16 And moreover I saw H7200 under the sun H8121 the place H4725 of judgment, H4941 that wickedness H7562 was there; and the place H4725 of righteousness, H6664 that iniquity H7562 was there.
So I returned, H7725 and considered H7200 all the oppressions H6217 that are done H6213 under the sun: H8121 and behold the tears H1832 of such as were oppressed, H6231 and they had no comforter; H5162 and on the side H3027 of their oppressors H6231 there was power; H3581 but they had no comforter. H5162
If thou seest H7200 the oppression H6233 of the poor, H7326 and violent H1499 perverting of judgment H4941 and justice H6664 in a province, H4082 marvel H8539 not at the matter: H2656 for he that is higher H1364 than the highest H1364 regardeth; H8104 and there be higher H1364 than they. H5921
And she wrote H3789 in the letters, H5612 saying, H559 Proclaim H7121 a fast, H6685 and set H3427 Naboth H5022 on high H7218 among the people: H5971 And set H3427 two H8147 men, H582 sons H1121 of Belial, H1100 before him, to bear witness H5749 against him, saying, H559 Thou didst blaspheme H1288 God H430 and the king. H4428 And then carry him out, H3318 and stone H5619 him, that he may die. H4191 And the men H582 of his city, H5892 even the elders H2205 and the nobles H2715 who were the inhabitants H3427 in his city, H5892 did H6213 as Jezebel H348 had sent H7971 unto them, and as it was written H3789 in the letters H5612 which she had sent H7971 unto them. They proclaimed H7121 a fast, H6685 and set H3427 Naboth H5022 on high H7218 among the people. H5971 And there came H935 in two H8147 men, H582 children H1121 of Belial, H1100 and sat H3427 before him: and the men H582 of Belial H1100 witnessed H5749 against him, even against Naboth, H5022 in the presence of the people, H5971 saying, H559 Naboth H5022 did blaspheme H1288 God H430 and the king. H4428 Then they carried him forth H3318 out H2351 of the city, H5892 and stoned H5619 him with stones, H68 that he died. H4191 Then they sent H7971 to Jezebel, H348 saying, H559 Naboth H5022 is stoned, H5619 and is dead. H4191 And it came to pass, when Jezebel H348 heard H8085 that Naboth H5022 was stoned, H5619 and was dead, H4191 that Jezebel H348 said H559 to Ahab, H256 Arise, H6965 take possession H3423 of the vineyard H3754 of Naboth H5022 the Jezreelite, H3158 which he refused H3985 to give H5414 thee for money: H3701 for Naboth H5022 is not alive, H2416 but dead. H4191 And it came to pass, when Ahab H256 heard H8085 that Naboth H5022 was dead, H4191 that Ahab H256 rose up H6965 to go down H3381 to the vineyard H3754 of Naboth H5022 the Jezreelite, H3158 to take possession H3423 of it. And the word H1697 of the LORD H3068 came to Elijah H452 the Tishbite, H8664 saying, H559 Arise, H6965 go down H3381 to meet H7125 Ahab H256 king H4428 of Israel, H3478 which is in Samaria: H8111 behold, he is in the vineyard H3754 of Naboth, H5022 whither he is gone down H3381 to possess H3423 it. And thou shalt speak H1696 unto him, saying, H559 Thus saith H559 the LORD, H3068 Hast thou killed, H7523 and also taken possession? H3423 And thou shalt speak H1696 unto him, saying, H559 Thus saith H559 the LORD, H3068 In the place H4725 where dogs H3611 licked H3952 the blood H1818 of Naboth H5022 shall dogs H3611 lick H3952 thy blood, H1818 even thine. And Ahab H256 said H559 to Elijah, H452 Hast thou found H4672 me, O mine enemy? H341 And he answered, H559 I have found H4672 thee: because thou hast sold H4376 thyself to work H6213 evil H7451 in the sight H5869 of the LORD. H3068 Behold, I will bring H935 evil H7451 upon thee, and will take away H1197 thy posterity, H310 and will cut off H3772 from Ahab H256 him that pisseth H8366 against the wall, H7023 and him that is shut up H6113 and left H5800 in Israel, H3478
[[To the chief Musician, H5329 Altaschith, H516 Michtam H4387 of David.]] H1732 Do ye indeed H552 speak H1696 righteousness, H6664 O congregation? H482 do ye judge H8199 uprightly, H4339 O ye sons H1121 of men? H120 Yea, in heart H3820 ye work H6466 wickedness; H5766 ye weigh H6424 the violence H2555 of your hands H3027 in the earth. H776
How long will ye judge H8199 unjustly, H5766 and accept H5375 the persons H6440 of the wicked? H7563 Selah. H5542 Defend H8199 the poor H1800 and fatherless: H3490 do justice H6663 to the afflicted H6041 and needy. H7326 Deliver H6403 the poor H1800 and needy: H34 rid H5337 them out of the hand H3027 of the wicked. H7563 They know H3045 not, neither will they understand; H995 they walk H1980 on in darkness: H2825 all the foundations H4144 of the earth H776 are out of course. H4131
And judgment H4941 is turned away H5253 backward, H268 and justice H6666 standeth H5975 afar off: H7350 for truth H571 is fallen H3782 in the street, H7339 and equity H5229 cannot H3201 enter. H935
Her princes H8269 within H7130 her are roaring H7580 lions; H738 her judges H8199 are evening H6153 wolves; H2061 they gnaw not the bones H1633 till the morrow. H1242
Now G1161 the chief priests, G749 and G2532 elders, G4245 and G2532 all G3650 the council, G4892 sought G2212 false witness G5577 against G2596 Jesus, G2424 to G3704 put G2289 him G846 to death; G2289
Then G5119 said G2036 Paul G3972 unto G4314 him, G846 God G2316 shall G3195 smite G5180 thee, G4571 thou whited G2867 wall: G5109 for G2532 sittest G2521 thou G4771 to judge G2919 me G3165 after G2596 the law, G3551 and G2532 commandest G2753 me G3165 to be smitten G5180 contrary to the law? G3891
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Ecclesiastes 3
Commentary on Ecclesiastes 3 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 3
Ec 3:1-22.
Earthly pursuits are no doubt lawful in their proper time and order (Ec 3:1-8), but unprofitable when out of time and place; as for instance, when pursued as the solid and chief good (Ec 3:9, 10); whereas God makes everything beautiful in its season, which man obscurely comprehends (Ec 3:11). God allows man to enjoy moderately and virtuously His earthly gifts (Ec 3:12, 13). What consoles us amidst the instability of earthly blessings is, God's counsels are immutable (Ec 3:14).
1. Man has his appointed cycle of seasons and vicissitudes, as the sun, wind, and water (Ec 1:5-7).
purpose—as there is a fixed "season" in God's "purposes" (for example, He has fixed the "time" when man is "to be born," and "to die," Ec 3:2), so there is a lawful "time" for man to carry out his "purposes" and inclinations. God does not condemn, but approves of, the use of earthly blessings (Ec 3:12); it is the abuse that He condemns, the making them the chief end (1Co 7:31). The earth, without human desires, love, taste, joy, sorrow, would be a dreary waste, without water; but, on the other hand, the misplacing and excess of them, as of a flood, need control. Reason and revelation are given to control them.
2. time to die—(Ps 31:15; Heb 9:27).
plant—A man can no more reverse the times and order of "planting," and of "digging up," and transplanting, than he can alter the times fixed for his "birth" and "death." To try to "plant" out of season is vanity, however good in season; so to make earthly things the chief end is vanity, however good they be in order and season. Gill takes it, not so well, figuratively (Jer 18:7, 9; Am 9:15; Mt 15:13).
3. time to kill—namely, judicially, criminals; or, in wars of self-defense; not in malice. Out of this time and order, killing is murder.
to heal—God has His times for "healing" (literally, Isa 38:5, 21; figuratively, De 32:39; Ho 6:1; spiritually, Ps 147:3; Isa 57:19). To heal spiritually, before the sinner feels his wound, would be "out of time," and so injurious.
time to break down—cities, as Jerusalem, by Nebuchadnezzar.
build up—as Jerusalem, in the time of Zerubbabel; spiritually (Am 9:11), "the set time" (Ps 102:13-16).
4. mourn—namely, for the dead (Ge 23:2).
dance—as David before the ark (2Sa 6:12-14; Ps 30:11); spiritually (Mt 9:15; Lu 6:21; 15:25). The Pharisees, by requiring sadness out of time, erred seriously.
5. cast away stones—as out of a garden or vineyard (Isa 5:2).
gather—for building; figuratively, the Gentiles, once castaway stones, were in due time made parts of the spiritual building (Eph 2:19, 20), and children of Abraham (Mt 3:9); so the restored Jews hereafter (Ps 102:13, 14; Zec 9:16).
refrain … embracing—(Joe 2:16; 1Co 7:5, 6).
6. time to get—for example, to gain honestly a livelihood (Eph 4:23).
lose—When God wills losses to us, then is our time to be content.
keep—not to give to the idle beggar (2Th 3:10).
cast away—in charity (Pr 11:24); or to part with the dearest object, rather than the soul (Mr 9:43). To be careful is right in its place, but not when it comes between us and Jesus Christ (Lu 10:40-42).
7. rend—garments, in mourning (Joe 2:13); figuratively, nations, as Israel from Judah, already foretold, in Solomon's time (1Ki 11:30, 31), to be "sewed" together hereafter (Eze 37:15, 22).
silence—(Am 5:13), in a national calamity, or that of a friend (Job 2:13); also not to murmur under God's visitation (Le 10:3; Ps 39:1, 2, 9).
8. hate—for example, sin, lusts (Lu 14:26); that is, to love God so much more as to seem in comparison to hate "father or mother," when coming between us and God.
a time of war … peace—(Lu 14:31).
9. 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, at times when he ought rather to have been serious; the result, therefore, of his labor to be happy, out of God's order, was disappointment. "A time to plant" (Ec 3:2) refers to his planting (Ec 2:5); "laugh" (Ec 3:4), to Ec 2:1, 2; "his mirth," "laughter"; "build up," "gather stones" (Ec 3:3, 5), to his "building" (Ec 2:4); "embrace," "love," to his "princess" (see on Ec 2:8); "get" (perhaps also "gather," Ec 3:5, 6), to his "gathering" (Ec 2:8). All these were of "no profit," because not in God's time and order of bestowing happiness.
10. (See on Ec 1:13).
11. his time—that is, in its proper season (Ps 1:3), opposed to worldlings putting earthly pursuits out of their proper time and place (see on Ec 3:9).
set the world in their heart—given them capacities to understand the world of nature as reflecting God's wisdom in its beautiful order and times (Ro 1:19, 20). "Everything" answers to "world," in the parallelism.
so that—that is, but in such a manner that man only sees a portion, not the whole "from beginning to end" (Ec 8:17; Job 26:14; Ro 11:33; Re 15:4). Parkhurst, for "world," translates: "Yet He hath put obscurity in the midst of them," literally, "a secret," so man's mental dimness of sight as to the full mystery of God's works. So Holden and Weiss. This incapacity for "finding out" (comprehending) God's work is chiefly the fruit of the fall. The worldling ever since, not knowing God's time and order, labors in vain, because out of time and place.
12. in them—in God's works (Ec 3:11), as far as relates to man's duty. Man cannot fully comprehend them, but he ought joyfully to receive ("rejoice in") God's gifts, and "do good" with them to himself and to others. This is never out of season (Ga 6:9, 10). Not sensual joy and self-indulgence (Php 4:4; Jas 4:16, 17).
13. Literally, "And also as to every man who eats … this is the gift of God" (Ec 3:22; 5:18). When received as God's gifts, and to God's glory, the good things of life are enjoyed in their due time and order (Ac 2:46; 1Co 10:31; 1Ti 4:3, 4).
14. (1Sa 3:12; 2Sa 23:5; Ps 89:34; Mt 24:35; Jas 1:17).
for ever—as opposed to man's perishing labors (Ec 2:15-18).
any thing taken from it—opposed to man's "crooked and wanting" works (Ec 1:15; 7:13). The event of man's labors depends wholly on God's immutable purpose. Man's part, therefore, is to do and enjoy every earthly thing in its proper season (Ec 3:12, 13), not setting aside God's order, but observing deep reverence towards God; for the mysteriousness and unchangeableness of God's purposes are designed to lead "man to fear before Him." Man knows not the event of each act: otherwise he would think himself independent of God.
15. Resumption of Ec 1:9. Whatever changes there be, the succession of events is ordered by God's "everlasting" laws (Ec 3:14), and returns in a fixed cycle.
requireth that … past—After many changes, God's law requires the return of the same cycle of events, as in the past, literally, "that which is driven on." The Septuagint and Syriac translate: "God requireth (that is, avengeth) the persecuted man"; a transition to Ec 3:16, 17. The parallel clauses of the verse support English Version.
16. Here a difficulty is suggested. If God "requires" events to move in their perpetual cycle, why are the wicked allowed to deal unrighteously in the place where injustice ought least of all to be; namely, "the place of judgment" (Jer 12:1)?
17. Solution of it. There is a coming judgment in which God will vindicate His righteous ways. The sinner's "time" of his unrighteous "work" is short. God also has His "time" and "work" of judgment; and, meanwhile, is overruling, for good at last, what seems now dark. Man cannot now "find out" the plan of God's ways (Ec 3:11; Ps 97:2). If judgment instantly followed every sin, there would be no scope for free will, faith, and perseverance of saints in spite of difficulties. The previous darkness will make the light at last the more glorious.
there—(Job 3:17-19) in eternity, in the presence of the Divine Judge, opposed to the "there," in the human place of judgment (Ec 3:16): so "from thence" (Ge 49:24).
18. estate—The estate of fallen man is so ordered (these wrongs are permitted), that God might "manifest," that is, thereby prove them, and that they might themselves see their mortal frailty, like that of the beasts.
sons of men—rather, "sons of Adam," a phrase used for "fallen men." The toleration of injustice until the judgment is designed to "manifest" men's characters in their fallen state, to see whether the oppressed will bear themselves aright amidst their wrongs, knowing that the time is short, and there is a coming judgment. The oppressed share in death, but the comparison to "beasts" applies especially to the ungodly oppressors (Ps 49:12, 20). They too need to be "manifested" ("proved"), whether, considering that they must soon die as the "beasts," and fearing the judgment to come, they will repent (Da 4:27).
19. Literally, "For the sons of men (Adam) are a mere chance, as also the beast is a mere chance." These words can only be the sentiments of the skeptical oppressors. God's delay in judgment gives scope for the "manifestation" of their infidelity (Ec 8:11; Ps 55:19; 2Pe 3:3,4). They are "brute beasts," morally (Ec 3:18; Jude 10); and they end by maintaining that man, physically, has no pre-eminence over the beast, both alike being "fortuities." Probably this was the language of Solomon himself in his apostasy. He answers it in Ec 3:21. If Ec 3:19, 20 be his words, they express only that as regards liability to death, excluding the future judgment, as the skeptic oppressors do, man is on a level with the beast. Life is "vanity," if regarded independently of religion. But Ec 3:21 points out the vast difference between them in respect to the future destiny; also (Ec 3:17) beasts have no "judgment" to come.
breath—vitality.
21. Who knoweth—Not doubt of the destination of man's spirit (Ec 12:7); but "how few, by reason of the outward mortality to which man is as liable as the beast and which is the ground of the skeptic's argument, comprehend the wide difference between man and the beast" (Isa 53:1). The Hebrew expresses the difference strongly, "The spirit of man that ascends, it belongeth to on high; but the spirit of the beast that descends, it belongeth to below, even to the earth." Their destinations and proper element differ utterly [Weiss].
22. (Compare Ec 3:12; 5:18). Inculcating a thankful enjoyment of God's gifts, and a cheerful discharge of man's duties, founded on fear of God; not as the sensualist (Ec 11:9); not as the anxious money-seeker (Ec 2:23; 5:10-17).
his portion—in the present life. If it were made his main portion, it would be "vanity" (Ec 2:1; Lu 16:25).
for who, &c.—Our ignorance as to the future, which is God's "time" (Ec 3:11), should lead us to use the present time in the best sense and leave the future to His infinite wisdom (Mt 6:20, 25, 31-34).