Ecclesiastes 3:21 — compare English translations
Compare translationsEcclesiastes 3:21 in 3 English versions, beneath the original-language interlinear. Each original word links to its lexicon entry, so you can weigh the renderings against the morphology yourself. Full word study →
מִ֣י
mîy
H4310
who
יוֹדֵ֗עַ
yâdaʻ
H3045
to know
ר֚וּחַ
rûwach
H7307
spirit
בְּנֵ֣י
bên
H1121
son
הָאָדָ֔ם
ʼâdâm
H120
man
הָעֹלָ֥ה
ʻâlâh
H5927
to go up
הִ֖יא
hûwʼ
H1931
he
לְמָ֑עְלָה
maʻal
H4605
above
וְר֨וּחַ֙
rûwach
H7307
spirit
הַבְּהֵמָ֔ה
bᵉhêmâh
H929
beast
הַיֹּרֶ֥דֶת
yârad
H3381
to go down
הִ֖יא
hûwʼ
H1931
he
לְמַ֥טָּה
maṭṭâh
H4295
downwards
לָאָֽרֶץ
ʼerets
H776
land
Each is an independent rendering of the whole verse — the interlinear is not word-aligned to these translations.
Highlighted words mark where these versions differ — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment.
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World English Bible Public Domain
Who knows the spirit of man, whether it goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, whether it goes downward to the earth?"
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King James Version Public Domain
Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?
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unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Who knows? The spirit of the sons of humanity, it the one going up, upwards, and the spirit of the animal, it the one going down, downwards to the earth.
unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult).