Ecclesiastes 3:17
in Ecclesiastes 3I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every deed.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.
KJV
I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.
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This verse in Ecclesiastes 3
Commentary
12 notes on this verseThe Divine Wisdom has pointed out in Ecclesiastes that for everything, i.e., for all things happy or those which are considered unfortunate and unhappy, there is a right time: saying: "For all things there is a time, and a time for everything under the heaven." … and below: "For there is a time," it says, "for everything and for every deed."
This site's exposition
What exists has already been
on Ecclesiastes 3:15-17
What exists has already been, and what will be has already been, and God will call to account what has passed. The Teacher then names a grief seen under the sun: in the place of judgment there is wickedness. Verse 17 answers, God will judge the righteous and the wicked.
This site's exposition
God will judge the righteous
Jerome's rendering closes with the word there, and Wesley reads it as the judgment seat of God. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown set the sinner's short time against the time God keeps for judgment. Henry says God will plead the cause of the righteous.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"Furthermore, I have observed beneath the sun: in the place of justice there is wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness. I mused: God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for everything and for every deed, there." The meaning of this is clear but is cloaked by the cloud of interpretation. He says: I sought truth and righteousness under the sun and I saw that even among the benches of judges truth is not valued, but gifts.
I ask you, then, are we to suppose that the only decree of God that will not come to pass, the only decree of God, will be the one which we read in those same writings as being about to judge between believers and unbelievers, when everything else that we read has happened as it was foretold? On the contrary, it will come to pass as all those other prophecies came to pass. Then there will be no person of our times who will be able at that judgment to find an excuse for unbelief when everyone shall call on Christ: the upright for justice, the perjurer for deceit, the king for power and the soldier for battle, the husband to maintain his authority and the wife to show her submission, the father for command and the son for obedience, the master for his right to rule and the servant for his subjection, the humble for piety and the proud for ambition, the rich man to distribute and the poor to receive, the drunkard at his wine cups and the beggar at the gate, the good person that he may excel in virtue and the bad one that he may cheat, the Christian worshiper and the pagan sycophant. All have the name of Christ upon their lips, and, with whatever intention and formula they invoke him, without doubt they shall render an account of it to him whom they invoke.
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCommentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
And I said in my heart: God shall judge the just and the wicked. Here, second, he shows how from this he arrives at the premeditation of future judgment. For which reason he adds: And I said in my heart: He shall judge the just, …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
God shall judge between the righteous and the wicked, shall judge for the righteous and plead their cause, though now it is run down, and judge against the wicked and reckon with them for all their unrighteous decrees and the grievousness which they have prescribed, " Isa. x.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
) by pleading that there is not another life after this, but that when man dies there is an end of him, and therefore while he lives he may live as he lists; but others rather think Solomon here speaks as he himself thinks, and that it is to be understood in the same sense with that of his father ( Ps. xlix.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Shall judge - Absolving the just, and condemning the wicked. A time - God will have his time to rectify all these disorders. There - At the judgment-seat of God.
I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
There is a coming judgment in which God will vindicate His righteous ways. The sinner's "time" of his unrighteous "work" is short. God also has His "time" and "work" of judgment; and, meanwhile, is overruling, for good at last, what seems now dark.
For there is a time there for every purpose - Man has his time here below, and God shall have his time above. At his throne the judged shall be rejudged, and iniquity for ever close her mouth.
The words behind it
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אָמַ֤רְתִּֽי | ʾamarti | I said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲנִי֙ | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| בְּלִבִּ֔י | belibi | in heart my | H3820 → | 595 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַצַּדִּיק֙ | hatzadik | the righteous | H6662 → | 206 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָ֣רָשָׁ֔ע | harasha' | the wicked | H7563 → | 263 times |
| יִשְׁפֹּ֖ט | yishpot | he will judge | H8199 → | |
| הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים | haelohim | <the> God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| כִּי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| עֵ֣ת | ʾet | a time | H6256 → | 296 times |
| לְכָל־ | lekhol | [is] for every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| חֵ֔פֶץ | chefetz | matter | H2656 → | 39 times |
| וְעַ֥ל | veal | and on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הַֽמַּעֲשֶׂ֖ה | hamaaseh | <the> deed | H4639 → | 236 times |
| שָֽׁם׃ | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
אָמַ֤רְתִּֽיI said
ʾamartiH559 →5305 times
אֲנִי֙I
ʾaniH589 →874 times
בְּלִבִּ֔יin heart my
belibiH3820 →595 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַצַּדִּיק֙the righteous
hatzadikH6662 →206 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
הָ֣רָשָׁ֔עthe wicked
harasha'H7563 →263 times
יִשְׁפֹּ֖טhe will judge
yishpotH8199 →
הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים<the> God
haelohimH430 →2601 times
כִּי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
עֵ֣תa time
ʾetH6256 →296 times
לְכָל־[is] for every
lekholH3605 →5413 times
חֵ֔פֶץmatter
chefetzH2656 →39 times
וְעַ֥לand on
vealH5921 →5755 times
כָּל־every
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הַֽמַּעֲשֶׂ֖ה<the> deed
hamaasehH4639 →236 times
שָֽׁם׃there
shamH8033 →834 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
Ecclesiastes 12:14For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.
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.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- 2 Corinthians 5:10
Through
Ecclesiastes 11:9Rejoice, O young man, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes,…
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 12:14
For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ecclesiastes 12:14
Through
2 Corinthians 5:10For 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.
it leads to
- Psalms 62:12
and loving devotion to You, O Lord. For You will repay each man according to his deeds.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 16:27
For the Son of Man will come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done.
- Revelation 22:12
“Behold, I am coming soon, and My reward is with Me, to give to each one according to what he has done.
- Ephesians 6:8
because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.
- Psalms 62:12
Through
Ecclesiastes 3:1To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:
it leads to
- Matthew 16:3
and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but not the signs of the times.
- Ecclesiastes 8:5–6
Whoever keeps his command will come to no harm, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure.
- Matthew 16:3
Where this verse is studied
About Ecclesiastes
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Augustine of Hippo, LETTER 232; Bonaventure, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes; John Cassian, CONFERENCE 21:12; 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.