Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Ecclesiastes 3:6 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 6. 6A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse pairs seeking with losing or giving up, and keeping with casting away.
A time to every purpose under heaven
This verse is one part of that explanation in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Read Ecclesiastes 3:6 with 3:1-8. This verse pairs seeking with losing or giving up, and keeping with casting away. The full unit establishes this movement: The time poem places human life inside contrasting events and actions whose occasions exceed individual control; its literary context stresses limitation and fit, not permission to choose any harmful act whenever one wishes.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The poem enlarges the inquiry from one royal life to the full range of mortal seasons, then prepares the question of what humans can understand or gain within them. Within that movement, this verse pairs seeking with losing or giving up, and keeping with casting away.
What Remains True
Wisdom includes both diligent pursuit and the ability to release what cannot or should not be retained.
How It Can Shape Life
- Set evidence-based stopping rules for searches, possessions, and projects while protecting what remains entrusted to you.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 — A Time for Every PurposeSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The verbs can mean seek/lose or seek/give up; the moral object is not specified.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
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 ↗