time · noun, common both genders singular absolute
away
לְהַשְׁלִ֣יךְle.hash.Likh
H7993
to throw out · preposition + verb, hiphil infinitive construct
stones
אֲבָנִ֔ים'a.va.Nim
H68
a stone · noun, common masculine plural absolute
time
וְעֵ֖תve.'Et
H6256
time · conjunction + noun, common both genders singular absolute
gather
כְּנ֣וֹסke.Nos
H3664
to collect · verb, qal infinitive construct
stones
אֲבָנִ֑ים'a.va.Nim
H68
a stone · noun, common masculine plural absolute
together
כָּנַסkânaç
H3664
to collect
time
עֵ֣ת'et
H6256
time · noun, common both genders singular absolute
embrace
לַחֲב֔וֹקla.cha.Vok
H2263
to clasp (the hands or in embrace) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
time
וְעֵ֖תve.'Et
H6256
time · conjunction + noun, common both genders singular absolute
refrain
לִרְחֹ֥קlir.Chok
H7368
to widen (in any direction) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
embracing
מֵחַבֵּֽקme.cha.Bek
H2263
to clasp (the hands or in embrace) · preposition + verb, piel infinitive construct
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
2 Kings 3:25 And they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land cast every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the wells of wa…
Joshua 10:27 And it came to pass at the time of the going down of the sun, that Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees, and cast them in…
Joshua 4:3-9 And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones,…
Joel 2:16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom…
1 Samuel 21:4-5 And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept t…
2 Samuel 18:17-18 And they took Absalom, and cast him into a great pit in the wood, and laid a very great heap of stones upon him: and all Israel fled every o…
Exodus 19:15 And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at your wives.
Song of Solomon 2:6-7 His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 3:1-10
The scope of these verses is to show, 1. That we live in a world of changes, that the several events of time, and conditions of human life, are vastly different from one another, and yet occur promiscuously, and we are continually passing and repassing between them, as in the revolutions of every day and every year. In the wheel of nature (Jam 3:6) sometimes one spoke is uppermost and by and by the contrary; there is a constant ebbing and flowing, waxing and waning; from one extreme to the other does the fashion of this world change, ever did, and ever will. 2. That every change concerning us, with the time and season of it, is unalterably fixed and determined by a supreme power; and we must…
cast away stones--as out of a garden or vineyard (Isa 5:2).
gather--for building; figuratively, the Gentiles, once castaway stones, were in due time made parts of the spiritual building (Eph 2:19-20), and children of Abraham (Mat 3:9); so the restored Jews hereafter (Psa 102:13-14; Zac 9:16).
refrain . . . embracing-- (Joe 2:16; Co1 7:5-6).
John Gill on Ecclesiastes 3:5
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together,.... To cast stones out of a field or vineyard where they are hurtful, and to gather them together to make walls and fences of, or build houses with; and may be understood both of throwing down buildings, as the temple of Jerusalem, so that not one stone was left upon another; of pouring out the stones of the sanctuary, and of gathering them again and laying them on one another; which was done when the servants of the Lord took pleasure in the stones of Zion, and favoured the dust thereof. Some understand this of precious stones, and of casting them away through luxury, wantonness, or contempt, and gathering them again: and it…
According to Solomon's words, there is "a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them." Because the end of the world presses upon us, it is necessary to gather living stones for the heavenly building, in order to make our Jerusalem grow to its full stature.
Now this propagation of children which among the ancient saints was a most bounden duty for the purpose of begetting and preserving a people for God, amongst whom the prophecy of Christ's coming must needs have had precedence over everything, now has no longer the same necessity. For from among all nations the way is open for an abundant offspring to receive spiritual regeneration, from whatever quarter they derive their natural birth. So that we may acknowledge that the scripture which says there is "a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing," is to be distributed in its clauses to the periods before Christ and since. The former was the time to embrace, the latter to refrain from embracing.
But thou who both hast sons, and livest in that end of the world, wherein now is the time not of casting stones, but of gathering; not of embracing, but of abstaining from embracing; when the Apostle cries out, "But this I say, brethren, the time is short; it remains, that both they who have wives be as not having;" assuredly if thou hadst sought a second marriage, it would have been no obedience of prophecy or law, no carnal desire even of family, but a mark of incontinence alone. For you would have done what the Apostle says, after he had said, "It is good for them, if they shall have so continued, even as I;" forsooth he straightway added, "But if they contain not themselves, let them marry; for I had rather that they marry than be burned."
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Angel (Holy Trinity) · . — .
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
"To throw stones has its time, and to gather together stones has its time; to embrace has its time, and to refrain from embracing has its time." Did the old Jewish custom exist at the time of the author, of throwing three shovelfuls of earth into the grave, and did this lead him to use the phrase השׁ אבּ? But we do not need so incidental a connection of the thought, for the first pair accords with the specific idea of life and death; by the throwing of stones a field is destroyed, Kg2 3:25, or as expressed at Kg2 3:19 is marred; and by gathering the stones together and removing them (which is called סקּל), it is brought under cultivation. Does לה, to embrace, now follow because it is done wi…
We have no control over when we are born or when we die (8:8), but it is our responsibility to live wisely between those events. • plant and . . . harvest: Wise agricultural decisions must be made in the natural seasons. • In ancient Israel, the times to kill included capital punishment and war. • In times of mourning, people in the Near East would often tear their clothes. • There is a time to hate, even for God (Pss 5:5; 11:5).
Rashi on Ecclesiastes 3:5
A time to cast away stones. The youths of Yisroel scattered during the destruction of the Beis [Hamikdosh], as it is stated, “sacred gems are scattered.”9Eichah 4:1.
And a time to gather them from the exile, as it is stated, “And Adonoy their God will save His people like sheep on that day, for the stones of the crown will be exalted over His land.”10Zecharyah 9:16.
A time to embrace. [As it is stated,] “For, just as a belt is fastened, etc.”11Yirmiyahu 13:11.
And a time to refrain from embracing. [As it is stated,] “And Adonoy will drive the people far away.”12Yeshayahu 6:12.
