Ecclesiastes 3:4

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 3:4

A time to weep, and a time to laugh ,.... There is a time for these things, as it goes ill or well with persons, as to their health, estate, or friends; and as it goes ill or well with kingdoms and states. The Jews wept when they were in Babylon, and their mouths were filled with laughter when their captivity was returned, Psalm 137:1 ; and as it goes ill or well with the church of Christ, when there are corruptions in doctrine and worship, a neglect of ordinances, declensions in faith and... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 3:4

A time to weep, - laugh, - mourn, - dance - 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 3:4

A time to weep, and a time to laugh , grouped naturally with a time to mourn, and a time to dance . The funeral and the wedding, the hired mourners and the guests at the marriage-feast, are set against one another. The first clause intimates the spontaneous manifestation of the feelings of the heart; the second, their formal expression in the performances at funerals and weddings and on other solemn occasions. The contrast is found in the Lord's allusion to the sulky children in the... 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 3:4

to weep. Genesis 23:2 ; Gen 44:30 . 2 Samuel 12:21 .Joel 2:17 . Jeremiah 21:9 . Luke 6:25 . to laugh (Compare Ecclesiastes 2:1 , Ecclesiastes 2:2 ). Genesis 21:6 . Psalms 2:4 ; Psalms 37:13 .Matthew 5:4 ; Matthew 9:15 .Luke 6:21 .Nehemiah 8:9 . to mourn. Genesis 23:2 . 1 Samuel 16:1 .Proverbs 29:2 .Isaiah 38:14 ; Isaiah 61:2 .Joel 1:9 . to dance. 2 Samuel 6:14 .Psalms 149:3 ; Psalms 150:4 .Jeremiah 31:13 . read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Ecclesiastes 3:4

4. mourn—namely, for the dead (Genesis 23:2). dance—as David before the ark (2 Samuel 6:12-14; Psalms 30:11); spiritually (Matthew 9:15; Luke 6:21; Luke 15:25). The Pharisees, by requiring sadness out of time, erred seriously. read more

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