The Mystery of Time
1 There is an occasion for everything,
and a time for every activity under heaven: f
2 a time to give birth and a time to die; g
a time to plant and a time to uproot;
3 a time to kill and a time to heal;
a time to tear down and a time to build;
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh; h
a time to mourn and a time to dance; i
5 a time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; j
a time to embrace and a time to avoid embracing; k
6 a time to search and a time to count as lost;
a time to keep and a time to throw away;
7 a time to tear and a time to sew;
a time to be silent and a time to speak; l
8 a time to love and a time to hate;
a time for war and a time for peace. m
9 What does the worker gain from his struggles? n 10 I have seen the task that God has given the children of Adam to keep them occupied. o 11 He has made everything appropriate in its time. p He has also put eternity in their hearts, but no one can discover the work God has done from beginning to end. q 12 I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and enjoy the good life. 13 It is also the gift of God whenever anyone eats, drinks, and enjoys all his efforts. r 14 I know that everything God does will last forever; there is no adding to it or taking from it. s God works so that people will be in awe of him. t 15 Whatever is, has already been, u and whatever will be, already is. However, God seeks justice for the persecuted.
The Mystery of Injustice and Death
16 I also observed under the sun: there is wickedness at the place of judgment and there is wickedness at the place of righteousness. v 17 I said to myself, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, w since there is a time for every activity and every work.” x 18 I said to myself, “This happens so that God may test the children of Adam and they may see for themselves that they are like animals.” y 19 For the fate of the children of Adam and the fate of animals is the same. z As one dies, so dies the other; they all have the same breath. People have no advantage over animals since everything is futile. 20 All are going to the same place; all come from dust, and all return to dust. a 21 Who knows if the spirits of the children of Adam go upward and the spirits of animals go downward to the earth? 22 I have seen that there is nothing better than for a person to enjoy his activities b because that is his reward. For who can enable him to see what will happen after he dies? ,c
3:1. He begins with a highly structured poem that affirms and illustrates “there is an occasion for everything,” certainly the book’s best-known text (3:1–8). The poem begins with an initial summary claim regarding time and every human purpose (3:1). This verse is either descriptive (i.e., there is a predetermined time for everything) or prescriptive (i.e., there is a proper time to take action).
3:2–8. The rest of the poem consists of seven (the number symbolizing completeness) couplets of paired actions. The fourteen pairs of terms employ merism, a figure of speech that designates a sphere by naming polar opposites (e.g., “the heavens and the earth” [Gn 1:1] = the cosmos; “day and night” [Ps 1:2] = continually). The couplets may be organized in an alternating pattern of values, but the point of the poem is unchanged even if the author has not ordered the activities progressively or in terms of their importance. Through this catalog of opposite actions and emotions, the poem presents a selective but comprehensive portrait of human life “under the sun.”
3:9. The meaning of this poem must be determined by the verses that follow it, regardless of whether it was written specifically for this context. Verse 9 poses the book’s foundational question again (1:3): In light of the ordering of the times (3:1–8), what gain can be achieved through one’s labor? An answer is given in verses 10–15, qualified further in verses 16–21, and reinforced in verse 22.
3:10–15. In observing the tasks that occupy humans, the Teacher takes up the key word “time” from 3:1–8 and concludes that God “has made everything appropriate in its time” (3:11a; cf. Gn 1:31). All such activities have their appropriate occasion within God’s sovereign ordering of the times. To the extent that one can discern these times, one should either delay action or act decisively (8:5: “a wise heart knows the right time”; cf. also 5:2, 4; 8:3; 10:10–11). Yet these times find their true significance, as merely temporal pursuits, against the backdrop of the sense of “eternity” that God has placed in every human heart. Though realizing that more can be observed “under the sun,” humans are unable to fully comprehend God’s work (3:11b). The Teacher reiterates his conclusion from 2:24–26: there is no better course for humans than to enjoy life as a divine gift and to do what is good (3:12–13; cf. 7:20). Only divine actions transcend the transience of the “under-the-sun” world (cf. Dt 4:2; 12:32). Humans should, then, revere God (3:14).
3:16–22. The opening phrase, “I also observed under the sun,” links this section with 3:10. Here the Teacher describes something that does not appear to be very “appropriate in its time.” Where justice should be administered, wickedness is perpetrated instead (3:16). He offers two responses to this dilemma, each introduced by “I said to myself.” First, he is confident that God has set a time for executing judgment (3:17; cf. 3:1b). Furthermore, God temporarily allows such wickedness to prevail in order to “test” humans, so that they will discover that, left to themselves, they are mere beasts (3:18).