--- title: "Ecclesiastes 3 - Study King James Bible with keil and delitzsch old testament commentary" description: "Read Ecclesiastes 3 with keil and delitzsch old testament commentary commentary. 1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to p" image: "/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg" url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/ecclesiastes/3" --- [ Read](/kjv/ecclesiastes/3)[ Commentary](/study/ecclesiastes/3)[ Interlinear](/interlinear/ecclesiastes/3) Audio 1 To every *thing there is* a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up *that which is* planted;* 3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;* 6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;* 7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. 9 What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth? 10 I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. 11 He hath made every *thing* beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. 12 I know that *there is* no good in them, but for *a man* to rejoice, and to do good in his life. 13 And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it *is* the gift of God. 14 I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth *it*, that *men* should fear before him. 15 That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.* 16 ¶ And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, *that* wickedness *was* there; and the place of righteousness, *that* iniquity *was* there. 17 I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for *there is* a time there for every purpose and for every work. 18 I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.* 19 For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all *is* vanity. 20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. 21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?** 22 Wherefore I perceive that *there is* nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that *is* his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him? [Ecclesiastes 2](/study/ecclesiastes/2) [Ecclesiastes 4](/study/ecclesiastes/4) ## Commentary To verse 1 “Everything has its time, and every purpose under the heavens its hour.” The Germ. language is poor in synonyms of time. Zצckler translates: Everything has its *Frist*..., but by *Frist* we think only of a fixed term of duration, not of a period of beginning, which, though not exclusively, is yet here primarily meant; we have therefore adopted Luther's excellent translation. Certainly זמן (from זמן , cogn. סמן , *signare*), belonging to the more modern Heb., means a Frist (*e.g.*, [Daniel 2:16](/kjv/daniel/2/16)) as well as a *Zeitpunkt*, point of time; in the Semit. (also Assyr. simmu , simanu , with ס ) it is the most common designation of the idea of time. עת is abbreviated either from ענת ( ועד , to determine) or from ענת (from ענה , cogn. אנה , to go towards, to meet). In the first case it stands connected with מועד on the one side, and with עדּן (from עדד , to count) on the other; in the latter case, with עונה , [Exodus 21:10](/kjv/exodus/21/10) (perhaps also ען and ענת in כען , כּענת ). It is difficult to decide this point; proportionally more, however, can be said for the original ענת (Palest.-Aram. ענתּא ), as also the prep. of participation את is derived from אנת (meeting, coming together). (Note: *Vid*., Orelli's work on the *Heb. Synon. der Zeit u. Ewigkeit*, 1871. He decides for the derivation from ועד morf ; Fleischer (Levy's *Chald. W.B.* II. 572) for the derivation from ענה , the higher power of אנה , whence (Arab.) inan , right time. We have, under [Job 24:1](/kjv/job/24/1), maintained the former derivation.) The author means to say, if we have regard to the root signification of the second conception of time - (1) that everything has its fore-determined time, in which there lies both a determined point of time when it happens, and a determined period of time during which it shall continue; and (2) that every matter has a time appointed for it, or one appropriate, suitable for it. The Greeks were guided by the right feeling when they rendered זמן by χρόνος , and עת by καιρός . Olympiodorus distinguishes too sharply when he understands the former of duration of time, and the latter of a point of time; while the state of the matter is this, that by χρόνος the idea comprehends the *termini a quo* and *ad quem*, while by καιρός it is limited to the *terminus a quo*. Regarding חפץ , which proceeds from the ground-idea of being inclined to, and intention, and thus, like πρᾶγμα and χρῆμα , to the general signification of design, undertaking, *res gesta*, *res*. The illustration commences with the beginning and the ending of the life of man and (in near-lying connection of thought) of plants. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/ecclesiastes/3#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","width":672,"height":448,"caption":"Real Bible Believers"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/ecclesiastes/3#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/ecclesiastes/3","name":"Ecclesiastes 3 - Study King James Bible with keil and delitzsch old testament commentary","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/ecclesiastes/3#primaryimage"},"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Read Ecclesiastes 3 with keil and delitzsch old testament commentary commentary. 1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to p","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/ecclesiastes/3#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/ecclesiastes/3"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/ecclesiastes/3#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","name":"Study Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary","name":"keil and delitzsch old testament commentary"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/ecclesiastes","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/ecclesiastes","name":"Ecclesiastes"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/ecclesiastes/3","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/ecclesiastes/3","name":"3"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]} ```