12:7 dust return to the earth. In accord with the primeval curse, the body returns to the dust from which it was formed (Genesis 3:17-19).

12:7 spirit shall return unto God. The spirit of the one who dies, however, does not die. The molecules of the body disintegrate back to their basic elements, but the spirit lives on. The spirit was sent from God into the body in the first place, and thus is still under His control when the body dies.