Whole Duty of Man

Ecclesiastes 12:13 KJV

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

When I was studying this I decided to look up some of the words in the dictionary.

conclusion: bring to a close

whole: entire

fear: 1) to regard with awe

regard: respect or admire; observe carefully

awe: feeling of wonder and fear

fear: 2) uneasiness or concern

duty: that required by custom, law, etc. any task assigned or required by one's works

So as I worked in the definitions, this is what I came up with:

Let us hear and bring to a close the entire matter: respect and observe carefully, with a feeling of wonder; God, and keep his commandments for this is the entire task required of man.

By bringing to a close the entire matter shows that there is no room for dispute, fact is being stated that we are to fear God and obey Him.


In Matthew 22:37 -38, Jesus is answering the question, which is the great commandment in the law?
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all the mind. This is the first and great commandment."

In Luke 10:27-28 a lawyer has asked Jesus how he may inherit eternal life and Jesus asked the lawyer how he has interpreted the law. "And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind: and thy neighbor as thyself."
And Jesus said unto him, "Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live."

If you are seeking a purpose for your life, or seeking the answer to "Why am I here?", it is simply to love God with our whole being and obey Him. In return you shall have eternal life.


I hope you were able to glean something good from my personal study. I don't want to just read my bible to read it, but I truly want to grasp all that God has for me in His word and share it with others.


God Bless You as you walk in His likeness.