Christmas Season · New Year's Day · Year C
Ecclesiastes 3:1-13
A Time for Everything
January 1, 2028
Overview & Insights
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)
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”).
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Commentary
CEP: Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 Commentary Center for Excellence in Preaching
Reformed preaching commentary on the catalog of seasons and God's fitting timing.
Enduring Word: Ecclesiastes 3 Enduring Word · David Guzik
David Guzik's verse-by-verse evangelical notes on the whole chapter.
Precept Austin: Ecclesiastes Commentaries Precept Austin
Gathered conservative commentaries and word studies on Ecclesiastes.
BibleHub: Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 3:1 BibleHub
Parallel classic commentaries keyed to the catalog of times and seasons.
StudyLight: Ecclesiastes 3 Commentaries StudyLight
Many complete commentaries on Ecclesiastes 3 gathered on one passage page.
Background & Word Study
Sefaria: Ecclesiastes 3 (Hebrew) Sefaria
Hebrew text with English and classical Jewish commentary on the passage.
BibleHub Interlinear: Ecclesiastes 3:1 BibleHub
Hebrew text with parsing for the paired seasons of the poem.
BibleProject: Ecclesiastes Overview BibleProject
Animated overview of the Teacher's search for meaning under the sun.
The Church Fathers
Questions preachers ask
What does Ecclesiastes 3 teach about time?
Human life moves through appointed seasons, birth and death, weeping and laughing, that lie in God's hand; the wise gift is to find joy and do good in the time that is given.
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