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Journey of a Passage

Ecclesiastes 12:8–14

"Fear God, and keep his commandments"

The motto returns (v. 8) and a third-person epilogue speaks about Qoheleth: wise, a teacher who weighed and arranged many proverbs (vv. 9–10); the words of the wise are goads and nails from "one shepherd" (v. 11); there is no end of making books (v. 12); "Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man" (v. 13); God will judge every hidden thing (v. 14). The witnesses agree in substance; translations differ in v. 12 and in how to render kol ha-adam.

Stable text: no manuscript differences in meaning

The family tree

Each row is a language or text tradition. Witnesses in the same row may share ancestry, revise one another, or have an uncertain relationship; the line under each box says which. A solid arrow appears only where direct copying or a documented revised edition is established. Order by date never implies copying. Scroll sideways on a phone.

✓ contains this verse · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives

  • Same line, through lost copies
  • Translation
Hebrew
  1. The book as first writtenOften dated 4th–3rd century BC (debated)
  2. Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)AD 1008Descends, through lost copies, from The book as first written
Greek
  1. Greek Ecclesiastes (library: Giguet's French)Greek translation c. 1st–2nd century AD (debated); French 1872Translated from the Greek Ecclesiastes
Latin
  1. Latin Vulgate (Clementine)Jerome c. AD 398, from Hebrew; edition 1592Translated from the Hebrew text Jerome used
English
  1. King James Bible1611Translated from printed Masoretic Hebrew
New Testament quotation

    Every witness, in order

    1. Often dated 4th–3rd century BC (debated)

      The book as first written

      – No copy survives

      No original survives. The oldest Hebrew copies of Ecclesiastes are two Qumran fragments, 4Q109 (4QQoh-a, mid-2nd century BC, reported) and 4Q110 (4QQoh-b, reported).

    2. Jerome c. AD 398, from Hebrew; edition 1592

      Latin Vulgate (Clementine)

      ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from the Hebrew text Jerome used

      How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition).

      Vanitas vanitatum, dixit Ecclesiastes, et omnia vanitas. Cumque esset sapientissimus Ecclesiastes, docuit populum, et enarravit quæ fecerat; et investigans composuit parabolas multas. Quæsivit verba utilia, et conscripsit sermones rectissimos ac veritate plenos. Verba sapientium sicut stimuli, et quasi clavi in altum defixi, quæ per magistrorum consilium data sunt a pastore uno. His amplius, fili mi, ne requiras. Faciendi plures libros nullus est finis; frequensque meditatio, carnis afflictio est. Finem loquendi pariter omnes audiamus. Deum time, et mandata ejus observa: hoc est enim omnis homo, et cuncta quæ fiunt adducet Deus in judicium pro omni errato, sive bonum, sive malum illud sit.

      Latin numbering: Ecclesiastes 12:8–14. Jerome translated Ecclesiastes from Hebrew (c. AD 398), after writing a commentary on it (c. 388); the Vulgate is an indirect witness to a Hebrew text, with Jerome's interpretation.

    3. AD 1008

      Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)

      ✓ Contains this passageDescends, through lost copies, from The book as first written

      How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.

      הֲבֵ֧ל הֲבָלִ֛ים אָמַ֥ר הַקּוֹהֶ֖לֶת הַכֹּ֥ל הָֽבֶל׃ וְיֹתֵ֕ר שֶׁהָיָ֥ה קֹהֶ֖לֶת חָכָ֑ם ע֗וֹד לִמַּד־דַּ֙עַת֙ אֶת־הָעָ֔ם וְאִזֵּ֣ן וְחִקֵּ֔ר תִּקֵּ֖ן מְשָׁלִ֥ים הַרְבֵּֽה׃ בִּקֵּ֣שׁ קֹהֶ֔לֶת לִמְצֹ֖א דִּבְרֵי־חֵ֑פֶץ וְכָת֥וּב יֹ֖שֶׁר דִּבְרֵ֥י אֱמֶֽת׃ דִּבְרֵ֤י חֲכָמִים֙ כַּדָּ֣רְבֹנ֔וֹת וּֽכְמַשְׂמְר֥וֹת נְטוּעִ֖ים בַּעֲלֵ֣י אֲסֻפּ֑וֹת נִתְּנ֖וּ מֵרֹעֶ֥ה אֶחָֽד׃ וְיֹתֵ֥ר מֵהֵ֖מָּה בְּנִ֣י הִזָּהֵ֑ר עֲשׂ֨וֹת סְפָרִ֤ים הַרְבֵּה֙ אֵ֣ין קֵ֔ץ וְלַ֥הַג הַרְבֵּ֖ה יְגִעַ֥ת בָּשָֽׂר׃ ס֥וֹף דָּבָ֖ר הַכֹּ֣ל נִשְׁמָ֑ע אֶת־הָאֱלֹהִ֤ים יְרָא֙ וְאֶת־מִצְוֺתָ֣יו שְׁמ֔וֹר כִּי־זֶ֖ה כָּל־הָאָדָֽם׃ כִּ֤י אֶת־כָּל־מַֽעֲשֶׂ֔ה הָאֱלֹהִ֛ים יָבִ֥א בְמִשְׁפָּ֖ט עַ֣ל כָּל־נֶעְלָ֑ם אִם־ט֖וֹב וְאִם־רָֽע׃ 222 12 4 4

      The end of the matter, all has been heard: fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole of humanity (v. 13)

      Hebrew numbering: Ecclesiastes 12:8–14.

    4. 1611

      King James Bible

      ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

      How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).

      Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity. And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs. The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth. The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd. And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

    5. Greek translation c. 1st–2nd century AD (debated); French 1872

      Greek Ecclesiastes (library: Giguet's French)

      ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from the Greek Ecclesiastes

      How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.

      Vanité des vanités, a dit l’Ecclésiaste, tout est vanité. Et de plus, comme l’Ecclésiaste était très-sage, il enseigna la science à l’homme; et l’oreille découvrira le sens voilé des paraboles. L’Ecclésiaste a cherché avec soin pour trouver des paroles de bonne volonté, des écrits de justice, des paroles de vérité. Les paroles du sage sont comme des aiguillons, comme des clous qu’on a solidement fixés; elles ont été données dans les conseils des sages par l’unique pasteur. Et il est profitable, ô mon fils, de les garder; à faire beaucoup de livres, il n’y a point de fin; et trop d’étude est fatigue de la chair. Écoute la conclusion, le résumé de ce discours; crains Dieu, et garde ses commandements, car c’est là tout l’homme. En effet, Dieu appellera en jugement chaque œuvre, chaque chose qui aura été négligée, bonne ou mauvaise.

      Greek (digital file) numbering: Ecclesiastes 12:8–14. Giguet's 1872 French of a printed Greek text (D check). A C check needs the Göttingen edition of Greek Ecclesiastes (P. J. Gentry, 2019).

    What changed, and why

    Who wrote the epilogue? Views: a later editor correcting or qualifying the book; the author using a frame narrator (as in Egyptian instructions); one author stating his intended conclusion. The epilogue's fear-of-God and judgment themes already appear in Qoheleth's own voice (3:14, 17; 5:7; 8:12–13; 11:9); commandment language is new.

    In v. 12 the library's Greek reads "it is profitable, my son, to keep them" and the Vulgate "seek nothing more than these, my son": different construals of "and more than these, my son, be warned." Kol ha-adam (v. 13): "the whole of man," "the duty of every person," "what every person is for."

    Jewish public reading repeats v. 13 after v. 14 so that the book does not end on "evil." The Talmud (Shabbat 30b) says the sages did not withdraw the book because "its beginning is words of Torah and its end is words of Torah."

    What the evidence shows

    • Independently documented12:8 repeats 1:2 almost word for word.
    • Disputed12:9–14 is a later editorial addition.
    • Independently documentedThe Talmud (Shabbat 30b) reports a debate over withdrawing Ecclesiastes.

    Sources

      Related lessons

      • Ecclesiastes 12: Remember Your Creator →"Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not" (12:1). A poem follows of darkening lights and returning clouds (v. 2); a great house where the keepers tremble, the strong men bend, the grinding women stop and the watchers at the windows grow dim (vv. 3–4); fear of heights, the almond blossoming, the grasshopper dragging itself, the caper berry failing, "because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets" (v. 5); the silver cord, the golden bowl, the pitcher at the spring and the wheel at the cistern broken (v. 6); "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it" (v. 7). The motto returns: "Vanity of vanities… all is vanity" (v. 8). Then a third-person epilogue describes Qoheleth as a wise teacher (vv. 9–10), praises the goads and nails of the wise (v. 11), warns against endless books (v. 12), and concludes: "Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment" (vv. 13–14).
      • Investigation: The Finale, the Canon and Reading Ecclesiastes as Scripture →Ecclesiastes is framed by a third-person voice (1:1–2; 12:8–14) that presents Qoheleth's words and ends with "Fear God, and keep his commandments." The rabbis debated whether the book "defiles the hands" (has scriptural sanctity) and why it contradicts itself, and kept it. It is read at Sukkot, placed among the Writings in Jewish Bibles and among the wisdom books in Christian Bibles. It is not the same book as Ecclesiasticus (Sirach).
      • Investigation: Who Was Qoheleth? →The book calls its speaker Qoheleth, "son of David, king in Jerusalem," and never names Solomon. Jewish and Christian tradition long read it as Solomon's. Most modern scholars date its Hebrew to the Persian or Hellenistic period (roughly 5th–3rd centuries BC) and read the royal voice as a literary persona. This investigation separates the categories that are often blurred: the title, the persona, the narrator who frames him, the historical author, and the date of the earliest copies.