Bible Commentaries

To every [thing there is] a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

To everything there is a season. — A set time, such as we can neither alter nor order. This is one of those keys that God carries under his own belt. Acts 1:7 To seek, to do, or get anything before the time, is to pull apples before they are ripe, saith a father, Poma importuni tempore decerpunt. - Tertul. which set the teeth on edge, and breed stomach worms. They labour in vain that would prevent the time prefixed by God, as those hasty Ephraimites in Egypt 1 Chronicles 7:22 Psalms 78:9-10 those heady Israelites in the wilderness. Numbers 14:40 Moses would be acting the judge before his time, Exodus 2:12 he is therefore sent to keep sheep in Midian. Exodus 2:15 David stayed God’s leisure for the kingdom, those in Esther for deliverance - they knew that God would keep his day exactly, as he did with the Israelites in Egypt. "Even the self same day," when the "four hundred and thirty years" foretold were expired, God’s people were thrust out of Egypt. Exodus 12:40-41 So in Daniel 5:30 . In that night was Belshazzar slain; because then exactly the "seventy years" were ended. And as God fails not his own time, so he seldom comes at ours, Jeremiah 8:20 for he loves not to be limited. We are short breathed, short sighted, apt to antedate the promises in regard of the accomplishment. Habakkuk 2:2 And no less apt to outstand our own markets, to let slip opportunities of grace which are ever headlong, and once past, irrecoverable. "Oh, if thou hadst known at the least in this thy day," "How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?" Hebrews 2:3 "Therefore shall every one that is godly seek thee in a time when thou mayest be found." Psalms 32:6 There is a certain time set for men to come in and be saved; as Alexander set up a taper when he besieged a town; as Tamerlane hung out first a white flag and then a red. Many a man loseth his soul, as Saul did his kingdom, by not discerning his time. Esau came too late; so did the foolish virgins. If the gale of grace be past over, the gate shut, the draw bridge taken up, there is no possibility of entrance. "Let us, therefore, fear lest a promise being left us," and an overture made us "of entering into God’s rest, any of us should seem to fall short" υστερηκεναι , Hebrews 4:1 or come late, a day after the fair, an hour after the feast. God, who in his eternal counsel hath appointed things to be done, hath also ordained the opportunity and time wherein each thing should be done, which to neglect is such a presumption as he usually punisheth with final hardening. Ezekiel 24:13

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A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up [that which is] planted;

There is a time to be born, and a time to die — We do not hear the wise man say, There is a time to live. What is more fleeting than time? yet life is not long enough to be worthy the title of time. Death borders upon our birth, and our cradle stands in our grave. Orimur, morimur. we spring forth, we die.

“ Multos ostendunt terris bona faeta, nec ultra

Esse sinunt … Finisque ab origine pendet. ”

How many have we seen carried from the womb to the tomb; a from the birth to the burial! And what a short cut hath the longest liver from the grave of the womb to the womb of the grave! Men chop into the earth before they are aware many times; like as he that walks in a field covered with snow falls suddenly into a clay pit.

A time to plant, … — In point of good husbandry fit seasons are to be observed, or else little increase can be expected. God also, the great vinedresser, plants and plucks up more churches or particular persons at his pleasure. Isaiah 5:1-8 Matthew 15:13 Jerusalem, that plant of renown, is now of an Eden become a Sodom, and that which Moses threatened Deuteronomy 28:49-57 is fulfilled to the utmost. Susa in Persia signifies a lily, and was so called for the beauty and delectable sight; now it is called Valdac, of the poverty of the place. Nineveh, that great city, that once had more people within her walls than are now in some one kingdom, is at this day become a sepulture of itself, a little town of small trade, where the patriarch of the Nestorians keeps his seat at the devotion of the Turks.

“ Roma diu titubans variis erroribus acta

Corruet, et mundi definet esse caput. ” b

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A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to kill, — viz., To cut off corrupt members by the sword of justice or of war, ne pars sincera trahatur: There is a cruel mercy, saith one; There is a pious cruelty, saith another. "But cursed is he that doth the Lord’s work negligently; and cursed is he that (in a good cause, and upon a good calling) keepeth back his sword from blood." Jeremiah 48:10 But that soldier can never answer it before God, that striketh not more as a justice of peace than as a soldier of fortune.

A time to break down, and a time to build up. — This and the rest, though every one knows to be so in common experience, yet one and the same thing (in effect) is oft repeated, that it may be once remembered - viz., that this whole world is nothing else but a mass of mutabilities; that every man, every state, everything is a planet, whose spherical revolutions are some of longer, some of shorter continuance. Omnia versantur in perpetuo ascensu et descendu, there is a perpetual ascending and descending of life and state.

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time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh. — Only we must not invert the order, but weep with men that we may laugh with angels; lay godly sorrow as a foundation of spiritual joy. Surely out of this eater comes meat; out of this strong, sweet. Strong and sweet refreshments follow upon penitential performances; these April showers bring on May flowers. Tertullian saith that he was nulli rei natus nisi poenitentiae, born for no other purpose but to repent; but then he that truly repenteth, de peccatis dolet et de dolore gaudet, is grieved for his sins, and then is glad of such a grief. "Those that so sow in tears shall reap in joy": whereas those that will not - in an evil time, especially when God "calls to weeping and mourning," Isaiah 22:12 and even thrusts men down, as it were, with a thump on the back - weep here, where there are weeping handkerchiefs in the hands of Christ, are like to have their eyes whipt out in hell, and to howl with devils.

A time to mourn. — Matter enough of mourning we shall be sure of (and we should be soberly sensible of it) while we are in this vale of misery, valley of tears, in hoc exilio, in hoc ergastulo, in hoc peregrinatione, as Bernard hath it, in this prison house, purgatory, pilgrimage. In this place of banishment and bondage, how can we look for better? God sets us not here, as he did Adam in paradise, to take his pleasure, or as he did Leviathan in the sea, to sport and dally. We must not think to do as the people of Tombutum, in Africa, who are said to spend their time in singing and dancing. The way of this world is like the wilderness of Sin, or the vale of Siddim, or the Pacific Sea, which Captain Drake found tempestuous and troublous above measure. Camden’s Elisabeth. Many miseries and molestations, both satanical and secular, we are sure to meet with, to make us mourn. Jerome complains that he had furrows in his face, and icicles from his lips, with continual weeping. Origen is thought to have died of grief. Chrysostom calls the days of his life the days of his sorrow. Basil was made old and unprofitable for God’s Church before his time, with travail and trouble. Rebecca is weary of her life; so is Elijah. Naomi will be Naomi no longer, but Marah; Paul veils all his topsails, and sits down in the dust, 1 Timothy 1:15 besides his sympathising with others. 2 Corinthians 11:29-30

And a time to dance. — Or, Skip, as young cattle do at spring time. Here is nothing for mixed immodest dancings. Quid opus est talibus salsamentis? What need people provoke themselves to that evil they so naturally incline to? Nemo sobrius saltat, said the heathen orator: No sober man will offer to dance. Where there is dancing, there the devil is, saith a Father: Chrysostom. and cannot men be merry unless they have the devil for their playfellow? Dancing, saith another, Augustine. is a circle, whose centre is the devil, but busily blowing up the fire of lust, as in Herod, that old goat.

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time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to cast away stones. — As when King Henry VIII pulled down the abbeys and other religious houses (as they called them), saying, Corvorum nidos esse penitus disturbandos, ne iterum ab cohabitandum convolent, that the crows’ nests were to be pulled in pieces, that they might never nestle there any more. Sander. Schism. Ang., lib. i. And herein he did but as Cardinal Wolsey did before him for he, by the Pope’s own license, had a little before pulled down forty monasteries, and taken their stones and revenues to build and endow his two colleges at Oxford and Ipswich. Acts and Mon. Elapidation is a piece of the Church’s happiness. Isaiah 5:2

And a time to gather stones together. — As in building forts, castles, colleges, bridges, causeys, such as was that in 1 Chronicles 26:16 ; 1 Chronicles 26:18 1 Kings 10:5 2 Chronicles 9:11 ; 2 Chronicles 16:6 .

A time to embrace. — With honest conjugal embracements (as the Chaldee paraphrast interprets it), not with those libidinous embracings of the bosom of a stranger Rupertus. Proverbs 5:20 No time for such. 1 Peter 4:3 Diabolus capite blanditur, ventre oblectat, cauda ligat.

And a time to refrain. — As in times of common calamity; for should we then make mirth? Ezekiel 21:10 Should not the bridegroom come forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet? Joel 2:16 Some of the ancients Ambros., De Noe et Arca, cap. 21. do very much note the manner of Noah’s going into the ark, and how the father and the sons went together, the mother and her daughters-in-law went together, God himself dividing at that time those whom himself had joined together. Others tell us that et bruta ipsa intra arcam quamdiu diluvium duravit, continuerint, the very brute creatures bred not in the ark during the deluge. There is both an intemperate and intempestive abuse of the marriage bed, which ought to be kept undefiled, Hebrews 13:3 and not stained and dishonoured with either unseasonable or sensual excesses and uncleannesses, which God will certainly plague (though they lie without the walk of human censure) without true and timely repentance. Lutheri nuptias amici etiam improbabant, e … Luther’s marrying a wife, then, when all Germany was in a hurly burly, and all Saxony in heaviness for the death of their good Elector Frederick, Luther’s greatest friend, was no small grief to his best friends; and afterward also to himself, as Melanchthon testifieth in an epistle to Camerarius. Quoniam vero ipsum Lutherum quodammodo tristierem esse cerno et perturbatum ob vitae mutationem, omni studio et benevolentia consolari eum cupio.

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time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

A time to get. — Heb., To seek; for men do but seek here, they do not properly get what they cannot long hold. How much better therefore were it to seek God! Cuius inventio est ipsum semper quaerere (as Nyssen hath it here), the finding of whom is always to seek him, and in seeking of whom there is so great reward. Hebrews 11:6 "Seek ye me and ye shall live." Amos 5:4 "Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion." Amos 5:8 Seek him "in a time when he may be found." Psalms 32:6 "Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation." 2 Corinthians 6:2 Take the present "now," and be serious, and then God scorns to do as heathen idols did - viz., to say to the seed of Jacob, "Seek ye me in vain." Isaiah 45:19 How greedy are men of getting gain! Kερδαινοντες ου κοπιωμεν . - Naz. Get God, and you get all: Habet omnia qui habet habentem omnia. Augustine.

And a time to lose. — There is an "uncertainty" in riches; 1 Timothy 6:17 a "deceitfulness"; Mark 4:19 a "lie." John 8:44 They were never true to those that trusted them; subject they are to vanity or violence. Matthew 6:19-21 How seldom do gamesters grow rich! Vitrea est fortuna; cum splendot, frangitur. Mimus. And as they say of the metal they make glass of: it is nearest melting when it shines brightest in the fire; so are many rich men nearest ruin when at greatest lustre, as Haman, Herod, Pythias, …

A time to keep. — It is good for a man to keep somewhat by him. Bonus servatius facit bonum bonifacium, according to the Dutch blunt proverb, ‘A good saver makes a good well doer.’ See Trapp on " Proverbs 6:8 "

And a time to cast away. — To "cast bread upon the waters," Ecclesiastes 11:1 upon those poor creatures that, pinched with penury, water their plants, feed upon tears. And although bread and other comforts cast upon such may seem cast down the waters, because no hope of recompense, yet thou shalt be "recompensed at the resurrection of the just," saith Christ to such, and blessed in the meanwhile. Luke 14:14 Temporalia Dei servis impensa non pereunt, sed parturiunt, Alms perisheth not, but is put to use.

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time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to rend, and a time to sew. — As in making a new or translating an old garment. Turks wonder at the English for pinking or cutting their clothes, and making holes in whole cloth, which time of itself would tear too soon. Fuller. It was a custom among the Jews to rend their clothes in the case of sad occurrences. The prophet Ahijah rent Jeroboam’s new garment in twelve pieces, to show that God would rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon. 1 Kings 11:31 Schismatics rend the Church, heretics the Scriptures. God will stitch up all in his own time, and heal the breaches thereof. Psalms 60:2

A time to keep silence, and a time to speak. — It is a singular skill to "time a word," Isaiah 50:4 to set it upon its wheels, Proverbs 25:11 as Abigail did for her family, 1 Samuel 25:23-31 as Esther did against Haman. And it is a happy thing when a man can pray, as one once did, Det Deus ut sermo meus adeo commodus sit, quam sit accommodus, God grant my speech may be as profitable as it is seasonable. He that would be able to speak when and as he ought, must first learn silence, as the Pythagoreans did of old, εχεμυθια Pythagorica. - Cuspin. de Caesarib., 475. as the Turks do at this day, Perpetuum silentium tenent ut muti, they are not suffered to speak. Discamus prius non loqui, saith Jerome upon this text. Let us first learn not to speak, that afterwards we may open our mouths to speak wisely. Silence is fitly set here before speaking, and first takes its time and turn. It is a good rule that one gives, either keep silence, or speak that which is better than silence. H σιγαν η κρεισσονα σιγης λεγειν .

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time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

A time to love, and a time to hate. — Yet I like not his counsel that said, Ama tanquam osurus, odi tanquam amaturus, Cicero De Amicit. Let a man choose whom he may love, and then love whom he hath chosen. "Let love be without dissimulation; abhor the evil, cleave to the good." Romans 12:9 Hate we may, but then it must be, non virum, sed vitium, not the man, but his evil qualities; whereof also we must seek to bereave him, that he may be totus desiderabilis, "altogether lovely." Song of Solomon 5:16

A time of war, and a time of peace. — Time, saith an interpreter, is a circle; and the Preacher shutteth up this passage of time in a circle. For having begun with "a time to be born," and "a time to die," he endeth with "a time of war," which is a time of dying, and with "a time of peace," which is a time wherein people, by bringing forth, are multiplied.

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