18 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
He is talking about the pride of men here, especially those who abuse their power. He is also praying that God would humble them
19 For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.
20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
To show them that their pride is only vanity, for that what they might consider lower they themselves they share the same fate with..both man and animal returns to dust..and pride is made naught.
21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?
Further, no mortal man has the knowledge of God..since only God knows the spirit of a man
22 Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?
So we should be content with what we have, that we should enjoy the blessings that are given to us now. Be happy within even if we lack without, to enjoy the portion God assigned us.
He is talking about the pride of men here, especially those who abuse their power. He is also praying that God would humble them
19 For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.
20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
To show them that their pride is only vanity, for that what they might consider lower they themselves they share the same fate with..both man and animal returns to dust..and pride is made naught.
21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?
Further, no mortal man has the knowledge of God..since only God knows the spirit of a man
22 Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?
So we should be content with what we have, that we should enjoy the blessings that are given to us now. Be happy within even if we lack without, to enjoy the portion God assigned us.
(September 27, 2011 at 7:34 pm)Minimalist Wrote: Oh, but Shel, let me preach back at him.....I want to shove his fucking bible up his ass.
It is so common with jesus freaks that they cherry pick one line out of a text and twist it to suit whatever meaning they want.
Why did not you continue on with Eccl 3 to verse 21, Luce? Inconvenient?
Let's let everyone else look at it.
Quote: 18 I also said to myself, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. 19 Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath[c]; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. 20 All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. 21 Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?”
22 So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?
Greek stuff....and reasonably late Greek stuff at that.
http://mb-soft.com/believe/txs/ecclesia.htm
Quote:Modern scholarship now attributes the book to the 3rd century BC, at a time when the Jews were under the influence of various Greek philosophic systems, such as Epicureanism and Stoicism. Ecclesiastes is part of the Wisdom literature of the Old Testament, which includes the Books of Job and Proverbs.
