the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
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Wycliffe Bible
Ecclesiastes 3:20
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All are going to the same place; all come from dust, and all return to dust.
All go to one place. All are from the dust, and all turn to dust again.
All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return.
All go to the same place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust.
Both end up the same way; both came from dust and both will go back to dust.
All go to the same place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust.
All go to one place. All are from the dust, and all turn to dust again.
All goe to one place, & all was of the dust, and all shall returne to the dust.
All go to the same place. All came from the dust, and all return to the dust.
All go to one place; all come from dust, and all return to dust.
All living creatures go to the same place. We are made from earth, and we return to the earth.
They all go to the same place; they all come from dust, and they all return to dust.
All go unto one place: all are of the dust, and all return to dust.
The bodies of people and animals end the same way. They came from the earth, and, in the end, they will go back to the earth.
All go to one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
They are both going to the same place—the dust. They both came from it; they will both go back to it.
Both go to one place—both came from dust and both return to dust.
All go to one place; all are of the dust, and all return to the dust.
They go all vnto one place, for as they be all of dust, so shal they all turne vnto dust againe.
All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
All go to one place, all are of the dust, and all will be turned to dust again.
All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all return to dust.
All goe vnto one place, all are of the dust, and all turne to dust againe.
They go all vnto one place: for as they be all of dust, so shall they all turne vnto dust agayne.
All go to one place; all were formed of the dust, and all will return to dust.
All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
All go to one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
All go to one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
Both go to the same place, both come from the dust, and to dust both return.
All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust.
Both go to the same place—they came from dust and they return to dust.
All go to the same place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust.
All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again.
all, go unto one place, - all, came from the dust, and all, return to the dust.
And all things go to one place: of earth they were made, and into earth they return together.
All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again.
The whole are going unto one place, the whole have been from the dust, and the whole are turning back unto the dust.
All go to the same place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
go: Ecclesiastes 3:21, Ecclesiastes 6:6, Ecclesiastes 9:10, Genesis 25:8, Genesis 25:17, Numbers 27:13, Job 7:9, Job 17:13, Job 30:24, Psalms 49:14
all are: Genesis 3:19, Job 10:9, Job 10:10, Job 34:15, Psalms 104:29, Daniel 12:2
Reciprocal: Genesis 2:7 - dust 2 Samuel 14:14 - we must Psalms 89:48 - What Ecclesiastes 12:7 - dust Hebrews 9:27 - as
Cross-References
And Adam clepide bi her names alle lyuynge thingis, and alle volatils, and alle vnresonable beestis of erthe. Forsothe to Adam was not foundun an helpere lijk hym.
And Adam seide, This is now a boon of my boonys, and fleisch of my fleisch; this schal be clepid virago, `for she is takun of man.
and clepide his name Noe, and seide, This man schal comforte vs of the werkis and traueilis of oure hondis, in the loond which the Lord curside.
And aftirward he seide, Lo! thou hast conseyued, and thou schalt bere a sone, and thou schalt clepe his name Ismael, for the Lord hath herd thi turment;
Forsothe while the soule yede out for sorew, and deeth neiyede thanne, she clepide the name of hir sone Bennony, that is, the sone of my sorewe; forsothe the fadir clepide hym Beniamyn, that is the sone of the riyt side.
whom sche purchaside `in to the place of sone; and sche clepide his name Moises, and seide, For Y took hym fro the watir.
And it was doon after the cumpas of daies, Anna conseyuede, and childide a sone, and sche clepide his name Samuel; for sche hadde axid hym of the Lord.
And she shal bere a sone, and thou shalt clepe his name Jhesus; for he schal make his puple saaf fro her synnes.
a virgyn shal haue in wombe, and she schal bere a sone, and thei schulen clepe his name Emanuel, that is to seie, God with vs.
and made of oon al the kinde of men to enhabite on al the face of the erthe, determynynge tymes ordeyned, and termes of the dwellynge of hem,
Gill's Notes on the Bible
All go unto one place,.... The earth w 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.
w "Magna parens terra est", Ovid. Metamorph. l. 1. Fab. 7.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
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 3:16-17. 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 3:18-19, 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 Ecclesiastes 3:21, man finds his portion (see the Ecclesiastes 2:10 note) in such labor and such joy as God assigns to him in his lifetime Ecclesiastes 3:22.
Ecclesiastes 3:16
I saw ... - Rather, I have seen (as in Ecclesiastes 3:10) under the sun the place etc. The place of judgment means the seat of the authorized judge. Compare “the place of the holy” Ecclesiastes 8:10.
Ecclesiastes 3:17
A time there - i. e., a time with God.
Ecclesiastes 3:18
literally, I said in my heart with regard to the sons of men, it is that God may prove them and show them that they are beasts, they themselves. “Showing” is the reading of the Septuagint and Syriac: the present Hebrew text reads “seeing.” The meaning is that the long delay of God’s judgment Ecclesiastes 3:16-17 is calculated to show people that the brevity of their life renders them incapable of following out and understanding His distributive justice.
Ecclesiastes 3:19
That which befalleth the sons of men - literally, the event (happenstance) of the sons of men, i. e., what comes upon them from outside, by virtue of the ordinance of God. See the Ecclesiastes 2:14 note. Death in particular Ecclesiastes 3:2, Ecclesiastes 3:11 is a part of the “work that God doeth.”
Ecclesiastes 3:21
The King James Version of this verse is the only rendering which the Hebrew text, as now pointed, allows. It is in accordance with the best Jewish and many modern interpreters. A slightly different pointing would be requisite to authorize the translation, “Who knows the spirit of the sons of man whether it goes above, and, the spirit of the beast whether it goes down below?” etc., which, though it seems neither necessary nor suitable, is sanctioned by the Septuagint and other versions and by some modern interpreters.
Who knoweth - This expression (used also in Ecclesiastes 2:19; Ecclesiastes 6:12) does not necessarily imply complete and absolute ignorance. In Psalms 90:11, it is applied to what is partially understood: compare similar forms of expression in Proverbs 31:10; Psalms 94:16; Isaiah 53:1. Moreover, it is evident from marginal references that Solomon did not doubt the future existence and destination of the soul. This verse can only be construed as a confession of much ignorance on the subject.
Ecclesiastes 3:22
What shall be after him - i. e., What shall become of the results of his work after he is dead. Compare Ecclesiastes 2:19; Ecclesiastes 6:12.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse 20. All go unto one place —
"Man was born
To die, nor aught exceeds in this respect
The vilest brute. Both transient, frail, and vain,
Draw the same breath; alike grow old, decay,
And then expire: both to one grave descend;
There blended lie, to native dust return'd."-C.
