Ecclesiastes 3:2
in Ecclesiastes 3a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
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;
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;
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This verse in Ecclesiastes 3
Commentary
11 notes on this verseThis 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.
This site's exposition
a time to every purpose under the heaven
on Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
The poem lays out fourteen paired times across eight verses, birth and death opening the list and war and peace closing it, planting and plucking up, killing and healing, weeping and laughing, each pair naming its own appointed hour under the heaven. Delitzsch reads the pairs as a complete circle of human experience rather than a checklist, the point being that a time exists for every one of them, not that a man may choose which time is his. The poem states no doctrine of its own; it waits for verse 11 to say what the ordered times mean for the man living inside them.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
It is right that at the start he makes this tight bond linking death to birth; for death inevitably follows birth, and everything born dissolves in decay. He intends, through the demonstration that death and birth are connected, by using the reference to death as a goad, to wake from sleep those who are sunk deep in fleshly existence and love this present life, and to rouse them in awareness of the future. This insight Moses, the friend of God, used secretly in the first books of Scripture, writing Exodus immediately after Genesis, so that those who read what has been written may learn what affects them even through the very arrangement of the books; for it is impossible to hear of a birth ("genesis") without also envisaging a departure ("exodus"). Here also the great Ecclesiast, having noticed this, points it out, classing death with birth.
He does well to mention right away the binding union between birth and death; death necessarily follows birth, and each generation passes away. To show the connection between death and birth, the former is like a spur to arouse persons immersed in the flesh who love this present existence that they may pay attention to the future. Moses, the friend of God, quietly philosophizes over these matters as we see in the first titles of his books; he immediately writes Exodus right after Genesis. Thus these titles teach us about the order of our lives, for there is no birth [genesis] without death [exodos]. The great Ecclesiastes shows that death holds the same rank as birth: "There is a time to be born and a time to die."
"A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to uproot that which has been planted." No one doubts that men are born and die, and God knows that what he has planted will grow full and well; for to pull out what has been planted is to die. But since we read in Isaiah [Is. 26, 18.] "we have conceived, laboured with and given birth out of a fear for You", this must be said, because when a man is ready, that man in particular, who was born from fear, will die as soon as he has begun to love God. Since indeed "perfect love sends fear outside" [I. John. 4, 18.]. The Hebrews understand all that he has written about the contradiction of times, (until it says " a time for war and a time for peace") as concerning Israel. Because it is not necessary to go through each verse in turn here, commenting on how they are to be interpreted and what they mean, I will list them briefly, leaving a more detailed study to the reader's discretion. There was a time for growing and planting in Israel, a time for dying and leading it into bondage. A time for killing them in Egypt, and a time for freeing them from Egypt. A time for destroying the Temple under Nebuchadnezer, and a time for rebuilding under Darius. A time for bewailing the plundering of the city and a time for laughing and dancing under Zorobabel, Esdra, and Nehemiah. A time for dissemination from Israel and a time for gathering them together again. A time like a belt or harness put around the Jews by God, and a time for leading them into bondage in Babylon and there for them to rot across the Euphrates. Read "perizoma" of Jeremiah [Cfr Ier.. 13, I-II.]. A time for seeking them out and rescuing, a time for losing and a time for forsaking. A time for schism in Israel and a time for reunification. […]
"A time to live and a time to die": you can see, therefore, beloved brothers, that this was said concerning the time of the Lord's birth and death. Thus you must accept his virgin birth if we are to believe not only that the Word …
For as our Savior passed three days and three nights in the bowels of the earth, so you by your first rising out of the water represented Christ's first day in the earth, and by your descent the night. For as in the night one no longer sees, while by day one is in the light, so you during your immersion, as in a night, saw nothing, but on coming up found yourselves in the day. In the same moment you were dying and being born, and that saving water was at once your grave and your mother. What Solomon said in another context is applicable to you: "A time for giving birth, a time for dying," although for you, contrariwise, it is a case of "a time for dying and a time for being born." One time brought both, and your death coincided with your birth.
4 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCommentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
A time to be born. Above he set forth the general proposition; here he proves it by induction in particular cases, showing the diverse varieties of times in things. And this part has four parts. First is touched upon the variety of times which regards …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
A time to be born,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
time to die-- (Ps 31:15; Heb 9:27). plant--A man can no more reverse the times and order of "planting," and of "digging up," and transplanting, than he can alter the times fixed for his "birth" and "death." To try to "plant" out of season is vanity, however good in season; so to make earthly things the chief end is vanity, however good they be in order and season.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A time to be born, and a time to die - plant - “As in its mother’s womb the embryo lies A space determined; to full growth arrived, From its dark prison bursts, and sees the light; So is the period fix’d 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 wither’d plants.”
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
For everything there is a season. Let not one who accumulates possessions out of vanity rejoice, for although he possesses them now, they will ultimately pass on to the righteous, only the time has not yet arrived, for everything has a set time.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עֵ֥ת | ʾet | a time | H6256 → | 296 times |
| לָלֶ֖דֶת | laledet | to bear a child | H3205 → | 496 times |
| וְעֵ֣ת | veet | and a time | H6256 → | 296 times |
| לָמ֑וּת | lamut | to die | H4191 → | 839 times |
| עֵ֣ת | ʾet | a time | H6256 → | 296 times |
| לָטַ֔עַת | lataat | to plant | H5193 → | 58 times |
| וְעֵ֖ת | veet | and a time | H6256 → | 296 times |
| לַעֲק֥וֹר | laakor | to pluck up | H6131 → | |
| נָטֽוּעַ׃ | natua' | [what] is planted | H5193 → | 58 times |
עֵ֥תa time
ʾetH6256 →296 times
לָלֶ֖דֶתto bear a child
laledetH3205 →496 times
וְעֵ֣תand a time
veetH6256 →296 times
לָמ֑וּתto die
lamutH4191 →839 times
עֵ֣תa time
ʾetH6256 →296 times
לָטַ֔עַתto plant
lataatH5193 →58 times
וְעֵ֖תand a time
veetH6256 →296 times
לַעֲק֥וֹרto pluck up
laakorH6131 →
נָטֽוּעַ׃[what] is planted
natua'H5193 →58 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
Hebrews 9:27Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,
it 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…
- 2 Corinthians 5:10
Through
Matthew 15:13But Jesus replied, “Every plant that My heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by its roots.
it 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.
- John 15:2
Through
Galatians 4:4But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
it 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.
- Isaiah 7:14
Where this verse is studied
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Studies2
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About Ecclesiastes
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Athanasius of Alexandria, DEFENSE OF HIS FLIGHT 14; Bonaventure, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Ecclesiastes; Cyril of Jerusalem, MYSTAGOGICAL LECTURES 2:4; Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes; Gregory of Elvira, EXPOSITION OF ECCLESIASTES, FRAGMENT 1; Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary (church-history corpus); Gregory of Nyssa, HOMILIES ON ECCLESIASTES 6; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).