Ecclesiastes 3
The Appointed Times for Everything 1–10
God's Eternal Plan and Human Joy 11–15
The Problem of Injustice and Mortality 16–22
Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain
Study Notes for Ecclesiastes 3
Verse 1
To every thing there is a season — 'Season' is zeman, an appointed time, found only here, in Neh 2:6 ('I set him a time') and in Esther 9:27, 31. 'Purpose' is chephets, what one wills or delights in, the word again in v.17 and in 8:6, 'to every purpose there is time and judgment'.
Verse 2
A time to be born — Literally 'a time to bear' (yalad), the verb of giving birth. The word 'time' (eth) is said twenty-eight times in vv.2–8, as fourteen pairs. Job 14:5 says of a man that 'his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds'.
Verse 3
a time to kill, and a time to heal — The first pair is the LORD's own: 'I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal' (Deut 32:39). 'Break down' (parats) and 'build up' are acts he names for himself in Jer 31:28, 'to pluck up, and to break down… so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant'.
Verse 9
What profit hath he that worketh — The question of 1:3 asked again with yitron, 'profit', a word found only in Ecclesiastes (1:3; 2:11, 13; 3:9; 5:9, 16; 7:12; 10:10, 11). It returns in 5:16, 'what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind?' Christ asks it of the soul (Matt 16:26).
Verse 10
the travail, which God hath given — 'Travail' is inyan, the word of 1:13, 'this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man', and of 2:23, 26. 'To be exercised' is anah, the verb usually rendered 'afflict', as in 'they shall afflict them four hundred years' (Gen 15:13). The labour is laid on men, as in Gen 3:19.
Verse 11
He hath made every thing beautiful in his time — 'Beautiful' is yapheh, fair, and the verdict recalls creation, 'it was very good' (Gen 1:31). 'The world' is olam, the word translated 'for ever' in v.14. No man 'can find out' the whole work, as Paul says, 'his ways past finding out' (Rom 11:33).
Verse 12
to rejoice, and to do good in his life — 'Do good' is asah tov, the phrase of Ps 37:3, 'Trust in the LORD, and do good', and Paul tells the rich 'that they do good' (1 Tim 6:18). 'Rejoice' is samach, the verb of v.22. The verse names this as the only 'good' in them.
Verse 13
it is the gift of God — 'Gift' is mattath, what is freely given, found elsewhere in Ecclesiastes only at 5:19. The sentence repeats 2:24, where the good comes 'from the hand of God'. James states the principle: 'Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above' (Jas 1:17).
Verse 14
whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever — 'For ever' is olam, the word rendered 'the world' in v.11. 'Put to' (yasaf) and 'taken from' (gara) are the pair of Deut 4:2, and Prov 30:6 says 'Add thou not unto his words'. 'That men should fear before him' ends where the book ends, 'Fear God' (12:13).
Verse 15
God requireth that which is past — 'That which hath been is now' echoes 1:9 and 6:10. 'Requireth' is baqash, to seek, and 'that which is past' is literally 'that which is pursued' (radaph), the verb of 'shall follow me' in Ps 23:6.
Verse 16
the place of judgment, that wickedness was there — 'Wickedness' and 'iniquity' are one word, resha, so the same thing stands in 'the place of judgment' (mishpat) and 'the place of righteousness' (tsedeq). 5:8 returns to it: 'violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not'. Paul met it in Acts 23:3.
Verse 17
God shall judge the righteous and the wicked — The answer to v.16 is that God judges (shaphat), and the 'time… for every purpose' is the chephets of v.1. The book closes on the same: 'God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing' (12:14). Paul writes, 'we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ' (2 Cor 5:10).
Verse 18
that they themselves are beasts — 'Manifest' is barar, to sift or make clear, so that men are shown their own condition. Ps 49:12 says of man that 'he is like the beasts that perish', and Asaph's confession is 'I was as a beast before thee' (Ps 73:22).
Verse 19
they have all one breath — 'Befalleth' is miqreh, said three times in the verse, as in 2:14. 'Breath' is ruach, the word rendered 'spirit' twice in v.21. A man 'hath no preeminence above a beast' in dying: 'as the one dieth, so dieth the other'. Ps 49:20 says it again: 'Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.'
Verse 21
Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward — The question sets 'upward' (alah) against 'downward' (yarad). The Preacher answers it in 12:7, 'the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it'. Paul says of the believer, 'absent from the body… present with the Lord' (2 Cor 5:8).
Verse 22
nothing better, than that a man should rejoice — 'Rejoice' is samach, as in v.12, and 'portion' (cheleq) is the word of 2:10 and 5:18. 'Who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?' returns in 6:12, 'who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?', and in 8:7.