Ecclesiastes 3:1, Ecclesiastes 3:9-11

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 3:1

MORE SUPPORT FOR SOLOMON'S THEORY OF THE FUTILITY AND VANITY OF LIFEEcclesiastes 3:1-15"For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under 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... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Ecclesiastes 3:1

Ecclesiastes 3:1. To every thing there is a season— There is a fixed season for every thing; nay, all the determinations of man's will under heaven have their proper time. Solomon says of all things in general, that they have an appointed season; or, according to the propriety of the word זמן zeman, a prepared time. This construction of the passage is strongly confirmed by the contents of the annexed list; for, except the first head, namely, the time of our birth and death, every article... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Ecclesiastes 3:1

1. Man has his appointed cycle of seasons and vicissitudes, as the sun, wind, and water ( :-). purpose—as there is a fixed "season" in God's "purposes" (for example, He has fixed the "time" when man is "to be born," and "to die," Ecclesiastes 3:2), so there is a lawful "time" for man to carry out his "purposes" and inclinations. God does not condemn, but approves of, the use of earthly blessings (Ecclesiastes 3:2- :); it is the abuse that He condemns, the making them the chief end (1... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Ecclesiastes 3:1-3

2. Labor and divine providence 3:1-4:3In this section, Solomon expressed his conviction that in view of God’s incomprehensible workings, all human toil is without permanent profit. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

As is customary in Ecclesiastes, the writer began this section by stating a thesis (Ecclesiastes 3:1). He then proceeded to illustrate and to prove it true (Ecclesiastes 3:2-8). "Event" (Ecclesiastes 3:1) means human activity that one engages in by deliberate choice. Each of these events has its proper time and duration."Qohelet now raises a subject characteristic of ancient Near Eastern wisdom literature-the proper time. After all, it is the wise person who knows the right time to say or to do... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 3:1-22

The Practical Ideal. Acceptance of the Universal Scheme1-15. God is a God of order. The problem which the writer has set himself is not yet solved. He has found that wisdom, culture, pleasure, are all good, though, even if we combine them, there is still something lacking, and they will not explain the mystery of existence. In continuing to seek for a rule of life that shall lead him to the highest good, he reminds himself that God is a God of order, and wisdom lies in adapting ourselves to... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Ecclesiastes 3:1

(1) A season.—The word is only found in later Hebrew (Nehemiah 2:6; Esther 9:27; Esther 9:31), and in the Chaldee of Daniel and Ezra.Purpose.—The use of the word here and in Ecclesiastes 3:17; Ecclesiastes 5:8; Ecclesiastes 8:6, in the general sense of “a matter,” belongs to later Hebrew. The primary meaning of the word is “pleasure” or “desire,” and it is so used in this book (Ecclesiastes 5:4; Ecclesiastes 12:1; Ecclesiastes 12:10). read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Ecclesiastes 3:1-22

Ecclesiastes 3:1 How for everything there is a time and a season, and then how does the glory of a thing pass from it, even like the flower of the grass. This is a truism, but it is one of those which are continually forcing themselves upon the mind. Borrow's Lavengro, xxvi. He is a good time-server that finds out the fittest opportunity for every action. God hath made a time for everything under the sun, save only for that which we do at all times to wit, sin. Thomas Fuller. References. III.... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

And the Conviction that it is opposed to the Will of God as expressed in the Ordinances of his Providence, Ecclesiastes 3:1-8This is one help to a wise content with our lot; but he has many more at our service, and notably this, -that an undue devotion to the toils of business is contrary to the will, the design, the providence of God. God, he argues, has fixed a time for every undertaking under heaven, and has made each of them beautiful in its season, but only then. By his kindly ordinances... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 3:1-15

The Quest obstructed by Divine Ordinances. Ecclesiastes 3:1-15The time of birth, for instance, and the time of death, are ordained by a Power over which men have no control; they begin to be, and they cease to be, at hours whose stroke they can neither hasten nor retard. The season for sowing and the season for reaping are fixed with any reference to their wish; they must plant and gather in when the unchangeable laws of nature will permit (Ecclesiastes 3:2). Even those violent deaths, and... read more

Group of Brands