Ecclesiastes 3


Ecclesiastes 3 is the third chapter of the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book contains philosophical speeches by a character called 'Qoheleth', composed probably between the fifth and second centuries BC. Peshitta, Targum, and Talmud attribute the authorship of the book to King Solomon.

Text

The original text was written in Hebrew. [Chapters and verses of the Bible|This chapter is divided into] 22 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes Codex Leningradensis.
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, and Codex Alexandrinus. The Greek text is probably derived from the work of Aquila of Sinope or his followers.

Structure

The New [King James Version] divides this chapter into three sections:
  • = Everything Has Its Time
  • = The God-Given Task
  • = Injustice Seems to Prevail

Everything Suitable for its Time (3:1–8)

The section calls to 'a view of God's sovereignty which both reassures and yet sobers' the readers, because God is in control, but it remains mysterious. The NewCity Editor's Letter cites these verses as "one of the world’s earlier and best-known poems".

Verse 1

'There is purposefulness in life' as God always has the oversight over the seasons.
  • "Season" : refers to "appointed or definite time".
  • "Time" : means 'occasion', 'period/season' or 'circumstances'.
  • "Purpose": from Hebrew word חֵפֶץ, , which can be translated as "delight" or "pleasure".

Verses 2–8

give a list of times for major activities, according to God's plan. It forms a poem, where two Hebrew words are contrasted with two other Hebrew words in each verse. The examples are related to the body, mind and soul. It gives vivid illustration to the statement in verse 1 "that every action or event will come to pass", with the explanation in verse 11 that God made everything "suitable for its time". The context of the poem is the lack of freedom in human life, dictated by external and natural constraints as well as no control when one is born or dies, alongside the human incapacity to discern a deeper purpose in life, while being understood as an 'affirmation of the beauty of the life that God has given to human race'.

Contentment and satisfaction (3:9–15)

The question in verse 9 reminds that the desired 'gain' is hard to find, becoming 'the divinely quest for meaningfulness', but only within the limit of human understanding. The phrase 'I know' starts each of two sections to discern the question.

Verse 11

God who made everything suitable for its time is also the one placing a sense of past and future into human consciousness, although paradoxically despite knowing the reality of this eternity, human beings can cope only with the moment.

Verse 12

  • "To do good" : is 'to practice a happy life', which is better expressed as 'enjoy good'.

Verse 13

Eaton sees this verse as a reminder that 'provision and contentment are gifts of God'.

Verse 15

American theologian Albert Barnes notes the difficulty in reading the King James Version's text: That which hath been is now..., which he attributes to the word "is" being "erroneously printed" in Roman characters, as it does not appear in the Hebrew: it should have been italicised as an added word, and "now" would have read better as "already", as in several more recent translations such as the New King James Version show above.

The judgment of God (3:16–22)

God as the controller uses injustices to show that without him human beings are no different from animals, in their dying, and in the appreciation they receive after death, so as the conclusion: 'the remedy to life's enigma is to live on God's goodness'.

Musical settings