13 `This is' the end of the matter; all hath been heard: fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole `duty' of man.
And now, Israel, what doth Jehovah thy God require of thee, but to fear Jehovah thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve Jehovah thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,
For in the multitude of dreams there are vanities, and in many words: but fear thou God.
He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth Jehovah require of thee, but to do justly, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God?
Though a sinner do evil a hundred times, and prolong his `days', yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, that fear before him:
And his mercy is unto generations and generations On them that fear him.
For who knoweth what is good for man in `his' life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?
Jehovah taketh pleasure in them that fear him, In those that hope in his lovingkindness.
And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.
And a voice came forth from the throne, saying, Give praise to our God, all ye his servants, ye that fear him, the small and the great.
Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.
The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge; `But' the foolish despise wisdom and instruction.
He will bless them that fear Jehovah, Both small and great. Jehovah increase you more and more, You and your children. Blessed are ye of Jehovah, Who made heaven and earth.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Ecclesiastes 12
Commentary on Ecclesiastes 12 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 12
The wise and penitent preacher is here closing his sermon; and he closes it, not only like a good orator, but like a good preacher, with that which was likely to make the best impressions and which he wished might be powerful and lasting upon his hearers. Here is,
Ecc 12:1-7
Here is,
Ecc 12:8-12
Solomon is here drawing towards a close, and is loth to part till he has gained his point, and prevailed with his hearers, with his readers, to seek for that satisfaction in God only and in their duty to him which they can never find in the creature.
Ecc 12:13-14
The great enquiry which Solomon prosecutes in this book is, What is that good which the sons of men should do? ch. 2:3. What is the true way to true happiness, the certain means to attain our great end? He had in vain sought it among those things which most men are eager in pursuit of, but here, at length, he has found it, by the help of that discovery which God anciently made to man (Job 28:28), that serious godliness is the only way to true happiness: Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter, the return entered upon the writ of enquiry, the result of this diligent search; you shall have all I have been driving at in two words. He does not say, Do you hear it, but Let us hear it; for preachers must themselves be hearers of that word which they preach to others, must hear it as from God; those are teachers by the halves who teach others and not themselves, Rom. 2:21. Every word of God is pure and precious, but some words are worthy of more special remark, as this; the Masorites begin it with a capital letter, as that Deu. 6:4. Solomon himself puts a nota bene before it, demanding attention in these words, Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Observe here,