📖 Biblical Definition
Solomon concluded: "Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man" (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Jesus affirmed the greatest duty: love God and neighbor (Mark 12:30-31). Paul understood his apostleship as duty: "Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!" (1 Corinthians 9:16). Duty and love are not opposites — duty is the structure through which love expresses itself.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
That which a person is bound to perform; obedience; submission; act of reverence.
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DU'TY, n. That which a person owes to another; that which one is bound by natural, moral or legal obligation to do. Webster understood duty as encompassing all we owe to God, neighbor, and station.
📖 Key Scripture
• Ecclesiastes 12:13 — "Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man."
• Mark 12:30-31 — "Love the Lord your God with all your heart... Love your neighbor as yourself."
• Luke 17:10 — "We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty."
• 1 Corinthians 9:16 — "Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!"
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern culture replaces duty with desire — doing what you feel rather than what you owe.
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The Enlightenment and Romantic movements replaced duty with desire. 'Follow your heart' replaced 'do your duty.' The result: broken promises, abandoned families, unfulfilled responsibilities. Scripture knows no such freedom: we are not our own, bought with a price. Duty is not the enemy of freedom but its proper expression.
Usage
• "When Solomon says 'the whole duty of man,' he leaves no room for autonomous self-expression as the goal of life."
• "Duty is not the opposite of love — it is love with work boots on, doing what needs to be done."