"... blossoming of almonds, breaking open of the caper, and the engorged grasshopper could also be images of springtime. In such a case they would function to provide a contrast between the fate of nature and that of humans. Natural images opened the sage’s discussion (e.g. 1:2-9) and now the sage draws conclusions on the basis of nature’s cycles: “there is nothing new under the sun.” Job makes a similar assumption about nature’s cycles when he asks about the fate of a tree: “For there is hope for a tree, if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease.” “But mortals die, and are laid low; humans expire, and where are they?”(Job 14:7,10). The sage’s conclusion in verse 5 seems related. Unlike the cycles in nature, humans go to their eternal home: death (See Tobit 3:6 for the same image and its reference to death) ... Verse 7 solidifies the references to death by using two familiar biblical images: “dust” and “breath” or “spirit”. That the dust returns to the earth recalls both Genesis 2:7 and 3:19; (compare Ecclesiastes 3:20). In Genesis 3:19 it stands as the symbol of humanness: humans are made of dust and to dust they return. Readers may also remember that Abraham denigrates himself by applying the symbol (Genesis 18:27). Job’s friends also denigrate humankind using the imagery of dust as a symbol of inferiority (Job 4:19; compare 8:9) ..."