Ecclesiastes 3:2

a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,

BSB

Parallel translations

4 additional translations

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KJV

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

ASV

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

YLT

A time to bring forth, And a time to die. A time to plant, And a time to eradicate the planted.

DBT

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

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Commentary voices

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Voices3

On this verse

This is written in the Scriptures and is manifest to all. For although it be hidden and unknown to all, what period of time is allotted to each, and how it is allotted; yet every one knows this, that as there is a time for spring and for summer, and for autumn and for winter, so, as it is written, there is a time to die, and a time to live.

Athanasius of Alexandria· DEFENSE OF HIS FLIGHT 14, 373patristic

Related commentary

A time to be born,....

John Gill· Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)reformed

A time to be born, and a time to die - plant - As in its mothers womb the embryo lies A space determined; to full growth arrived, From its dark prison bursts, and sees the light; So is the period fixd when man shall drop Into the grave - A time there is to plant, And sow; another time to pluck and reap. Even nations have their destined rise and fall: Awhile they thrive; and for destruction ripe, When grown, are rooted up like witherd plants.

Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible, 1832evangelical

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Cross-references

37 linked verses

The verses this one reaches12

Hebrews 9:27
Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,
Job 14:5
Since his days are determined and the number of his months is with You, and since You have set limits that he cannot exceed,
Matthew 15:13
But Jesus replied, “Every plant that My heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by its roots.
Jeremiah 18:7–10
At any time I might announce that a nation or kingdom will be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed.
Galatians 4:4
But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
Isaiah 38:1
In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you will not recover.’”
Job 7:1
“Is not man consigned to labor on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired hand?
John 16:21
A woman has pain in childbirth because her time has come; but when she brings forth her child, she forgets her anguish because of her joy that a child has been born into the world.
Luke 1:20
And now you will be silent and unable to speak until the day this comes to pass, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time.”
Acts 7:17
As the time drew near for God to fulfill His promise to Abraham, our people in Egypt increased greatly in number.
Jeremiah 45:4
Thus Jeremiah was to say to Baruch: “This is what the LORD says: Throughout the land I will demolish what I have built and uproot what I have planted.
Acts 7:20
At that time Moses was born, and he was beautiful in the sight of God. For three months he was nurtured in his father’s house.

25 more linked verses are grouped by book below ↓

Cross-references

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The quotation web

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Around this verse

Word doors

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread — the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

Featured studies

Featured studyCreation to New CreationTo every thing a season — time-and-season framework.

About this book

King Solomon in Old Age — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Ecclesiastes — Qohelet the Preacher — ''vanity of vanities, all is vanity.'' The book's relentless examination of life under the sun, resolving not in despair but in ''fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.''

Canon: Old Testament
Author: Solomon, king in Jerusalem (per 1:1, 1:12; the site's position) — writing under the Hebrew title *Qoheleth*, ''the Assembler/Preacher.''
Date: Solomon's reign, c. 940s–931 BC — the site's position. (A minority of modern scholars propose a later, Persian-period date on linguistic grounds.)

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first — the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Hebrews 9:27
Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,
leads to
- 2 Corinthians 5:10
  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive his due for the things done in the body, whether good or bad.
- Ecclesiastes 12:7
  before the dust returns to the ground from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
- Ecclesiastes 12:14
  For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.
- Acts 17:31
  For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”
- 2 Samuel 14:14
  For surely we will die and be like water poured out on the ground, which cannot be recovered. Yet God does not take away a life; but He devises ways that the banished one…
Through
Matthew 15:13
But Jesus replied, “Every plant that My heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by its roots.
leads to
- John 15:2
  He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, and every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes to make it even more fruitful.
- Isaiah 60:21
  Then all your people will be righteous; they will possess the land forever; they are the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, so that I may be glorified.
Through
Galatians 4:4
But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
leads to
- Isaiah 7:14
  Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.

The whole web at once: see the Arc.

Where the connections lead

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Continue: Ecclesiastes 3 →