English Standard Version
Ecclesiastes 3:8
8a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
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.
- New King James Version (NKJV)A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace.
- New Living Translation (NLT)A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace.
Context of Ecclesiastes 3:8
6a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. 9What gain has the worker from his toil? 10I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.
Read all of Ecclesiastes 3Ecclesiastes 3:8 word by word
עֵ֤ת לֶֽאֱהֹב֙ וְעֵ֣ת לִשְׂנֹ֔א עֵ֥ת מִלְחָמָ֖ה וְעֵ֥ת שָׁלֽוֹם׃ סRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 3:8
- Ezekiel 16:8"When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares 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 to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
- Ephesians 5:25Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
- 2 Chronicles 19:2But Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, "Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Because of this, wrath has gone out against you from the Lord.
- 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, he cannot be my disciple.
- Revelation 2:2"'I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false.
- Genesis 14:14When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.
- Joshua 8:1And the Lord said to Joshua, "Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Take all the fighting men with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, his city, and his land.
- Joshua 11:23So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses. And Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal allotments. And the land had rest from war.
- 2 Samuel 10:6When the Ammonites saw that they had become a stench to David, the Ammonites sent and hired the Syrians of Beth-rehob, and the Syrians of Zobah, 20,000 foot soldiers, and the king of Maacah with 1,000 men, and the men of Tob, 12,000 men.
- 1 Kings 5:4But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither adversary nor misfortune.
- 2 Chronicles 20:1After this the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat for battle.
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
In the dictionaries
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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries