the Week of Proper 13 / Ordinary 18
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THE MESSAGE
Ecclesiastes 3:18
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
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- EveryParallel Translations
I said to myself, “This happens so that God may test the children of Adam and they may see for themselves that they are like animals.”
I said in my heart, "As for the sons of men, God tests them, so that they may see that they themselves are like animals.
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.
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.
I said to myself regarding the sons of mankind, "God is testing them in order for them to see that they are as animals, they to themselves."
I decided that God leaves it the way it is to test people and to show them they are just like animals.
I said to myself regarding the sons of men, "God is surely testing them in order for them to see that [by themselves, without God] they are [only] animals."
I said in my heart, "As for the sons of men, God tests them, so that they may see that they themselves are like animals.
I considered in mine heart the state of the children of men that God had purged them: yet to see to, they are in themselues as beastes.
I said in my heart concerning the sons of men, "God is testing them in order for them to see that they are but beasts."
I said to myself, "As for the sons of men, God tests them so that they may see for themselves that they are but beasts."
I know that God is testing us to show us that we are merely animals.
Concerning people, I said to myself, "God is testing them, so that they will see that by themselves they are just animals.
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.
I thought about what people do to each other. And I said to myself, "God wants people to see that they are like animals.
I meditated in my heart concerning the estate of the sons of men whom God had created, and saw that they are like beasts.
I decided that God is testing us, to show us that we are no better than animals.
I said to myself concerning humans, "God sifts them in order to show them that they are like beasts."
I said in my heart concerning the issue of the sons of men, that God may test them and see that they by themselves are beasts.
I comoned wt myne owne herte also cocernynge the childre of men: how God hath chosen them, and yet letteth the apeare, as though they were beastes:
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.
I said in my heart, It is because of the sons of men, so that God may put them to the test and that they may see themselves as beasts.
I said in my heart: 'It is because of the sons of men, that God may sift them, and that they may see that they themselves are but as beasts.'
I said in my heart concerning the estate of the sonnes of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselues are beasts.
I communed with myne owne heart also concernyng the children of men, howe God hath chosen them, and yet letteth them appeare as though they were beastes.
I said in my heart, concerning the speech of the sons of man, God will judge them, and that to shew that they are breasts.
I said in mine 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.
I seide in myn herte of the sones of men, that God schulde preue hem, and schewe that thei ben lijk vnresonable beestis.
I said in my heart, [It is] because of the sons of man, that God may prove them, and that they may see that they themselves are [but as] beasts.
I said in my heart concerning the state of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.
I also thought to myself, "It is for the sake of people, so God can clearly show them that they are like animals.
I said in my heart, "Concerning the condition of the sons of men, God tests them, that they may see that they themselves are like animals."
I also thought about the human condition—how God proves to people that they are like animals.
I said to myself about the sons of men, "God is testing them to show them that they are like animals."
I said in my heart with regard to human beings that God is testing them to show that they are but animals.
Said, I, in my heart, as concerning the sons of men, That God was minded to prove them, - and that they might see, that they were beasts, of themselves.
I said in my heart concerning the sons of men, that God would prove them, and shew them to be like beasts.
I said in my heart with regard to the sons of men that God is testing them to show them that they are but beasts.
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.
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."
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
concerning: Genesis 3:17-19, Job 14:1-4, Job 15:16, Psalms 49:14, Psalms 49:19, Psalms 49:20, Psalms 73:18, Psalms 73:19, Psalms 90:5-12, Hebrews 9:27, 1 Peter 1:24
that God: etc. or, that they might clear God, and see, etc. Job 40:8, Psalms 51:4, Romans 3:4, Romans 9:23
and that: Psalms 73:22, 2 Peter 2:12
Reciprocal: Job 11:12 - For vain Job 18:3 - Wherefore Psalms 49:12 - beasts Ecclesiastes 2:1 - said
Cross-References
God told the serpent: "Because you've done this, you're cursed, cursed beyond all cattle and wild animals, Cursed to slink on your belly and eat dirt all your life. I'm declaring war between you and the Woman, between your offspring and hers. He'll wound your head, you'll wound his heel."
Naked I came from my mother's womb, naked I'll return to the womb of the earth. God gives, God takes. God's name be ever blessed.
So don't return us to mud, saying, "Back to where you came from!" Patience! You've got all the time in the world—whether a thousand years or a day, it's all the same to you. Are we no more to you than a wispy dream, no more than a blade of grass That springs up gloriously with the rising sun and is cut down without a second thought? Your anger is far and away too much for us; we're at the end of our rope. You keep track of all our sins; every misdeed since we were children is entered in your books. All we can remember is that frown on your face. Is that all we're ever going to get? We live for seventy years or so (with luck we might make it to eighty), And what do we have to show for it? Trouble. Toil and trouble and a marker in the graveyard. Who can make sense of such rage, such anger against the very ones who fear you?
The perverse travel a dangerous road, potholed and mud-slick; if you know what's good for you, stay clear of it.
But that's not the end of it. This country that used to be covered with fine vineyards—thousands of them, worth millions!—will revert to a weed patch. Weeds and thornbushes everywhere! Good for nothing except, perhaps, hunting rabbits. Cattle and sheep will forage as best they can in the fields of weeds—but there won't be a trace of all those fertile and well-tended gardens and fields.
Here's another Message from God to the people of Judah and Jerusalem: "Plow your unplowed fields, but then don't plant weeds in the soil! Yes, circumcise your lives for God's sake. Plow your unplowed hearts, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem. Prevent fire—the fire of my anger— for once it starts it can't be put out. Your wicked ways are fuel for the fire.
A Harvest Story At about that same time Jesus left the house and sat on the beach. In no time at all a crowd gathered along the shoreline, forcing him to get into a boat. Using the boat as a pulpit, he addressed his congregation, telling stories. "What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road, and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn't put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled by the weeds. Some fell on good earth, and produced a harvest beyond his wildest dreams. "Are you listening to this? Really listening?" The disciples came up and asked, "Why do you tell stories?" He replied, "You've been given insight into God's kingdom. You know how it works. Not everybody has this gift, this insight; it hasn't been given to them. Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the insights and understandings flow freely. But if there is no readiness, any trace of receptivity soon disappears. That's why I tell stories: to create readiness, to nudge the people toward receptive insight. In their present state they can stare till doomsday and not see it, listen till they're blue in the face and not get it. I don't want Isaiah's forecast repeated all over again: Your ears are open but you don't hear a thing. Your eyes are awake but you don't see a thing. The people are blockheads! They stick their fingers in their ears so they won't have to listen; They screw their eyes shut so they won't have to look, so they won't have to deal with me face-to-face and let me heal them. "But you have God-blessed eyes—eyes that see! And God-blessed ears—ears that hear! A lot of people, prophets and humble believers among them, would have given anything to see what you are seeing, to hear what you are hearing, but never had the chance. "Study this story of the farmer planting seed. When anyone hears news of the kingdom and doesn't take it in, it just remains on the surface, and so the Evil One comes along and plucks it right out of that person's heart. This is the seed the farmer scatters on the road. "The seed cast in the gravel—this is the person who hears and instantly responds with enthusiasm. But there is no soil of character, and so when the emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives, there is nothing to show for it. "The seed cast in the weeds is the person who hears the kingdom news, but weeds of worry and illusions about getting more and wanting everything under the sun strangle what was heard, and nothing comes of it. "The seed cast on good earth is the person who hears and takes in the News, and then produces a harvest beyond his wildest dreams." He told another story. "God's kingdom is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. That night, while his hired men were asleep, his enemy sowed thistles all through the wheat and slipped away before dawn. When the first green shoots appeared and the grain began to form, the thistles showed up, too. "The farmhands came to the farmer and said, ‘Master, that was clean seed you planted, wasn't it? Where did these thistles come from?' "He answered, ‘Some enemy did this.' "The farmhands asked, ‘Should we weed out the thistles?' "He said, ‘No, if you weed the thistles, you'll pull up the wheat, too. Let them grow together until harvest time. Then I'll instruct the harvesters to pull up the thistles and tie them in bundles for the fire, then gather the wheat and put it in the barn.'" Another story. "God's kingdom is like a pine nut that a farmer plants. It is quite small as seeds go, but in the course of years it grows into a huge pine tree, and eagles build nests in it." Another story. "God's kingdom is like yeast that a woman works into the dough for dozens of loaves of barley bread—and waits while the dough rises." All Jesus did that day was tell stories—a long storytelling afternoon. His storytelling fulfilled the prophecy: I will open my mouth and tell stories; I will bring out into the open things hidden since the world's first day. Jesus dismissed the congregation and went into the house. His disciples came in and said, "Explain to us that story of the thistles in the field." So he explained. "The farmer who sows the pure seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the pure seeds are subjects of the kingdom, the thistles are subjects of the Devil, and the enemy who sows them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, the curtain of history. The harvest hands are angels. "The picture of thistles pulled up and burned is a scene from the final act. The Son of Man will send his angels, weed out the thistles from his kingdom, pitch them in the trash, and be done with them. They are going to complain to high heaven, but nobody is going to listen. At the same time, ripe, holy lives will mature and adorn the kingdom of their Father. "Are you listening to this? Really listening? "God's kingdom is like a treasure hidden in a field for years and then accidentally found by a trespasser. The finder is ecstatic—what a find!—and proceeds to sell everything he owns to raise money and buy that field. "Or, God's kingdom is like a jewel merchant on the hunt for excellent pearls. Finding one that is flawless, he immediately sells everything and buys it. "Or, God's kingdom is like a fishnet cast into the sea, catching all kinds of fish. When it is full, it is hauled onto the beach. The good fish are picked out and put in a tub; those unfit to eat are thrown away. That's how it will be when the curtain comes down on history. The angels will come and cull the bad fish and throw them in the garbage. There will be a lot of desperate complaining, but it won't do any good." Jesus asked, "Are you starting to get a handle on all this?" They answered, "Yes." He said, "Then you see how every student well-trained in God's kingdom is like the owner of a general store who can put his hands on anything you need, old or new, exactly when you need it." When Jesus finished telling these stories, he left there, returned to his hometown, and gave a lecture in the meetinghouse. He made a real hit, impressing everyone. "We had no idea he was this good!" they said. "How did he get so wise, get such ability?" But in the next breath they were cutting him down: "We've known him since he was a kid; he's the carpenter's son. We know his mother, Mary. We know his brothers James and Joseph, Simon and Judas. All his sisters live here. Who does he think he is?" They got their noses all out of joint. But Jesus said, "A prophet is taken for granted in his hometown and his family." He didn't do many miracles there because of their hostile indifference.
For instance, a person who has been around for a while might well be convinced that he can eat anything on the table, while another, with a different background, might assume he should only be a vegetarian and eat accordingly. But since both are guests at Christ's table, wouldn't it be terribly rude if they fell to criticizing what the other ate or didn't eat? God, after all, invited them both to the table. Do you have any business crossing people off the guest list or interfering with God's welcome? If there are corrections to be made or manners to be learned, God can handle that without your help.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men,.... He thought of the condition of the children of men, their sinful and polluted state; he weighed and considered in his mind their actions, conversation, and course of life; and was concerned how it would go with them at the day of judgment on account of the same. Some render it, "I said in mine heart after the speech of the children of men" r; speaking in their language, and representing the atheist and the epicure, as some think the wise man does in the following verses; though he rather speaks his own real sentiments concerning men, as they are in their present state, and as they will appear in the day of judgment;
that God might manifest them; or "separate them" s; as the chaff from the wheat, and as goats from the sheep; as will be done at the day of judgment, Matthew 3:10; or "that they might clear God" t; as they will, when he shall judge and condemn them;
and that they might see that they themselves are beasts; as they are through the fall, and the corruption of nature, being born like the wild ass's colt, stupid, senseless, and without understanding of spiritual things; nay, more brutish than the beasts themselves, than the horse and the mule that have no understanding, Psalms 32:9; "mulo inscitior", as is Plautus's u phrase; see Psalms 49:12 Isaiah 1:3; this is now made manifest to the people of God by the word and Spirit; is seen, known, and acknowledged by them,
Psalms 73:21; and the wicked themselves will see, know, and own what beasts they are and have been, at the day of judgment; how they have lived and died like beasts; how like brute beasts they have corrupted themselves in things they knew naturally; and that as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, spoke evil of things they understood not, and perished in their own corruption, Judges 1:10 2 Peter 2:12; and that they have been beasts to themselves, as Jarchi renders and interprets it; made beasts of themselves by their brutish gratifications; have been cruel to themselves, ruining and destroying their own souls; or among themselves, and to one another, "homo lupus homini"; hence wicked men are compared to lions, foxes, evening wolves, vipers, and the like. So Mr. Broughton renders it, "how they are beasts, they to themselves."
r ×¢× ××רת ×× × ×××× "super verbum filiorum Adam", Montanus; "verbis hominum", Arabic and Syriac versions. s ×××¨× Î¿Ïι διακÏινει Î±Ï ÏÎ¿Ï Ï "ut discernat illos", Cocceius; "quia delegit eos", some in Vatablus; so Aben Ezra and Ben Melech. t "Ut ipsi expurgent Deum", Anglic. in Reinbeck; some in Rambachius render it thus, "ut seligant ipsi (homines) Deum"; so Varenius. u Cisteilaria, Act. 4.
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 Godâs 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 âthe place of the holyâ 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. âShowingâ is the reading of the Septuagint and Syriac: the present Hebrew text reads âseeing.â The meaning is that the long delay of Godâs 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 âwork that God doeth.â
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, âWho knows the spirit of the sons of man whether it goes above, and, the spirit of the beast whether it goes down below?â 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 18. That they might see that they themselves are beasts. — The author of Choheleth has given a correct view of this difficult verse, by a proper translation: "I said in my heart, reflecting on the state of the sons of men, O that God would enlighten them, and make them see that even they themselves are like beasts." These words are to be referred to those in authority who abused their power; particularly to the corrupt magistrates mentioned above.
