John Trapp on Ecclesiastes 3:18

Verſ. 18. That they might ſee that they themſelves are beaſts] It is reckoned a great matter that wicked men are made to know themſelves to bee but men, and no more, Pſal. 37 22. Pſal. 9.20. But God will make good men ſee and ſay with David, Ambr. in Pſal. 72. So fooliſh was I and ignorant: I was as a Beaſt before thee. Pulchre addidit, Apúd te, ſaith Ambroſe upon thoſe words; Elegantly ſaid the Pſalmiſt, Before thee, becauſe in reſpect of God, what is man but an unreaſonable Beaſt? He that is wiſeſt among men,Socrat. apud Platon. ſaid Socrates, (who himſelf was held the wiſeſt of men) if hee bee compared to God, Simia videbitur, non ſapiens, hee will ſeem rather an Ape than a wiſe man.Eram apud te ſicut beſtia. Mercer. David calls himſelf not a Beaſt onely, but Beaſts in the plural, Behemoth; or at leaſt, a very great Beaſt, not an Ape, but an Elephant. And this is that which God would have all good men ſee, h[illegible: 1 letter]mmah lahem, (as this text hath it) themſelves to themſelves, in their humble account of themſelves, as holy Agur did, Prov: 30. 2. See the Note there.