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Ecclesiastes 3:1-13
A Time for Everything
January 1, 2026
Overview & Insights
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)
Time: Qohelet turns here to a consideration of “time.” The poem on time (3:1–8) is the most familiar passage in the book of Ecclesiastes, and is used in settings from funerals to folk-rock concerts. In the poem, pairs of opposites illustrate that there is a proper time for all human activity. When it is read in isolation from its context, the poem provides the reader with a sense of comfort and reassurance. There is a time for everything. In the unpleasant seasons of life, one can recognize that there will be balancing good times. Thus one is enabled to accept grief as part of a larger picture (when using this as a funeral reading), or to strive to work toward the time for peace (as in the Pete Seeger song “Turn, Turn, Turn”). Following the poem is a prose reflection on the same subject (3:9–15).
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Take it further: Ecclesiastes 3:1-13
Commentary
Ecclesiastes 3:1-13Eccl 3:1-13 Center for Excellence in Preaching
A Reformed reading of 'a time for everything' from three vantage points.
Ecclesiastes 3Eccl 3 Enduring Word · David Guzik
An evangelical verse-by-verse walk through the seasons poem and the gift of the moment.
Ecclesiastes 3 resourcesEccl 3 resources Precept Austin
A deep word-study collation of many commentators on the chapter.
Classic commentaries on Ecclesiastes 3Classic commentaries on Eccl 3 BibleHub
A classic aggregator lining up historic voices on the times and seasons.
Background & Word Study
Ecclesiastes and WorkEccl and Work Theology of Work
Situates the Teacher's reflection on time and toil in the world of work.
EcclesiastesEccl Enter the Bible
An introductory overview of the book's themes and structure.
Ecclesiastes 3 in Hebrew, with Jewish commentaryEccl 3 in Hebrew, with Jewish commentary Sefaria
The Hebrew and English text with links to Jewish commentary on Qohelet.
Overview: EcclesiastesOverview: Eccl BibleProject
A visual overview tracing the book's argument about meaning under the sun.
The Church Fathers
Questions preachers ask
Is the poem of seasons meant as comfort or as complaint?
Both, and the reading does not resolve it. The Preacher lists the times, then says God has put a sense of past and future into human minds without letting them find out what God is doing, and concludes that eating, drinking and taking pleasure in one’s work is God’s gift.
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