Ecclesiastes 3:14
in Ecclesiastes 3I know that everything God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God does it so that they should fear Him.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it; and God hath done it, that men should fear before him.
KJV
I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.
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This verse in Ecclesiastes 3
Commentary
13 notes on this verseI know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever - לעולם leolam, for eternity; in reference to that grand consummation of men and things intimated in Ecc 3:11. God has produced no being that he intends ultimately to destroy. He made every thing in reference to eternity; and, however matter may be changed and refined, animal and intellectual beings shall not be deprived of their existence. The brute creation shall be restored, and all human spirits shall live for ever; the pure in a state of supreme and endless blessedness, the impure in a state of indestructible misery.
This site's exposition
I know that everything God does endures forever
Everything God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it or taken from it. The stated purpose is reverence: God does it so that they should fear Him. The verse is one link in the fear of God the book returns to at 5:7, 7:18, 8:12 and 12:13.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
"I realised that whatever God does will endure forever: nothing can be added to it and nothing taken away, and God has acted so that man should fear Him. "There is nothing in the world that is new. The course of the sun and moon in turn and the dryness and verdure of the earth and trees are born and take shape with the world itself.
In the spiritual and higher sense one can also say the following: The invisible things are God's creations in the real sense. They are eternal. The timely and visible things are secondary and accidental and created for the sake of the eternal ones. These visible …
God has made creation so that human beings, through an outward picture of the greatness and beauty of created things, might [understand] that God exists. He himself manages the cosmos and looks after it so that we—while the whole cosmos is orderly guided by one …
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCommentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
Art. 3. The immutability of the divine works is shown. I have learned that all the works etc. He showed above the mutability of works, and from this reproved human curiosity. Here thirdly he shows the immutability of the divine works, because above he had …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
He is in one mind, and who can turn him? His measures are never broken, nor is he ever put upon new counsels, but what he has purposed shall be effected, and all the world cannot defeat nor disannul it. It behoves us therefore to say, "Let it be as God wills," for, how cross soever it may be to our designs and interests, God's will is his wisdom.
6 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Which is here added to prove the principal proposition, That all things below are vain, and happiness is not to be found in them, because of their great uncertainty, and mutability, and transitoriness, and because they are so much out of the reach and power of men, and wholly in the disposal of God.
For ever - All God's counsels or decrees are eternal and unchangeable. Nothing - Men can neither do any thing against God's counsel and providence, nor hinder any work or act of it.
I know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever,....
The vanity of worldly honour and power, which are abused for the support of oppression and persecution if men be not governed by the fear of God in the use of them,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The last clause of this verse goes beyond a declaration of the fact of God’s government of the world Ecc 2:26 by adding the moral effect which that fact is calculated to produce on those who see it. It is the first indication of the practical conclusion Ecc 12:13 of the book.
The words behind it
19 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יָדַ֗עְתִּי | yada'ti | I know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| כִּ֠י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ʾasher | that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יַעֲשֶׂ֤ה | yaaseh | he does | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| הָאֱלֹהִים֙ | haelohim | <the> God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| ה֚וּא | hu' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| יִהְיֶ֣ה | yihyeh | it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לְעוֹלָ֔ם | leolam | for ever | H5769 → | 438 times |
| עָלָיו֙ | ʾalav | to it | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אֵ֣ין | ʾein | not | H369 → | 789 times |
| לְהוֹסִ֔יף | lehosif | to add | H3254 → | 212 times |
| וּמִמֶּ֖נּוּ | umimenu | and from it | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| אֵ֣ין | ʾein | not | H369 → | 789 times |
| לִגְרֹ֑עַ | ligroa' | to take away | H1639 → | |
| וְהָאֱלֹהִ֣ים | vehaelohim | and <the> God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| עָשָׂ֔ה | ʾasah | he has acted | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| שֶׁיִּֽרְא֖וּ | sheiyiru | that people will fear | H3372 → | 315 times |
| מִלְּפָנָֽיו׃ | milefanav | from to before him | H6440 → | 2123 times |
יָדַ֗עְתִּיI know
yada'tiH3045 →945 times
כִּ֠יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
אֲשֶׁ֨רthat
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
יַעֲשֶׂ֤הhe does
yaasehH6213 →2628 times
הָאֱלֹהִים֙<the> God
haelohimH430 →2601 times
ה֚וּאit
hu'H1931 →1879 times
יִהְיֶ֣הit will be
yihyehH1961 →3559 times
לְעוֹלָ֔םfor ever
leolamH5769 →438 times
עָלָיו֙to it
ʾalavH5921 →5755 times
אֵ֣יןnot
ʾeinH369 →789 times
לְהוֹסִ֔יףto add
lehosifH3254 →212 times
וּמִמֶּ֖נּוּand from it
umimenuH4480 →1188 times
אֵ֣יןnot
ʾeinH369 →789 times
לִגְרֹ֑עַto take away
ligroa'H1639 →
וְהָאֱלֹהִ֣יםand <the> God
vehaelohimH430 →2601 times
עָשָׂ֔הhe has acted
ʾasahH6213 →2628 times
שֶׁיִּֽרְא֖וּthat people will fear
sheiyiruH3372 →315 times
מִלְּפָנָֽיו׃from to before him
milefanavH6440 →2123 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
James 1:17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.
it leads to
- John 3:27
John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven.
- Numbers 23:19
God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 7:11
So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
- Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
- John 8:12
Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
- John 3:27
Through
Psalms 33:11The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the purposes of His heart to all generations.
it leads to
- Isaiah 46:10
I declare the end from the beginning, and ancient times from what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 46:10
Through
Romans 11:36For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.
it leads to
- Colossians 1:15–17
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
- 1 Corinthians 8:6
yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we exist. And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and…
- Colossians 1:15–17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
On this chapter
About Ecclesiastes
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bonaventure, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3; Didymus the Blind, COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 87:6; Didymus the Blind, COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 88:29; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.