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. A summary of the second, and the more important part. The whole forms the epilogue, an epitome of the book. Verse 13. HEAR THE CONCLUSION - the conclusion of the discourse: the grand inference of the whole book. FEAR GOD - the antidote to following creature-idols and "vanities," whether self-righteousness (; ) or wicked oppression and other evils (Ecclesiastes 8:12), or mad mirth (;...

8-14 Solomon repeats his text, VANITY OF VANITIES, ALL IS VANITY. These are the words of one that could speak by dear-bought experience of the vanity of the world, which can do nothing to ease men of the burden of sin. As he considered the worth of souls, he gave good heed to what he spake and wrote; words of truth will always be acceptable words. The truths of God are as goads to such as are dull and draw back, and nails to such as are wandering and draw aside; means to establish the heart, that we may never sit loose to our duty, nor be taken from it. The Shepherd of Israel is the Giver of inspired wisdom. Teachers and guides all receive their communications from him. The title is applied in Scripture to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The prophets sought diligently, what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferi...

Verse 13. After all, the sum of the great business of human life is comprised in this short sentence, on which some millions of books have been already written! FEAR GOD, AND KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS 1. Know that HE IS, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 2. Reverence him; pay him adoration. 3. Love him, that you may be happy. _KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS_] They are contained in two words: 1. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart;" 2. "And thy neighbour as thyself." Blessed be God, much reading and much study are not necessary to accomplish this, which is called כל האדם _col_ _haadam_, the whole of Adam; the whole that God required of the _first man_ and of _all his posterity_. But the _Gospel_ of Jesus Christ must be understood to comprehend the full force of this short saying. The word duty

This passage is properly regarded as the Epilogue of the whole book; a kind of apology for the obscurity of many of its sayings. The passage serves therefore to make the book more intelligible and more acceptable. Here, as in the beginning of the book Ecclesiastes 1:1, the Preacher speaks of himself Ecclesiastes 12:8 in the third person. He first repeats Ecclesiastes 12:8 the mournful, perplexing theme with which his musings began Ecclesiastes 1:2; and then states the encouraging practical conclusion...

EXPOSITION ECCLESIASTES 12:1 The division into chapters is unfortunate here, as this verse is closely connected with Ecclesiastes 12:10 of the preceding chapter. REMEMBER NOW THY CREATOR IN THE DAYS OF THY YOUTH. Set God always before thine eyes from thy earliest days; think who made thee, and what thou wast made for, not for self-pleasing only, not to gratify thy passions which now are strong; but that thou mightest use thy powers and energy in accordance with the laws of thy being as a creature of God's hands, responsible to him for the use of the faculties and capacities with which he has endowed thee. The word for "Creator" is the participle of the Verb _bara, _which is that used in...

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 the Spirit, and the exercise of them; reverence of God, love to him, faith in him, and in his Son Jesus Christ; hope of eternal life from him; humility of soul, patience and submission to his will, with eve...

Ecclesiastes 12:1. _Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;_ Do not give God the dregs of life. Do not offer in sacrifice to him anything that is worn out. Remember that, among the first fruits which the Jews were to bring to the priest to be offered on God's altar, there were to be «green ears of corn, dried by the fire, even corn beaten out of full ears.» The Lord delights to have the hearts of his people while they are yet children. The Lord says, through Hosea the prophet, «I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms;» as if, while they were but little, God had taught them to take their first steps in walking. There is also that passage in the prophecy of Jeremiah, «I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when

CHAPTER 12 _ 1. Youth and old age (Ecclesiastes 12:1)_ 2. The concluding epilogue (Ecclesiastes 12:9) Ecclesiastes 12:1. Childhood and youth are vanity! That is the concluding sentence of the previous chapter. The vanities of life, the doom and darkness of the grave are uppermost in his mind, and the final word he speaks, ere he closeth with his epilogue, is the same with which he began his search, the search which brought out so many things, yet nothing in reality--as in the beginning of the book, so now he cries out, “Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher, all is vanity” (verse 8). He has come back in all his reasoning to the place from which he started. On

EPILOGUE. Ecclesiastes 12:9 is an editor's praise of Qoheleth, who is identified with Solomon, the sage compiler of proverbial wisdom, who wrote words of truth in a pleasing and elegant (acceptable) style; uprightly may also refer to correctness of form. Ecclesiastes 12:11_ a_ reminds us of the stimulus of a good teacher; Socrates called himself the gadfly of Athens, and the words of Pericles were said to have a sting in them. Ecclesiastes 12:11_ b_ may be rendered Like nails driven home are collections of sayings made by one master; the only difficulty is that Shepherd in OT usually refers to God. As to what lies beyond these (_cf. mg._) th

THE CONCLUSION. See note on "the end", Ecclesiastes 3:11. GOD. Hebrew. _'eth ha-'Elohim_. the [true and only] God; the great Creator, who throughout the book is put in contrast with man (Hebrew. _'adam._ App-14.) the creature. App-4....