 3:19

For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts,
&c.] 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 ) ( Exodus 8:18 ) ( Exodus 9:9 Exodus 9:25 ) ( Psalms 36:6 ) ; 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 dies he who is not turned to repentance before his death:''

he dies unclean in his sins, stupid, senseless; no more thoughtful of his future state, and of what will become of his precious and immortal soul, than a beast that has none; see ( Psalms 49:14 ) ; perhaps unjust judges, persecuting tyrants, may particularly be regarded: who, though princes, shall not only die like men, but even like beasts, ( Psalms 82:7 ) ; yea, they have all one breath;
the same vital breath, or breath of life, which is in the nostrils of the one as of the other; they breathe and draw in the same air, and have the same animal and vegetative life, and equally liable to lose it, ( Genesis 2:7 ) ( 7:22 ) ; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast:
he has reason and speech, which a beast has not; which gives him a preference to them, did he make a right use of them; but, as an animal, he has no preeminence, being liable to the same accidents, and to death itself: the Targum excepts the house of the grave, man being usually buried when he dies, but a beast is not: yea, in some things a beast has the preeminence of a man; at least some have, in strength, agility, quickness of the senses for all [is] vanity;
all the gratifications of the senses; all riches, honours, pleasures, power, and authority, especially when abused.

Ecclesiastes 3:19 In-Context

17 I said to myself, "The righteous and the wicked God will judge, because there is a right time for every intention and for every action."

18 Concerning people, I said to myself, "God is testing them, so that they will see that by themselves they are just animals.

19 After all, the same things that happen to people happen to animals, the very same thing - just as the one dies, so does the other. Yes, their breath is the same; so that humans are no better than animals; since nothing matters, anyway.

20 They all go to the same place; they all come from dust, and they all return to dust.

21 Who knows if the spirit of a human being goes upward and the spirit of an animal goes downward into the earth?"