2 A time to bring forth, And a time to die. A time to plant, And a time to eradicate the planted.
and as it is laid up to men once to die, and after this -- judgment,
If determined are his days, The number of his months `are' with Thee, His limit Thou hast made, And he passeth not over;
in which time Moses was born, and he was fair to God, and he was brought up three months in the house of his father;
See, I have charged thee this day concerning the nations, and concerning the kingdoms, to pluck up, and to break down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.'
The moment I speak concerning a nation, And concerning a kingdom, To pluck up and to break down, and to destroy, And that nation hath turned from its evil, Because I have spoken against it, Then I have repented of the evil that I thought to do to it. And the moment I speak concerning a nation, And concerning a kingdom, to build, and to plant, And it hath done the evil thing in Mine eyes, So as not to hearken to My voice, Then I have repented of the good That I have spoken of doing to it.
Thus dost thou say unto him: Thus said Jehovah: Lo, that which I have built I am throwing down, and that which I have planted I am plucking up, even the whole land itself.
the Son of Man shall send forth his messengers, and they shall gather up out of his kingdom all the stumbling-blocks, and those doing the unlawlessness,
And he answering said, `Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant shall be rooted up;
and lo, thou shalt be silent, and not able to speak, till the day that these things shall come to pass, because thou didst not believe my words, that shall be fulfilled in their season.'
and lo, Elisabeth, thy kinswoman, she also hath conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month to her who was called barren;
`The woman, when she may bear, hath sorrow, because her hour did come, and when she may bear the child, no more doth she remember the anguish, because of the joy that a man was born to the world.
`And according as the time of the promise was drawing nigh, which God did swear to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt,
And Jehovah hath looked after Sarah as He hath said, and Jehovah doth to Sarah as He hath spoken; and Sarah conceiveth, and beareth a son to Abraham, to his old age, at the appointed time that God hath spoken of with him;
And the days of Israel are near to die, and he calleth for his son, for Joseph, and saith to him, `If, I pray thee, I have found grace in thine eyes, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and thou hast done with me kindness and truth; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt,
`Aaron is gathered unto his people, for he doth not go in unto the land which I have given to the sons of Israel, because that ye provoked My mouth at the waters of Meribah. `Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and cause them to go up mount Hor, and strip Aaron of his garments, and thou hast clothed `with' them Eleazar his son, and Aaron is gathered, and doth die there.' And Moses doth as Jehovah hath commanded, and they go up unto mount Hor before the eyes of all the company, and Moses strippeth Aaron of his garments, and clotheth with them Eleazar his son, and Aaron dieth there on the top of the mount; and Moses cometh down -- Eleazar also -- from the mount,
And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Go up unto this mount Abarim, and see the land which I have given to the sons of Israel; and thou hast seen it, and thou hast been gathered unto thy people, also thou, as Aaron thy brother hath been gathered, because ye provoked My mouth in the wilderness of Zin, in the strife of the company -- to sanctify Me at the waters before their eyes;' they `are' waters of Meribah, in Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin.
`And I entreat for grace unto Jehovah, at that time, saying, Lord Jehovah, Thou -- Thou hast begun to shew Thy servant Thy greatness, and Thy strong hand; for who `is' a God in the heavens or in earth who doth according to Thy works, and according to Thy might? Let me pass over, I pray Thee, and see the good land which `is' beyond the Jordan, this good hill-country, and Lebanon. `And Jehovah sheweth himself wroth with me, for your sake, and hath not hearkened unto me, and Jehovah saith unto me, Enough for thee; add not to speak unto Me any more about this thing:
The satiated for bread hired themselves, And the hungry have ceased. While the barren hath borne seven, And she abounding with sons hath languished.
and he calleth against the altar, by the word of Jehovah, and saith, `Altar! altar! thus said Jehovah, Lo, a son is born to the house of David -- Josiah his name -- and he hath sacrificed on thee the priests of the high places who are making perfume on thee, and bones of man are burnt on thee.'
Is there not a warfare to man on earth? And as the days of an hireling his days?
If a man dieth -- doth he revive? All days of my warfare I wait, till my change come.
Causing the barren one of the house to sit, A joyful mother of sons; praise ye Jah!
And he fenceth it, and casteth out its stones, And planteth it `with' a choice vine, And buildeth a tower in its midst, And also a wine press hath hewn out in it, And he waiteth for the yielding of grapes, And it yieldeth bad ones! And now, O inhabitant of Jerusalem, and man of Judah, Judge, I pray you, between me and my vineyard. What -- to do still to my vineyard, That I have not done in it! Wherefore, I waited to the yielding of grapes, And it yieldeth bad ones! And now, pray, let me cause you to know, That which I am doing to my vineyard, To turn aside its hedge, And it hath been for consumption, To break down its wall, And it hath been for a treading-place.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Ecclesiastes 3
Commentary on Ecclesiastes 3 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 3
Solomon having shown the vanity of studies, pleasures, and business, and made it to appear that happiness is not to be found in the schools of the learned, nor in the gardens of Epicurus, nor upon the exchange, he proceeds, in this chapter, further to prove his doctrine, and the inference he had drawn from it, That therefore we should cheerfully content ourselves with, and make use of, what God has given us, by showing,
Ecc 3:1-10
The scope of these verses is to show,
Ecc 3:11-15
We have seen what changes there are in the world, and must not expect to find the world more sure to us than it has been to others. Now here Solomon shows the hand of God in all those changes; it is he that has made every creature to be that to us which it is, and therefore we must have our eye always upon him.
Ecc 3:16-22
Solomon is still showing that every thing in this world, without piety and the fear of God, is vanity. Take away religion, and there is nothing valuable among men, nothing for the sake of which a wise man would think it worth while to live in this world. In these verses he shows that power (than which there is nothing men are more ambitious of) and life itself (than which there is nothing men are more fond, more jealous of) are nothing without the fear of God.