Ecclesiastes 3:21

With the Hebrew beneath

Ecclesiastes 3:21, word by word

knowsיוֹדֵעַyodea

know

To know something, realize.

Where else “yodea” appears

the breathרוּחַruach

breath

Literally "wind": the air that leaves the lungs.

Where else “ruach” appears

of human beingsבְּנֵיbene

human being

Literally "son of Adam": any person, a mortal.

Where else “bene” appears

of human beingsאָדָםadam

human being

All humankind, men and women, as creatures God formed.

Where else “adam” appears

the one that goes upעֹלָהola

go up

To go from a low place to a higher one: up the mountain, to Jerusalem or to a city.

Where else “ola” appears

upwardמָעְלָmala

above

Upward, above; with ages, "twenty years old or more".

Where else “mala” appears

of the beastבְּהֵמָהbehema

beast

Animals in general.

Where else “behema” appears

the one that goes downיֹּרֶדֶתyoredet

go down

To go from a higher place to a lower one, like from the mountain to the valley.

Where else “yoredet” appears

downwardמַטָּהmata

below, downward

Below, downward, beneath.

Where else “mata” appears

to the earthאָרֶץarets

ground

What is underfoot: bowing down to touch it.

Where else “arets” appears

Translation note

“Breath” (רוּחַ) is the same word as “spirit” (cf. 12:7). This is how the vowels of the Hebrew text read it (“the one that goes up… the one that goes down”); read without them it can be a question: “whether it goes up… whether it goes down.”

The context