God’s Word Translation
Ecclesiastes 12:7
7Then the dust ⌞of mortals⌟ goes back to the ground as it was before, and the breath of life goes back to God who gave it.
Ecclesiastes 12:7 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
- New International Version (NIV)and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
- English Standard Version (ESV)and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it.
Context of Ecclesiastes 12:7
5Remember your Creator when someone is afraid of heights and of dangers along the road, the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, ⌞and⌟ the caper bush has ⌞no⌟ fruit. Mortals go to their eternal rest, and mourners go out in the streets. 6Remember your Creator before the silver cord is snapped, the golden bowl is broken, the pitcher is smashed near the spring, and the water wheel is broken at the cistern. Then the dust ⌞of mortals⌟ goes back to the ground as it was before, and the breath of life goes back to God who gave it. 8“Absolutely pointless!” says the spokesman. “Everything is pointless!” 9Besides being wise, the spokesman also taught the people what he knew. He very carefully thought about it, studied it, and arranged it in many proverbs.
Read all of Ecclesiastes 12Ecclesiastes 12:7 word by word
וְיָשֹׁ֧ב הֶעָפָ֛ר עַל־הָאָ֖רֶץ כְּשֶׁהָיָ֑ה וְהָר֣וּחַ תָּשׁ֔וּב אֶל־הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר נְתָנָֽהּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 12:7
- Ecclesiastes 3:20All ⌞life⌟ goes to the same place. All ⌞life⌟ comes from the ground, and all of it goes back to the ground.
- Genesis 3:19By the sweat of your brow, you will produce food to eat until you return to the ground, because you were taken from it. You are dust, and you will return to dust.”
- Genesis 18:27Abraham asked, “Consider now, if I may be so bold as to ask you, although I’m ⌞only⌟ dust and ashes,
- Job 4:19How much more will he accuse those who live in clay houses that have their foundation in the dust. Those houses can be crushed quicker than a moth!
- Job 7:21Why don’t you forgive my disobedience and take away my sin? Soon I’ll lie down in the dust. Then you will search for me, but I’ll be gone!”
- Job 20:11His bones, once full of youthful vigor, will lie down with him in the dust.
- Job 34:14If he thought only of himself and withdrew his Spirit and his breath,
- Psalms 90:3You turn mortals back into dust and say, “Return, descendants of Adam.”
- Psalms 146:4When they breathe their last breath, they return to the ground. On that day their plans come to an end.
- Daniel 12:2Many sleeping in the ground will wake up. Some will wake up to live forever, but others will wake up to be ashamed and disgraced forever.
- Ecclesiastes 3:21Who knows whether a human spirit goes upward or whether an animal spirit goes downward to the earth?
- Genesis 2:7Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the earth and blew the breath of life into his nostrils. The man became a living being.
- Numbers 16:22Immediately, they bowed with their faces touching the ground and said, “O God, you are the God who gives the breath of life to everyone! If one man sins, will you be angry with the whole community?”
- Numbers 27:16“Lord, you are the God who gives the breath of life to everyone. Please appoint someone over the community
- Isaiah 57:16I will not accuse you forever. I will not be angry with you forever. Otherwise, the spirits, the lives of those I’ve made, would grow faint in my presence.
- Jeremiah 38:16So King Zedekiah secretly swore an oath to Jeremiah, “The Lord gave us life. As the Lord lives, I will not kill you or hand you over to these men who want to kill you.”
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 12:7
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 7Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God - 5. Putrefaction and solution take place; the whole mass becomes decomposed, and in process of time is reduced to dust, from which it was originally made; while the spirit, הרוח haruach, that spirit, which God at first breathed into the nostrils of man, when he in consequence became a Living Soul, an intelligent, rational, discoursing animal, returns to God who gave…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7The spirit - i. e., The spirit separated unto God from the body at death. No more is said here of its future destiny. To return to God, who is the fountain Psalm 36:9 of Life, certainly means to continue to live. The doctrine of life after death is implied here as in Exodus 3:6 (compare Mark 12:26), Psalm 17:15 (see the note), and in many other passages of Scripture earlier than the age of Solomon. The inference that the soul loses its personality and is…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7dust returns to the ground: See Genesis 2:7; 3:19. The idea that the spirit will return to God who gave it suggests a belief in an afterlife (compare Ecclesiastes 3:21; see “The Afterlife” Theme Note).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 77. dust--the dust-formed body. spirit--surviving the body; implying its immortality (Ec 3:11).Read the comment
Topics related to Ecclesiastes 12:7
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 12
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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