Ecclesiastes 3:8

Ecclesiastes 3:8 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
• New International Version (NIV)a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
• English Standard Version (ESV)a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
• New King James Version (NKJV)A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace.

Context of Ecclesiastes 3:8

6A time to search and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to throw away. 7A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; A time to keep silent and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace. 9What profit is there for the worker from that in which he labors? 10I have seen the task which God has given to the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.

Ecclesiastes 3:8 word by word

עֵ֤ת לֶֽאֱהֹב֙ וְעֵ֣ת לִשְׂנֹ֔א עֵ֥ת מִלְחָמָ֖ה וְעֵ֥ת שָׁלֽוֹם׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• A timeעֵת‛êth · timeH6256
• to loveאָהֵב'âhab 'âhêb · to love: loverH157
• to hateשָׂנֵאώânê' · to hateH8130
• of warמִלְחָמָהmilchâmâh · battleH4421
• of peaceשָׁלוֹםshâlôm shâlôm · peaceH7965

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 3:8

• Ezekiel 16:8“Then I passed by you [again] and looked on you; behold, you were maturing and at the time for love, and I spread My skirt over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore [an oath] to you and entered into a covenant with you,” says the Lord God, “and you became Mine.”
• Psalms 139:21Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
• Ephesians 3:19and [that you may come] to know [practically, through personal experience] the love of Christ which far surpasses [mere] knowledge [without experience], that you may be filled up [throughout your being] to all the fullness of God [so that you may have the richest experience of God’s presence in your lives, completely filled and flooded with God Himself].
• Ephesians 5:25Husbands, love your wives [seek the highest good for her and surround her with a caring, unselfish love], just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,
• 2 Chronicles 19:2Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the ungodly and love those who hate the Lord and in doing so bring wrath from the Lord on yourself?
• Luke 14:26“If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life [in the sense of indifference to or relative disregard for them in comparison with his attitude toward God]—he cannot be My disciple.
• Revelation 2:2‘I know your deeds and your toil, and your patient endurance, and that you cannot tolerate those who are evil, and have tested and critically appraised those who call themselves apostles (special messengers, personally chosen representatives, of Christ), and [in fact] are not, and have found them to be liars and impostors;
• Genesis 14:14When Abram heard that his nephew [Lot] had been captured, he armed and led out his trained men, born in his own house, [numbering] three hundred and eighteen, and went in pursuit as far [north] as Dan.
• Joshua 8:1Now the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear or be dismayed (intimidated). Take all the men of war with you and set out, go up to Ai; see, I have given the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land into your hand.
• Joshua 11:23So Joshua took the whole land [of Canaan], according to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses, and Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. So the land had rest from war.
• 2 Samuel 10:6When the Ammonites saw that they had become an object of hatred to David, they sent word and hired the Arameans (Syrians) of Beth-rehob and the Arameans of Zobah, 20,000 foot soldiers, and the king of Maacah with 1,000 men, and the men of Tob with 12,000 men [to fight for them].
• 1 Kings 5:4But now that the Lord my God has given me rest [from war] on every side, there is neither adversary nor misfortune [confronting me].
• 2 Chronicles 20:1Now it happened after this that the Moabites and the Ammonites, together with some of the Meunites, came to make war against Jehoshaphat.

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 3:8

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8A time to love, - hate, - of war, - of peace - "Love turns to hatred; interest or caprice Dissolves the firmest knot by friendship tied. O'er rival nations, with revenge inflamed, Or lust of power, fell Discord shakes awhile Her baleful torch: now smiling Peace returns." The above paraphrase on the verses cited contains a general view of the principal occurrences of time, in reference to the human being, from his cradle to his grave, through all the…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2-8We cannot control when we are born or when we die (Ecclesiastes 8:8), but we must live wisely between those events. plant and...uproot: Make wise agricultural decisions during the natural seasons. In ancient Israel, times to kill included capital punishment and war. During mourning, people in the Near East often tore their clothes. There is a time to hate, even for God (Psalms 5:5; 11:5).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. hate--for example, sin, lusts (Lu 14:26); that is, to love God so much more as to seem in comparison to hate "father or mother," when coming between us and God. a time of war ... peace--(Lu 14:31).Read the comment

Topics related to Ecclesiastes 3:8

• Nation

In the dictionaries

• Dance
• Judge
• Providence
• Synagogue, the Great

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings