Ecclesiastes 3:15-4:16

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ecclesiastes 3:11-15

We have seen what changes there are in the world, and must not expect to find the world more sure to us than it has been to others. Now here Solomon shows the hand of God in all those changes; it is he that has made every creature to be that to us which it is, and therefore we must have our eye always upon him. I. We must make the best of that which is, and must believe it best for the present, and accommodate ourselves to it: He has made every thing beautiful in his time (Eccl. 3:11), and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 3:15

That which hath seen is now; and that which is to be hath already been ,.... That which has been from the beginning now is; that which cometh, and what shall be in the end of days, has been already, as the Targum. Jarchi interprets this of God and his attributes, which are always the same; he is the "I am that I am", Exodus 3:14 ; the immutable and eternal Jehovah, which is, and was, and is to come, invariably the same. Or rather it designs his decrees and purposes; what has been decreed... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 3:15

That which hath been is now - God governs the world now, as he has governed it from the beginning; and the revolutions and operations of nature are the same now, that they have been from the beginning. What we see now, is the same as has been seen by those before us. And God requireth that which is past - i.e., That it may return again in its proper order. The heavens themselves, taking in their great revolutions, show the same phenomena. Even comets are supposed to have their... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 3:1-22

Section 4. In confirmation of the truth that man's happiness depends upon the will of God, Koheleth proceeds to show how Providence arranges even the minutest concerns; that man can alter nothing, must make the best of things as they are, bear with anomalies, bounding his desires by this present life. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 3:10-15

There is a plan and system in all the circumstances of man's life; he feels this instinctively, but he cannot comprehend it. His duty is to make the best of the present, and to recognize the immutability of the law that governs all things. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 3:15

That which hath been is now ; so Septuagint; "That which hath been made, the same remaineth" (Vulgate); better, that which hath been , long ago it is ; i . e . was in existence long before. The thought is much the same as in Ecclesiastes 1:9 , only here it is adduced not to prove the vanity and endless sameness of circumstances, but the orderly and appointed succession of events under the controlling providence of God. That which is to be hath already been . The future will be a... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ecclesiastes 3:15

Rather, What has been - what was before, and what shall be has been before. The word “is” in our the King James Version is erroneously printed in Roman letters: it does not exist in the Hebrew (it should have been italicized); and the word there translated “now” is the same which is translated as “already.”Requireth - i. e., requireth for judgment, as the word specially means in 2 Samuel 4:11; Ezekiel 3:18...It is obvious from the context of the last clause of Ecclesiastes 3:14, and... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Ecclesiastes 3:15

Ecclesiastes 3:15. That which hath been is now Things past, present, and to come, are all ordered by one constant counsel, in all parts and ages of the world. There is a continual return of the same motions of the heavenly bodies, of the same seasons of the year, and a constant succession of new generations of men and beasts, but all of the same quality. God requireth Or reneweth, as the Hebrew יבקשׁ , may be rendered; that which is past That time and those things which are... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 3:1-15

Events controlled by God’s fixed order (3:1-15)In 1:1-11 the author considered the ceaseless toil and repetition in the natural world and decided that life was useless. Now (ignoring for the moment the conclusions he has just outlined in 2:24-26) he considers the fixed order of events in the world. It appears to him that everything happens at the time God has decided it will happen. In view of this, all human effort to improve life is useless. People can change nothing (3:1-9).Human beings may... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Ecclesiastes 3:15

Ecclesiastes 3:15. That which hath been, is now, &c.— The second observation which serves also for a transition to the consequences to be inferred from the whole, and which is contained in Ecc 3:12-15 is, that God directs all the events wherein we are any way concerned, by an unvariable providence. A constant and powerful inducement indeed to fear God! read more

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