7 And the dust returneth to the earth as it was, And the spirit returneth to God who gave it.
by the sweat of thy face thou dost eat bread till thy return unto the ground, for out of it hast thou been taken, for dust thou `art', and unto dust thou turnest back.'
His spirit goeth forth, he returneth to his earth, In that day have his thoughts perished.
The burden of a word of Jehovah on Israel. An affirmation of Jehovah, Stretching out heaven, and founding earth, And forming the spirit of man in his midst.
`And the multitude of those sleeping in the dust of the ground do awake, some to life age-during, and some to reproaches -- to abhorrence age-during.
The whole are going unto one place, the whole have been from the dust, and the whole are turning back unto the dust. Who knoweth the spirit of the sons of man that is going up on high, and the spirit of the beast that is going down below to the earth?
If He doth set on him His heart, His spirit and his breath unto Him He gathereth. Expire doth all flesh together, And man to dust returneth.
Then, indeed, fathers of our flesh we have had, chastising `us', and we were reverencing `them'; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of the spirits, and live?
Thou turnest man unto a bruised thing, And sayest, Turn back, ye sons of men.
And the king Zedekiah sweareth unto Jeremiah in secret, saying, `Jehovah liveth, He who made for us this soul, I do not put thee to death, nor give thee unto the hand of these men who are seeking thy soul.'
His bones have been full of his youth, And with him on the dust it lieth down.
Also -- the inhabitants of houses of clay, (Whose foundation `is' in the dust, They bruise them before a moth.) From morning to evening are beaten down, Without any regarding, for ever they perish.
`Jehovah -- God of the spirits of all flesh -- appoint a man over the company,
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,