Ecclesiastes 3:9

Ecclesiastes 3:9

7 A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
^aA time to keep silence,
And a time to ^bspeak;

8 A time to love,
And a time to ^ahate;
A time of war,
And a time of peace.

The God-Given Task

9 ^aWhat profit has the worker from that in which he labors?

10 ^aI have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied.

11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that ^ano one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

12 I know that nothing is ^abetter for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives,

Commentaries:

Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown

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Ecclesiastes 3:10 >>

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" (Ecclesiastes 3:2) refers to his planting (Ecclesiastes 2:5); "laugh" (Ecclesiastes 3:4), to Ecclesiastes 2:1-2; "his mirth," "laughter"; "build up," "gather stones" (Ecclesiastes 3:3, Ecclesiastes 3:5), to his "building" (Ecclesiastes 2:4); "embrace," "love," to his "princess" (see on Ecclesiastes 2:8); "get" (perhaps also "gather," Ecclesiastes 3:5-6), to his "gathering" (Ecclesiastes 2:8). All these were of "no profit," because not in God's time and order of bestowing happiness.

**Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing Ecclesiastes 3:9:**

Ecclesiastes 1:18
Ecclesiastes 2:26
Ecclesiastes 3:11
Ecclesiastes 8:5

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Ecclesiastes 3:10 >>

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