Ecclesiastes 3:20

“All go unto one place, etc.] The earthf95 from whence they came; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again; Adam’s body was made of the dust of the earth, and so all his posterity, all of them; in which they agree with beasts, who are made of the dust also; and, when they die, return to it; (see <010207>Genesis 2:7 3:19 <19A429>Psalm 104:29).”

“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 God’s future dealing with our spirits Ecclesiastes 3:21, man finds his portion…”

“One place - To the earth, out of which they were taken. All turn - All their bodies. Ecclesiastes 3:21”

“3:20 from dust . . . to dust: The Teacher refers to God’s judgment against human rebellion in Eden (see Gen 3:19).”

“go: Ecc 3:21, Ecc 6:6, Ecc 9:10; Gen 25:8, Gen 25:17; Num 27:13; Job 7:9, Job 17:13, Job 30:24; Psa 49:14 all are: Gen 3:19; Job 10:9, Job 10:10, Job 34:15; Psa 104:29; Dan 12:2 Ecclesiastes 3:21”

“"All goes hence to one place; all has sprung out of the dust, and all returns to the dust again." The "one place" is (as at Ecc 6:6) the earth, the great graveyard which finally receives all the living when dead. The art. of the first העפר is that denoting species; the art. of the second is retrospective: to the dust whence he sprang (cf. Psa 104:29; Psa 146:4); otherwise, Gen 3:19 (cf. Job 34:15), "to dust shalt thou return," shalt become dust again. From dust to dust (Sir. 40:11; 41:10) is true of every living corporeal thing. It is true there exists the possibility that with the spirit of the dying man it may be different from what it is with the spirit of the dying beast, but yet that is…”