ris3n's Apologetics Codex
Ecclesiastes 3.3
Page Nav

Passage

Ecclesiastes 3.3

Book: Ecclesiastes · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

There are ads on our codex that pay for hosting and keep the codex free. If you can, please consider whitelisting ris3n.com or allowing scripts to support the work.

Sponsored

Brands, events, influencers advertise here

ASV
  1. For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under 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;

  1. 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; (Ecclesiastes 3:1-5, ASV)
WEB
  1. For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under 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;

  1. 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; (Ecclesiastes 3:1-5, WEB)
KJV
  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; to be: Heb. to bear

3. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

  1. 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; to refrain from: Heb. to be far from (Ecclesiastes 3:1-5, KJV)
YLT
  1. To everything, a season, and a time to every delight under the heavens: 2. A time to bring forth, And a time to die. A time to plant, And a time to eradicate the planted.

3. A time to slay, And a time to heal, A time to break down, And a time to build up.

  1. A time to weep, And a time to laugh. A time to mourn, And a time to skip. 5. A time to cast away stones, And a time to heap up stones. A time to embrace, And a time to be far from embracing. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-5, YLT)

See this page's graph and discover linked topics

Setting

  • Speaker: Qohelet, "the Preacher" (Ecclesiastes 1:1), traditionally Solomon
  • Audience: readers of Israel's wisdom tradition weighing life "under the sun"
  • Location: Jerusalem, where the Preacher "was king over Israel" (Ecclesiastes 1:12)
  • Time period: traditionally c. 970-930 BC (Solomon's reign); many scholars date the book later, c. 450-200 BC

Theological reading

The verse belongs to the poem of fourteen paired opposites in Ecclesiastes 3:2-8, introduced by "For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven" (Ecclesiastes 3:1). The poem describes what happens in a human life under God's ordering. It does not command any of it. Killing and healing, breaking down and building up, are set side by side as things that have their times.

The verb for "kill" is harag (H2026), the general word for slaying. It is not ratsach, the verb of the sixth commandment (Exodus 20:13). An objection that sets "a time to kill" against "Thou shalt not kill" works only in an English translation that renders both verbs the same way, and it also mistakes a description for a command; see Bible Contradictions Objection Defeater.

The poem's point comes in the verses after it. Man gains nothing by his labor within these seasons (Ecclesiastes 3:9), yet God "hath made everything beautiful in its time" and has "set eternity in their heart" (Ecclesiastes 3:11). The times are in God's hand, not man's.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

  • TBD
  • TBD
  • TBD
  • TBD

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Lexicon:

Passages:

Notes

Your annotations.

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.