Ecclesiastes 3: A Time for Everything

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven" (3:1). Then the poem: "A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted" (v. 2). The word "time" (et) sounds twenty-eight times in seven verses, two by two, like a bell.

"A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace" (vv. 3–8).

"What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?" (v. 9). Qoheleth has seen the business God has given people (v. 10). "He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world (ha-olam) in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end" (v. 11). Then twice "I know": there is nothing better than to rejoice and do good, and to eat, drink and enjoy, "it is the gift of God" (vv. 12–13); and whatever God does endures for ever: "nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him" (v. 14). "That which hath been is now… and God requireth that which is past" (v. 15).

"And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there" (v. 16). "I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose" (v. 17). But God tests people "that they might see that they themselves are beasts" (v. 18). "That which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts… as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath (ruach)… All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again" (vv. 19–20). "Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?" (v. 21).

"Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?" (v. 22).

Dust and breath

Genesis 2:7 tells of God forming the human from the dust and breathing into him the breath of life; Genesis 3:19 says "dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Psalm 104:29–30 says of all creatures, "thou takest away their breath (ruach), they die, and return to their dust." Ecclesiastes 3:19–20 draws the plain conclusion that, as far as anyone can see, humans and animals die alike. It then asks (v. 21) whether anyone knows that the human spirit goes up. Ecclesiastes 12:7 later says that "the spirit shall return unto God who gave it," which describes the breath of life going back to its giver.

Is the poem a list of commands?

No. The poem describes; it does not prescribe. That there is "a time to kill" or "a time to hate" says these happen in human life within God's ordering, not that each is right whenever someone feels its time has come. The point of verses 9–11 is that humans experience these seasons without seeing the whole pattern. The poem became famous far beyond the Bible (Pete Seeger's song "Turn! Turn! Turn!" sets 3:1–8 almost word for word), but its original question is about human limits, not timing advice.

3:11: eternity, world, or something hidden?

Ha-olam usually means "a long time, forever, eternity" in biblical Hebrew (it occurs seven times in Ecclesiastes: 1:4, 10; 2:16; 3:11, 14; 9:6; 12:5, by the site's count). In later Hebrew it also means "the world." The library's Greek renders ton aiona (Giguet "le monde entier," the whole world), the Vulgate mundum tradidit disputationi eorum ("he handed the world over to their debating"), the KJV "the world." Modern versions mostly have "eternity" (NIV, ESV) or "a sense of past and future" (NRSV). Some scholars repoint the consonants as elem, "hiddenness, ignorance," since the verse goes on to say humans cannot find out God's work. Each reading has a case; the passage page sets them side by side. None of the ancient witnesses has different consonants: this is a question of meaning, not of manuscripts.

3:21: a question, or a statement?

The Masoretic vowels read ha-olah and ha-yoredet with the article: "the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward" (so the KJV), which implies the human spirit does go up. The Greek, the Vulgate and many modern versions read the same letters as questions ("whether it goes upward… whether it goes down"): who knows whether? Both are possible from the consonants. Many scholars think the Masoretic pointing reflects later belief in the soul's ascent; others defend it. Either way the verse begins "Who knoweth," so it is a statement of uncertainty, not of denial.

3:15: "God seeks the pursued"

The Hebrew ve-ha-elohim yevaqqesh et-nirdaf is literally "God seeks what is pursued." In context (vv. 14–15, what was, is, and will be) many take it as "God brings back what has passed" (the Vulgate: Deus instaurat quod abiit). The library's Greek reads "God will seek the persecuted" (Giguet "Dieu cherchera le persécuté"), and a well-known midrash (Leviticus Rabbah 27:5) reads it of God taking the side of the persecuted, even when the pursuer is righteous, which leads naturally into verse 16. Both senses are possible.

Who is speaking in 3:17?

"God shall judge the righteous and the wicked" comes in Qoheleth's own voice ("I said in mine heart"). This matters for the debate about the ending (12:14): the expectation of divine judgment is not only in the epilogue but within the body of the book (3:17; 8:12–13; 11:9). What Qoheleth denies is that judgment can be seen working on schedule in this life.