Text -- Ecclesiastes 3:19-22 (NET)

3:19 For the fate of humans and the fate of animals are the same: As one dies, so dies the other; both have the same breath. There is no advantage for humans over animals, for both are fleeting. 3:20 Both go to the same place, both come from the dust, and to dust both return. 3:21 Who really knows if the human spirit ascends upward, and the animal’s spirit descends into the earth? 3:22 So I perceived there is nothing better than for people to enjoy their work, because that is their reward; for who can show them what the future holds?

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Ecc 3:19

¹ tn Heb “of the sons of man.”

NET Notes: Ecc 3:21

¹ tn Heb “the spirit of the sons of man.”

NET Notes: Ecc 3:22

¹ tn Heb “man.”

² tn Heb “his works.”

³ tn Heb “his.”

⁴ tn Heb “what will be after him” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV) or “afterward” (cf. NJPS).