Ecclesiastes 3:18 I also said to myself, "As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals.

◄ Ecclesiastes 3:18 ►

Parallel Verses

New International Version
I also said to myself, "As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals.

English Standard Version
I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts.

New American Standard Bible
I said to myself concerning the sons of men, "God has surely tested them in order for them to see that they are but beasts."

King James Bible
I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
I said to myself, "This happens concerning people, so that God may test them and they may see for themselves that they are like animals."

International Standard Version
"As for human beings," I told myself, "God puts them to the test, that they might see themselves as mere animals."

American Standard Version
I said in my heart, It is because of the sons of men, that God may prove them, and that they may see that they themselves are but as beasts.

Douay-Rheims Bible
I said in my heart concerning the sons of men, that God would prove them, and shew them to be like beasts.

Darby Bible Translation
I said in my heart, It is thus with the children of men, that God may prove them, and that they should see that they themselves are but beasts.

Young's Literal Translation
I said in my heart concerning the matter of the sons of man that God might cleanse them, so as to see that they themselves are beasts.

Commentaries

Matthew Henry's Commentary

3:16-22 Without the fear of the Lord, man is but vanity; set that aside, and judges will not use their power well. And there is another Judge that stands before the door. With God there is a time for the redressing of grievances, though as yet we see it not. Solomon seems to express his wish that men might perceive, that by choosing this world as their portion, they brought themselves to a level with the beasts, without being free, as they are, from present vexations and a future account. Both return to the dust from whence they were taken. What little reason have we to be proud of our bodies, or bodily accomplishments! But as none can fully comprehend, so few consider properly, the difference between the rational soul of man, and the spirit or life of the beast. The spirit of man goes upward, to be judged, and is then fixed in an unchangeable state of happiness or misery. It is as certain that the spirit of the beast goes downward to the earth; it perishes at death. Surely their case is lamentable, the height of whose hopes and wishes is, that they may die like beasts. Let our inquiry be, how an eternity of existence may be to us an eternity of enjoyment? To answer this, is the grand design of revelation. Jesus is revealed as the Son of God, and the Hope of sinners.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

18. estate—The estate of fallen man is so ordered (these wrongs are permitted), that God might "manifest," that is, thereby prove them, and that they might themselves see their mortal frailty, like that of the beasts.

sons of men—rather, "sons of Adam," a phrase used for "fallen men." The toleration of injustice until the judgment is designed to "manifest" men's characters in their fallen state, to see whether the oppressed will bear themselves aright amidst their wrongs, knowing that the time is short, and there is a coming judgment. The oppressed share in death, but the comparison to "beasts" applies especially to the ungodly oppressors (Ps 49:12, 20). They too need to be "manifested" ("proved"), whether, considering that they must soon die as the "beasts," and fearing the judgment to come, they will repent (Da 4:27).