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Texts -- Ecclesiastes 3:1-3 (NET)

Context
A Time for All Events in Life
3:1 For everything there is an appointed time , and an appropriate time for every activity on earth : 3:2 A time to be born , and a time to die ; a time to plant , and a time to uproot what was planted ; 3:3 A time to kill , and a time to heal ; a time to break down , and a time to build up ;

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • I believe that the message of Ecclesiastes is essentially a positive one. This may seem strange since the vanity of various human endeavors is such a major theme of this book. Nevertheless the total statement that Solomon mad...
  • I. The introductory affirmation 1:1-11A. Title and theme 1:1-21. The title 1:12. The theme 1:2B. The futility of all human endeavor 1:3-111. The vanity of work 1:32. The illustrations from life 1:4-11II. The futility of work ...
  • Rather than saying, "All work is vanity,"Solomon made the same point by asking this rhetorical question that expects a negative response. He used this literary device often throughout the book (cf. 2:2; 3:9; 6:8, 11-12; et al...
  • Solomon had unique resources for investigating life. He was the king of Israel (v. 12), and he possessed superlative wisdom (v. 13; cf. v. 16; 1 Kings 4:26-34). He says he made a comprehensive study of all kinds of human acti...
  • Thus far Solomon had reflected on the futility of all human endeavor generally (1:3-11) and the futility of human achievement (1:12-15) and his own achievements in particular (2:1-17). Next he turned to an evaluation of labor...
  • In this section Solomon expressed his conviction that in view of God's incomprehensible workings all human toil is without permanent profit.3:1-8 As is customary in Ecclesiastes the writer began this section by stating a thes...
  • Again Solomon urged the enjoyment of life (v. 18; cf. 2:24-26; 3:12-13, 22), but he warned of some obstacles to that enjoyment. Solomon was not advocating hedonism but the simple enjoyment of life day by day (v. 18). In other...
  • In 1:12-6:9, Solomon demonstrated that all work is ultimately futile for two reasons. It does not yield anything really permanent under the sun. Moreover we can never be sure we will enjoy the fruits of our labor before we di...
  • In conclusion Solomon repeated his original thesis (v. 8; cf. 1:2) and his counsel in view of life's realities (vv. 13-14). In between these statements he set forth his source of authority for writing what we have in Ecclesia...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

  • A time to plant.'--Eccles. 3:2.The writer enumerates in this context a number of opposite courses of conduct arranged in pairs, each of which is right at the right time. The view thus presented seems to him to be depressing, ...
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