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Ecclesiastes 3:1–8

"A time to be born, and a time to die"

Fourteen pairs of opposites, 28 occurrences of "time" (et) in verses 2–8, after a heading that uses both zeman and et. All witnesses agree. The poem describes the seasons of human life; it does not command each action.

Stable text: no manuscript differences in meaning

The family tree

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✓ 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

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).

    Omnia tempus habent, et suis spatiis transeunt universa sub cælo. Tempus nascendi, et tempus moriendi; tempus plantandi, et tempus evellendi quod plantatum est. Tempus occidendi, et tempus sanandi; tempus destruendi, et tempus ædificandi. Tempus flendi, et tempus ridendi; tempus plangendi, et tempus saltandi. Tempus spargendi lapides, et tempus colligendi, tempus amplexandi, et tempus longe fieri ab amplexibus. Tempus acquirendi, et tempus perdendi; tempus custodiendi, et tempus abjiciendi. Tempus scindendi, et tempus consuendi; tempus tacendi, et tempus loquendi. Tempus dilectionis, et tempus odii; tempus belli, et tempus pacis.

    Latin numbering: Ecclesiastes 3:1–8. 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.

    לַכֹּ֖ל זְמָ֑ן וְעֵ֥ת לְכָל־חֵ֖פֶץ תַּ֥חַת הַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃ עֵ֥ת לָלֶ֖דֶת וְעֵ֣ת לָמ֑וּת עֵ֣ת לָטַ֔עַת וְעֵ֖ת לַעֲק֥וֹר נָטֽוּעַ׃ עֵ֤ת לַהֲרוֹג֙ וְעֵ֣ת לִרְפּ֔וֹא עֵ֥ת לִפְר֖וֹץ וְעֵ֥ת לִבְנֽוֹת׃ עֵ֤ת לִבְכּוֹת֙ וְעֵ֣ת לִשְׂח֔וֹק עֵ֥ת סְפ֖וֹד וְעֵ֥ת רְקֽוֹד׃ עֵ֚ת לְהַשְׁלִ֣יךְ אֲבָנִ֔ים וְעֵ֖ת כְּנ֣וֹס אֲבָנִ֑ים עֵ֣ת לַחֲב֔וֹק וְעֵ֖ת לִרְחֹ֥ק מֵחַבֵּֽק׃ עֵ֤ת לְבַקֵּשׁ֙ וְעֵ֣ת לְאַבֵּ֔ד עֵ֥ת לִשְׁמ֖וֹר וְעֵ֥ת לְהַשְׁלִֽיךְ׃ עֵ֤ת לִקְר֙וֹעַ֙ וְעֵ֣ת לִתְפּ֔וֹר עֵ֥ת לַחֲשׁ֖וֹת וְעֵ֥ת לְדַבֵּֽר׃ עֵ֤ת לֶֽאֱהֹב֙ וְעֵ֣ת לִשְׂנֹ֔א עֵ֥ת מִלְחָמָ֖ה וְעֵ֥ת שָׁלֽוֹם׃

    For everything a season (zeman), and a time (et) for every matter under heaven: a time to give birth and a time to die…

    Hebrew numbering: Ecclesiastes 3:1–8.

  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).

    To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 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.

  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.

    Il y a temps pour tout, et toute chose sous le ciel a son moment. Il y a temps pour naître et pour mourir; temps pour planter et pour arracher ce qui a été planté; Temps pour tuer et pour guérir; temps pour abattre et pour édifier; Temps pour pleurer et pour rire; temps pour gémir et pour danser; Temps pour rejeter les pierres et pour les amasser; temps pour embrasser et pour s’éloigner des embrassements; Temps pour acquérir et pour perdre; temps pour conserver et pour rejeter; Temps pour déchirer et pour recoudre; temps pour se taire et pour parler; Temps pour aimer et pour haïr; temps pour combattre et pour faire la paix.

    Greek (digital file) numbering: Ecclesiastes 3:1–8. 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

Zeman (3:1, "season") is a late Hebrew word, otherwise found in Esther and Nehemiah (and in Aramaic in Daniel and Ezra); et is the ordinary word for a time or occasion.

The pairs begin with birth and death and end with war and peace. Many pairs are merisms: two extremes standing for everything between. Their arrangement (positive/negative, then reversed) has been studied in detail; no single scheme is agreed.

The poem's fame owes much to its English form (KJV) and to Pete Seeger's 1959 song "Turn! Turn! Turn!" (recorded by the Byrds in 1965), which adds only its title and last line. The site quotes the KJV; the song's lyric is not reproduced.

What the evidence shows

  • Independently documentedVerses 2–8 contain 28 occurrences of et.
  • Strongly supportedZeman is a late Hebrew word.
  • Conflicts with current evidenceThe poem prescribes when to kill or hate. It describes; verses 9–11 make the point about human limits.

Sources

    Related lessons

    • Ecclesiastes 3: A Time for Everything →"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven" (3:1). Fourteen pairs of opposites follow: born and die, plant and uproot, kill and heal… war and peace (vv. 2–8). Humans cannot see the whole: God has made everything beautiful in its time and put "eternity" (or "the world") in their hearts, yet they cannot find out his work from beginning to end (vv. 9–15). Then injustice: wickedness sits in the place of judgment (v. 16). God will judge (v. 17), but humans and animals share one fate and one breath; "who knoweth" where the human spirit goes? (vv. 18–21). So enjoy your work: it is your portion (v. 22).
    • Investigation: Time, Eternity and the Limits of Knowing →Ecclesiastes is a book about time: generations passing, fourteen pairs of times, eternity in the heart, the evil time that falls suddenly. It is also a book about knowing: again and again humans "cannot find out" God's work or know what comes after. This investigation traces both themes and the key words et (time) and olam (eternity, world).