Ecclesiastes 3:20

20 Both go to one place--both came from dust and both 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 said to myself concerning {humans}, "God sifts them in order to show them that they are like beasts."

19 For the fate of {humans} and the fate of the beast is {the same}. The death of the one is like the death of the other, for {both are mortal}. Man has no advantage over the beast, for both are fleeting.

20 Both go to one place--both came from dust and both return to dust.

21 For no one knows [whether] the spirit of a human ascends [to heaven] and [whether] the spirit of the beast descends to the ground!

22 So I concluded that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy [the fruit of] his labor, for this is his lot in life. {For no one knows what will happen in the future.}