Ecclesiastes 12 · Verse 7

Ecclesiastes 12:7

Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
Ecclesiastes 12:7, King James Version

Ecclesiastes 12:7 in other translations

BSBbefore the dust returns to the ground from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
WEBand the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
ASVand the dust returneth to the earth as it was, and the spirit returneth unto God who gave it.
YLTAnd the dust returneth to the earth as it was, And the spirit returneth to God who gave it.
DARBYand the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit return unto God who gave it.
BBEAnd the dust goes back to the earth as it was, and the spirit goes back to God who gave it.
WebsterThen shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return to God who gave it.

What does Ecclesiastes 12:7 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
7. dust--the dust-formed body. spirit--surviving the body; implying its immortality (Ec 3:11).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 7 Then 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solution take place; the whole mass becomes decomposed, and in process of time is reduced to dust, from which it was originally made; while the spirit, הרוח haruach, that spirit, which God at first breathed into the nostrils of man, when he in consequence became a Living Soul, an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 it. Here the wise man makes a most evident distinction between the body and the soul: they are not the same; they are not both matter. The body, which is matter, returns to dust, its original; but the spirit, which is immaterial, returns to God. It is impossible that two natures can be more distinct, or more emphatically distinguished. The author of this book was not a materialist. Thus ends this affecting, yet elegant and finished, picture of Old Age and Death. See a description of old age similar, but much inferior, to this, in the Agamemnon of Aeschylus, 5:76-82. It has been often remarked that the circulation of the blood, which has been deemed a modern discovery by our countryman Dr. Harvey, in 1616, was known to Solomon, or whoever was the author of this book: the fountains, cisterns, pitcher, and wheel, giving sufficient countenance to the conclusion.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Ecclesiastes 12:1-7

A description of the infirmities of age. (Eccl. 12:1-7) All is vanity: also a warning of the judgment to come. (Eccl. 12:8-14) Verses 1-7 We should remember our sins against our Creator, repent, and seek forgiveness. We should remember our duties, and set about them, looking to him for grace and strength. This should be done early, while the body is strong, and the spirits active. When a man has the pain of…

Read the full comment on Ecclesiastes 12:1-7 →

Ecclesiastes 12:7 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְיָשֹׁ֧בve.ya.Shoand it will returnH7725
הֶעָפָ֛רhe.'a.Farthe dustH6083
עַל\־'al-toH5921
הָאָ֖רֶץha.'A.retzthe earthH776
כְּשֶׁהָיָ֑הke.she.ha.Yahlike which it wasH1961
וְהָר֣וּחַve.ha.Ru.achand the spiritH7307
תָּשׁ֔וּבta.Shuvit will returnH7725
אֶל\־'el-toH413
הָאֱלֹהִ֖יםha.'E.lo.Him<the> GodH430
אֲשֶׁ֥ר'a.SherwhoH834
נְתָנָֽהּ\׃ne.ta.Nahhe gave itH5414

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Ecclesiastes 12:7

  • Daniel 12:2

    And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

  • Ecclesiastes 3:20-21

    All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?

  • Psalms 146:4

    His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

  • Genesis 3:19

    In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

  • Job 34:14-15

    If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath; All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.

  • Zechariah 12:1

    The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.

  • Isaiah 57:16

    For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made.

  • Genesis 2:7

    And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

  • Numbers 16:22

    And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?

  • Job 20:11

    His bones are full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust.

  • Numbers 27:16

    Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation,

  • Psalms 90:3

    Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
dust.
3:20; Ge 3:19; 18:27; Job 4:19,20; 7:21; 20:11; 34:14,15; Ps 90:3
Ps 146:4; Da 12:2
the spirit.
3:21
God.
Ge 2:7; Nu 16:22; 27:16; Isa 57:16; Jer 38:16; Zec 12:1
Heb 12:9,23

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Ecclesiastes 12:6

    Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.

  • Ecclesiastes 12:7

    Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

  • Ecclesiastes 12:8

    Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.

Read all of Ecclesiastes 12

Ecclesiastes 12:7 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y el polvo se torne á la tierra, como era, y el espíritu se vuelva á Dios que lo dió.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		et que la poussière retourne à la terre, comme elle y avait été, et que l’esprit retourne à Dieu qui l’a donné.
German
Elberfelder 1871		und der Staub zur Erde zurückkehrt, so wie er gewesen, und der Geist zu Gott zurückkehrt, der ihn gegeben hat.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		et revertatur pulvis in terram suam unde erat, et spiritus redeat ad Deum, qui dedit illum.