Ecclesiastes 3:1–8

Context

The speaker of Ecclesiastes introduces himself as "the Preacher" (Hebrew Qoheleth, meaning one who gathers an assembly) and "the son of David, king in Jerusalem" (Ecclesiastes 1:1). Tradition has regarded Solomon as the author, but many scholars hold that a later sage wrote under Solomon's name. The book opens with the lament that everything under the sun is "vanity." Against this backdrop, Ecclesiastes 3:1–8 sets side by side fourteen pairs of opposites, such as birth and death or war and peace. In the passage that follows (Ecclesiastes 3:9–15), the Preacher asks what profit a person gains from his labor, and he states that although God "hath made every thing beautiful in his time," no one can find out the work of God from the beginning to the end (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

Interpretation

• Providence-centered reading: Many interpreters, including those in the Reformed tradition, read the poem as a confession of providence: God appoints and governs every season of human life.
• Wisdom-centered reading: From the perspective of wisdom literature, the poem teaches readers to discern what kind of time the present is and to act accordingly.
• Human-limitation reading: Some commentators see the emphasis as falling on human powerlessness: people can neither appoint the times nor know them in advance. These interpreters read the passage together with Ecclesiastes 8:17.

Questions of Application

A frequently raised question is how to understand "a time to kill" in verse 3 and "a time to hate" and "a time of war" in verse 8. Most interpreters hold that these lines describe things that actually happen in human life rather than issuing commands that justify killing or war. The meaning of "a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together" in verse 5 is unclear, and interpretations differ. One view takes it as referring to clearing stones from a field and gathering stones for building; some in the Jewish tradition are reported to have connected it with "a time to embrace" in the latter half of the same verse and read it as a euphemism for marital relations. Translations also differ. The word rendered "purpose" in verse 1 of the Korean Revised Version translates a Hebrew term meaning "matter" or "delight," and the New Korean Revised Version renders it "every matter under heaven."

In the Korean Church

Because of the words "a time to be born, and a time to die," the passage is commonly used as a sermon text at funeral services. It is also often read at Watch Night services, where congregations look back on the past year and welcome the new one. Outside the church, the American singer Pete Seeger adapted the passage into the song "Turn! Turn! Turn!," which became widely known in popular music.

Related Passages

• Ecclesiastes 3:11
• Ecclesiastes 8:17
• Ecclesiastes 12:13–14
• Psalm 31:15
• Galatians 4:4