Ecclesiastes 3:6

Ecclesiastes 3:6 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
• New International Version (NIV)a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
• English Standard Version (ESV)a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
• New King James Version (NKJV)A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away;

Context of Ecclesiastes 3:6

4a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance; 5a time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek and a time to lose, a time to keep and a time to discard; 7a time to tear apart and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak; 8a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:6 word by word

עֵ֤ת לְבַקֵּשׁ֙ וְעֵ֣ת לְאַבֵּ֔ד עֵ֥ת לִשְׁמ֖וֹר וְעֵ֥ת לְהַשְׁלִֽיךְ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• A timeעֵת‛êth · timeH6256
• to getבָּקַשׁbâqash · to seekH1245
• to loseאָבַד'âbad · to perishH6
• to keepשָׁמַרshâmar · to keep: guardH8104
• to cast awayשָׁלַךְshâlak · to throwH7993

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 3:6

• Genesis 30:30For you had very little before I came, and it has been busting at the seams in abundance. So Adonai blessed you with my every step. So now, when am I myself going to make something for my household also?”
• Genesis 31:18He drove away all his livestock and all his possessions that he had acquired—the livestock in his possession that he acquired in Paddan-aram—to go to his father Isaac, to the land of Canaan.
• Exodus 12:35So Bnei-Yisrael acted ­according to the word of Moses. They asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold, and for clothing.
• Deuteronomy 8:17You may say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand has made me this wealth.’
• 2 Kings 5:26Then Elisha said to him, “Didn’t my heart go, when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is it a time to accept money and accept clothes, or olive groves and vineyards, or sheep and oxen, or male and female servants?
• 2 Kings 8:9So Hazael went to meet him and took an offering in his hand, of every good thing of Damascus—forty camel-loads—then came and stood before him and said, “Your son Ben-hadad king of Aram has sent me to you saying: ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”
• Matthew 16:25For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
• Matthew 19:29And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for My name’s sake, will receive a hundred times as much, and will inherit eternal life.
• Mark 8:35For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the sake of the Good News will save it.
• Mark 10:28Peter began to say to Him, “Look, we’ve left everything to follow You!”
• Luke 9:24For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.
• Ecclesiastes 11:1Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it.
• 2 Kings 7:15They went after them to the Jordan, and behold, all the way was strewn with clothes and equipment, which the Arameans had thrown away in their haste. Then the messengers returned and reported to the king.
• Psalms 112:9He gives freely to the poor. His righteousness endures forever. His horn is lifted high in honor.
• Isaiah 2:20In that day a man will cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which they made to worship, to the moles and to the bats!
• Jonah 1:5So the sailors were afraid and cried out, each man to his own god. Then they cast the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it. But Jonah had gone down into the lowest part of the ship, to lay down and fell fast asleep.

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 3:6

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6A time to get, - to lose, - to keep, - to cast away - - "Commerce produces wealth, Whilst time of gaining lasts; from every point Blow prosperous gales. Now heaven begins to lower, And all our hopes are blasted. Prudence bids, One while, our treasure to reserve, and then With liberal hand to scatter wide. How oft In raging storms, the owner wisely casts Into the deep his precious merchandise, To save the foundering bark!Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6Get … lose - Rather, seek, and a time to give up for lost.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. 66. time to get--for example, to gain honestly a livelihood (Ep 4:23). lose--When God wills losses to us, then is our time to be content. keep--not to give to the idle beggar (2Th 3:10). cast away--in charity (Pr 11:24); or to part with the dearest object, rather than the soul (Mr 9:43). To be careful is right in its place, but not when it comes between us and Jesus Christ (Lu 10:40-42).Read the comment

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