To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: TO EVERY THING ... A SEASON - Heb., zªmaan (H2165)2165 determined time. Man has his appointed cycle of seasons and vicissitudes, as the sun, wind, and water (Ecclesiastes 1:5). A TIME TO EVERY PURPOSE - as there is... [ Continue Reading ]
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A TIME TO BE BORN - rather, as Hebrew, laledeth, to bear. So the Septuagint, The time to bear is the time of the Church's and Israel's gladness (; Isaiah 66:7). Jesus refers to this in . Dying is... [ Continue Reading ]
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A TIME TO KILL - namely, judicially, criminals; or, in wars of self-defense; not in malice. Out of this time and order, killing is murder. God had His times for slaying Israel (; ; ). The evil of the people must ha... [ Continue Reading ]
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A TIME TO MOURN - namely, for the dead (). DANCE - as David before the ark (; ; spiritually, ; ; ). The Pharisees, by requiring sadness out of time, erred seriously. The Church's temporary sorrow shall be ultimately turn... [ Continue Reading ]
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A TIME TO CAST AWAY STONES - as out of a garden or vineyard (): as not one stone was left upon another of the great buildings of the temple, when it had ceased to be the tru... [ Continue Reading ]
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A TIME TO GET - e.g., to gain honestly a livelihood (); Hebrew, seek. LOSE - when God wills losses to us, then is our time to be content. KEEP - not to give to the idle beggar (). A TIME TO CUT AWAY - in charity (), or... [ Continue Reading ]
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A TIME TO REND - garments, in mourning (). Figurative, nations, as Israel from Judah, already foretold in Solomon's time (), to be 'sewed' together hereafter (; ). Jacob is the type of the people of God in all ages, w... [ Continue Reading ]
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. A TIME TO HATE - e.g., sin, lusts, any person or thing that comes between us and God (); i:e., to love God so much more, as to seem in comparison to hate 'father and mother,' when coming between us and God. There is a time wh... [ Continue Reading ]
What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth? WHAT PROFIT HATH HE THAT WORKETH? But these earthly pursuits, while lawful in their season, are 'unprofitable' when made by man, what God never intended them to be, the chief good. Solomon had tried to create an artificial, forced joy... [ Continue Reading ]
I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. I HAVE SEEN THE TRAVAIL ... GIVEN TO THE SONS OF MEN. Needless anxieties and toils, which men might avoid, if they would but trust in God, and leave the disposal of events and the time in His hands, waiting o... [ Continue Reading ]
He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. HE HATH MADE EVERY THING BEAUTIFUL IN HIS TIME - i:e., in its proper season (Psalms 1:3); opposed to worldings, putting ea... [ Continue Reading ]
I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. I KNOW THAT (THERE IS) NO GOOD IN THEM. Man can get no good in God's works except by rejoicing in his share of them, allotted by God, and doing good therewith. Hengstenberg explains, 'There is no good in ... [ Continue Reading ]
And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God. AND ALSO THAT EVERY MAN SHOULD EAT - literally, 'and also as to every man who eats,' etc., 'this is the gift of God' (; ; ; ). When received as God's gifts, and to God's glory, the good thin... [ Continue Reading ]
I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him. I KNOW - concerning God's part: answering to "I know" () as regards man's part. WHATSOEVER GOD DOETH, IT SHALL BE FOREVER (; ; ; ; ;... [ Continue Reading ]
That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past. THAT WHICH HATH BEEN IS NOW. That which bath been in the mind of God from eternity is now realized in time. The constancy of God's government is a consideration calculated to inspire equ... [ Continue Reading ]
And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there. THE PLACE OF JUDGMENT ... WICKEDNESS WAS THERE. Here a difficulty is suggested. If God foreorders the succession of events, why are the wicked allowed to de... [ Continue Reading ]
I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work. Solution. GOD SHALL JUDGE THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED: FOR (THERE IS) A TIME. There is a looming judgment in which God will vindicate His righteous ways. The sinn... [ Continue Reading ]
I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. I SAID IN MINE HEART. The use of the same formula here as in Ecclesiastes 3:17 shows that this is a second solution of the difficulty in Ecclesiastes... [ Continue Reading ]
For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. FOR THAT WHICH BEFALLETH THE SONS OF MEN BEFALLETH BEASTS - literally,... [ Continue Reading ]
_ALL GO UNTO ONE PLACE; ALL ARE OF THE DUST, AND ALL TURN TO DUST AGAIN._ No JFB commentary on this verse.... [ Continue Reading ]
Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? WHO KNOWETH. Not doubt of the destination of man's spirit (). The question expresses 'how few, by reason of the outward mortality to which man is as liable as the beast, comprehend the w... [ Continue Reading ]
Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him? A MAN SHOULD REJOICE IN HIS OWN WORKS. Compare ; . Inculcating a thankful enjoyment of God's gifts, and a cheerful d... [ Continue Reading ]