Ecclesiastes 3:21

Who knoweth? The RSV reads, “Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward?” Without divine wisdom no one “knows.” The destiny of the body is known — it returns to dust, through a process of disintegration — but human wisdom cannot ascertain what happens to the “spirit,” or “breath,” except that it “shall return unto God” (see on ch. 12:7).

Spirit. Heb. ruach, “breath,” as it is translated in v. 19. The life principle does not belong to the physical realm, the realm of flesh, for it is of God and returns to Him (ch. 12:7). In v. 21 ruach is translated “spirit.” Note that man and beast both have a ruach, and that the ruach of man is “one” with that of the beast. If, then, the ruach, or “spirit,” of man becomes a disembodied conscious entity at death, the ruach of beasts must also. But the Bible nowhere so much as infers that at death a disembodied, conscious “spirit” continues to live on; and no Christian claims this for animals. In v. 21 Solomon incredulously asks who knows — who can prove — that the ruach of man ascends, while that of the beast descends. Solomon knows nothing of such a proceeding and doubts that anyone else does. If so, let him prove it. It is important to distinguish between the use of ruach to denote the literal breath (see Job 9:18; 19:17) and its figurative use denoting the life principle (see Gen. 6:17; 7:22), as here. The figurative use of ruach to mean “life” is similar to the figurative use of “blood” (see on Gen. 4:10; 9:4).