Ecclesiastes 12:13

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
hear	נִשְׁמָ֑ע nish.Ma'	H8085	to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, niphal active participle, masculine singular absolute
conclusion	ס֥וֹף Sof	H5490	a termination · noun, common masculine singular construct
matter	דָּבָ֖ר da.Var	H1697	a word · noun, common masculine singular absolute
Fear	יְרָא֙ ye.Ra'	H3372	to fear · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
God	הָאֱלֹהִ֤ים ha.'E.lo.Him	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
keep	שְׁמ֔וֹר she.Mor	H8104	properly · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
commandments	מִצְוֹתָ֣יו mitz.vo.Tav	H4687	a command · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
man	הָאָדָֽם ha.'a.Dam	H120	ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Deuteronomy 10:12 And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to…
Micah 6:8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly wi…
Deuteronomy 6:2 That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy so…
Psalms 111:10-112:1 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.
Job 28:28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.
Psalms 145:19 He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.
Luke 1:50 And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.
Ecclesiastes 8:12 Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 12:13–end

The great enquiry which Solomon prosecutes in this book is, What is that good which the sons of men should do? Ecc 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…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ecclesiastes 12:13

The grand inference of the whole book. Fear God--The antidote to following creature idols, and "vanities," whether self-righteousness (Ecc 7:16, Ecc 7:18), or wicked oppression and other evils (Ecc 8:12-13), or mad mirth (Ecc 2:2; Ecc 7:2-5), or self-mortifying avarice (Ecc 8:13, Ecc 8:17), or youth spent without God (Ecc 11:9; Ecc 12:1). this is the whole duty of man--literally, "this is the whole man," the full ideal of man, as originally contemplated, realized wholly by Jesus Christ alone; and, through Him, by saints now in part, hereafter perfectly (Jo1 3:22-24; Rev 22:14).

John Gill on Ecclesiastes 12:13

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter,.... Or "the end" (o) of it. The sum and substance of it, what it all tends to and issues in; even the whole of what is contained in this book, and in all offer divinely inspired writings of Solomon or others; of all that were now written, or before, or since: this the preacher calls upon himself, as well as his hearers, to attend unto. Or it may be rendered, "the end of the whole matter is heard" (p); here ends this book; and you have heard the whole of what deserves regard, and it lies in these few words, fear God, and keep his commandments: "the fear of God" includes the whole of internal religion, or powerful godliness; all the graces of th…

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The Church Fathers

What could be briefer, truer, better for the soul to know? For this is all a person is—a keeper of God's commandments. Not being such, he is, so to say, nothing at all, because instead of being constantly reshaped to the image of the truth, he remains bogged down in the likeness of shadow.
— Augustine of Hippo, City of God 20.3

They have been appointed to this, that is, to this made human beings by nature, that they may believe God and obey his will, as Solomon attests when he says, "Fear God and obey his commandments, for this is [the duty of] every human being." That is, every human being has been naturally made for this purpose, that he may fear God and obey his commandments.
— Bede, Commentary on the Catholic Epistles, 1 Peter 2:8

If fear of God comes from knowledge but knowledge is going to pass away, as Paul says, then we shall be completely destroyed when there is no knowledge. All that we are will be gone, and we shall be in a state no better but much worse than irrational beings. For in knowledge we have the advantage over them, whereas in all other things pertaining to the body they surpass us by far.
— John Chrysostom, AGAINST THE ANOMOEANS, HOMILY 1:9

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Conduct, Christian · Fearing God — Fearing God
Fear, Godly · Commanded — Commanded
Investigation · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Law Of God, The · It is man’s duty to keep — It is man’s duty to keep
Man · The whole duty of — The whole duty of
Obedience · 76:11; — 76:11;
Obedience To God · Includes: Keeping his commandments — Includes: Keeping his commandments
Reverence · 4:10;5:29;6:2,13;10:12,20,21;13:4;14:23;28:49,58; — 4:10;5:29;6:2,13;10:12,20,21;13:4;14:23;28:49,58;

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Ecclesiastes 12:13

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 12:13–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ecclesiastes 12:13

John Gill on Ecclesiastes 12:13

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Ecclesiastes 12:13

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 12:13–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ecclesiastes 12:13

John Gill on Ecclesiastes 12:13

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Ecclesiastes 12:13

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

Rashi on Ecclesiastes 12:13