Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
A Time for Every Purpose
A time to every purpose under heaven
The poem pairs times: born and die, plant and pluck, kill and heal, break and build, weep and laugh, mourn and dance, scatter and gather, embrace and refrain, get and lose, keep and cast, rend and sew, silence and speak, love and hate, war and peace.
The catalogue is observation of a bounded world, not a calendar you may use to justify killing, war, or hatred whenever you please. Some of these times are simply true of human life; some are morally charged and must not be baptized by the rhythm of the poem.
How this should shape us
Name the season you are actually in. Do not quote 'a time to kill' or 'a time of war' as permission. The poem limits human mastery; it does not license every act.
Teach it back
Explain Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 in your own words. Include its movement, one material uncertainty, and one harmful or reductive use the context rules out.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters disagree?
Best judgment: Celebratory order, resigned determinism, task cancellation, merism, providential timing, and human prudence are leading readings; individual pairs such as stones and embracing remain especially uncertain.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, repository-pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology used for lexical, grammatical, repeated-word, and translation questions.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Eccl.xml, 3:1-8
Supports: Verse-level textual, grammatical, lexical, literary, and translation alternatives.
NET Bible Ecclesiastes PDF, printed pp. 1196-1197, translation and notes on 3:1-8
Supports: Whole-book orientation, language and date questions, Qoheleth's voice, unit movement, irony, contradiction, enjoyment, death, judgment, and epilogue.
Weeks, 'Ecclesiastes,' Oxford Bible Commentary, printed pp. 422-428, commentary relevant to 3:1-8
Supports: Detailed passage analysis of labor and gift, time and limit, injustice, desire, death, enjoyment, youth, aging, and the book's life-oriented synthesis.
Kennedy, Ecclesiastes and Life (Edinburgh PhD, 2024), pp. 38-60, 61-90, 91-116, 117-152, 153-176, and 177-210 as relevant to 3:1-8
Supports: Abstract-level alternative that 3:1-15 concerns balancing or undoing human tasks rather than discovering a divine schedule for each chosen act.
Peterson, 'Times as Task, Not Timing,' Vetus Testamentum 72.3 (2022), institutional-repository abstract and bibliographic record, article pp. 444-473
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, repository-pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Ecclesiastes
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology used for lexical, grammatical, repeated-word, and translation questions.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Eccl.xml, 3:1-8
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Ecclesiastes with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level textual, grammatical, lexical, literary, and translation alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible Ecclesiastes PDF, printed pp. 1196-1197, translation and notes on 3:1-8
Open source ↗modern critical commentary
Ecclesiastes
Stuart Weeks
Oxford University Press, in The Oxford Bible Commentary, 2001
Supports: Whole-book orientation, language and date questions, Qoheleth's voice, unit movement, irony, contradiction, enjoyment, death, judgment, and epilogue.
Exact location: Weeks, 'Ecclesiastes,' Oxford Bible Commentary, printed pp. 422-428, commentary relevant to 3:1-8
Open source ↗open access doctoral thesis
Ecclesiastes and Life: Living in the Face of Frustration
Graham Kennedy
University of Edinburgh, 2024
Supports: Detailed passage analysis of labor and gift, time and limit, injustice, desire, death, enjoyment, youth, aging, and the book's life-oriented synthesis.
Exact location: Kennedy, Ecclesiastes and Life (Edinburgh PhD, 2024), pp. 38-60, 61-90, 91-116, 117-152, 153-176, and 177-210 as relevant to 3:1-8
Open source ↗peer reviewed journal article bibliographic record and abstract
Times as Task, Not Timing: Reconsidering Qoheleth's Catalogue of the Times
Jesse M. Peterson
Vetus Testamentum 72.3, 2022
Supports: Abstract-level alternative that 3:1-15 concerns balancing or undoing human tasks rather than discovering a divine schedule for each chosen act.
Exact location: Peterson, 'Times as Task, Not Timing,' Vetus Testamentum 72.3 (2022), institutional-repository abstract and bibliographic record, article pp. 444-473
Open source ↗