Read & Study the Bible Online - Bible Portal
Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ecclesiastes 3:1-10

The scope of these verses is to show, 1. That we live in a world of changes, that the several events of time, and conditions of human life, are vastly different from one another, and yet occur promiscuously, and we are continually passing and repassing between them, as in the revolutions of every day and every year. In the wheel of nature (Jas. 3:6) sometimes one spoke is uppermost and by and by the contrary; there is a constant ebbing and flowing, waxing and waning; from one extreme to the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 3:5

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together ,.... To cast stones out of a field or vineyard where they are hurtful, and to gather them together to make walls and fences of, or build houses with; and may be understood both of throwing down buildings, as the temple of Jerusalem, so that not one stone was left upon another; of pouring out the stones of the sanctuary, and of gathering them again and laying them on one another; which was done when the servants of the Lord... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 3:5

A time to cast away stones, - to gather stones, - to embrace, - to refrain - read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

The providence of God disposes and arranges every detail of man's life. This proposition is stated first generally, and then worked out in particular by means of antithetical sentences. In Hebrew manuscripts and most printed texts Ecclesiastes 3:2-8 are arranged in two parallel columns, so that one "time" always stands under another. A similar arrangement is found in Joshua 12:9 , etc; containing the catalogue of the conquered Canaanite kings; and in Esther 9:7 , etc; giving the names of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 3:1-22

Section 4. In confirmation of the truth that man's happiness depends upon the will of God, Koheleth proceeds to show how Providence arranges even the minutest concerns; that man can alter nothing, must make the best of things as they are, bear with anomalies, bounding his desires by this present life. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 3:5

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together. There is no question about building or demolishing houses, as that has been already mentioned in Ecclesiastes 3:3 . Most commentators see an allusion to the practice of marring an enemy's fields by casting stones upon them, as the Israelites did when they invaded Moab ( 2 Kings 3:19 , 2 Kings 3:25 ). But this must have been a very abnormal proceeding, and could scarcely be cited as a usual occurrence. Nor is the notion... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ecclesiastes 3:5

Stones may be regarded either as materials for building, or as impediments to the fertility of land (see 2 Kings 3:19, 2 Kings 3:25; Isaiah 5:2). read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Ecclesiastes 3:2-8

Ecclesiastes 3:2-8. A time to die And as there is a time to die, so there is a time to rise again, a set time, when they that lie in the grave shall be remembered. A time to kill When men die a violent death. A time to heal When he who seemed to be mortally wounded is healed. A time to weep When men have just occasion for weeping, as they frequently have in the present life, both for their own sins and for the sins and miseries of mankind. “It is in vain,” says Castalio, here, “to... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 3:1-15

Events controlled by God’s fixed order (3:1-15)In 1:1-11 the author considered the ceaseless toil and repetition in the natural world and decided that life was useless. Now (ignoring for the moment the conclusions he has just outlined in 2:24-26) he considers the fixed order of events in the world. It appears to him that everything happens at the time God has decided it will happen. In view of this, all human effort to improve life is useless. People can change nothing (3:1-9).Human beings may... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Ecclesiastes 3:5

to cast away stones: as out of a vineyard. Isaiah 5:2 .Leviticus 14:40 , Leviticus 14:45 Judges 20:16 . 1 Kings 15:22 .Lamentations 4:1 . to gather stones together (Compare Ecclesiastes 2:4 ). Deuteronomy 27:4 , Deuteronomy 27:5 .Joshua 4:3 , Joshua 4:8 , Joshua 4:20 ; 1Sa 17:40 . 1 Kings 18:31 , 1 Kings 18:32 .Psalms 102:14 . to embrace (Compare Ecclesiastes 2:3 ). Genesis 29:13 ; Genesis 33:4 ; Genesis 48:10 . to refrain from embracing. Proverbs 5:20 . Joe 2:16 . 1 Corinthians 7:5 , 1... read more

Group of Brands