Question: Hi,

I have a question concerning Ecclesiastics 3:21 which reads: "Who knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth?"

This seemed clear to me until I noticed a footnote that said:

3:21 "Septuagint, Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate read ‘Who knows whether the spirit…goes upward and whether…goes downward to the earth?’"

Is this saying that in some translations the word "whether" appears in the text? If so, this really changes the meaning from a clear statement that man goes upward at death and animals return to dust, or a statement that seems to question whether man and animals go to one place of the other. I do realize that initially both man and animals do return to dust, but man eventually goes upward.

Can you clear this up for me? Does the Bible make it clear where animals go when they die?

I have taken these passages from the New King James Version.

Thanks!

Ivan

Answer: Dear Ivan,

The primary meaning of this passage is similar to that found in 11:9-12:8 and in 9:4-10 – there we read (in the passage in chapter 9) that we should work with all our power in this life, since we know little about what work remains beyond the grave – and in 11 and 12 that we should serve God wholeheartedly while we have physical capacity and strength, as old age brings increasing handicaps. Both passages warn that we do not ignore the reality of death, and of using the time we have in the best possible way.

The specific verse you question is a question – whether the word "whether" belongs or does not, the question remains, "who knows [humanly] if the spirit of man rises upward…."

We should remember that Ecclesiastics, while being the inspired Word of God, is not intended and should not be used as primary doctrinal teaching for Christians. It is an observation about empty lives, "vanity of vanity" – lives lived outside of an active and real relationship with God. Ecclesiastics tells us about the futility of life – even as it is lived by the wealthy and those who have the means to do whatever they want, a life that would describe Solomon’s.

We learn from passages in the New Testament that the resurrection is the hope of Christians, and that there is life beyond the grave – and that we have this hope, and if believers do not, according to the Apostle Paul, we "are of all men most miserable".

Scripture does not give any instruction about an afterlife for animals, but rather that they live and die, with no after life in God’s plan – perhaps, among other things, by way of contrast with humans whom God made in his image.

In Christ,

Greg Albrecht