Ecclesiastes 3:20

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

Ecclesiastes 3:20 in Other Translations

20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

20 All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return.

20 Both go to the same place—they came from dust and they return to dust.

20 We all end up in the same place - we all came from dust, we all end up as dust.

20 All are going to the same place; all come from dust, and all return to dust.

Ecclesiastes 3:20 Meaning and Commentary

Ecclesiastes 3:20

All go unto one place
The earth ^F23 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 ) ( 3:19 ) ( Psalms 104:29 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 "Magna parens terra est", Ovid. Metamorph. l. 1. Fab. 7.

Ecclesiastes 3:20 In-Context

18 I also said to myself, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals.

19 Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath ; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless.

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

21 Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?”

22 So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?

Cross References

• 1. S Genesis 2:7; Genesis 3:19; S Job 34:15