2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
A time to be born, and a time to die - plant -
"As in its mother's womb the embryo lies
A space determined; to full growth arrived,
From its dark prison bursts, and sees the light;
So is the period fix'd when man shall drop
Into the grave - A time there is to plant,
And sow; another time to pluck and reap.
Even nations have their destined rise and fall:
Awhile they thrive; and for destruction ripe,
When grown, are rooted up like wither'd plants."
A time to be born,.... The Targum is,
"to beget sons and daughters;''
but rather it is to bear them, there being a time in nature fixed for that, called the hour of a woman, Job 14:1;
and a time to die; the time of a man's coming into the world and going out of it, both being fixed by the Lord (f): this is true of all men in general, of all men that come into the world, for whom it is appointed that they shall die; and particularly of Christ, whose birth was at the time appointed by the Father, in the fulness of time; and whose death was in due time, nor could his life be taken away before his hour was come, John 7:30; and this holds good of every individual man; his birth is at the time God has fixed it; that any man is born into the world, is of God; no man comes into it at his own pleasure or another's, but at the will of God, and when he pleases, not sooner nor later; and the time of his going out of the world is settled by him, beyond which time he cannot live, and sooner he cannot die, Job 14:5; and though no mention is made of the interval of life between a man's birth and death, yet all events intervening are appointed by God; as the place of his abode; his calling and station of life; all circumstances of prosperity and adversity; all diseases of body, and what lead on to death, and issue in it: the reason why these two are put so close together is, to show the certainty of death; that as sure as a man is born, so sure shall he die; and the frailty and shortness of life, which is but an hand's breadth, passes away like a tale that is told, yea, is as nothing; so that no account is made of it, as if there was no time allotted it, or that it deserved no mention; and also to observe that the seeds of mortality and death are in men as soon as they are born; as soon as they begin to live they begin to die, death is working in them;
a time to plant; a tree, as the Targum, or any herb;
and a time to pluck up that which is planted; a tree or herb, as before, when grown to its ripeness, and fit for use; or when grown old, barren, and unfruitful; there are particular seasons for planting plants, and some for one and some for another. This may be applied in a civil sense to planting and plucking up kingdoms and states; see Jeremiah 1:10; as it is by the Jews, particularly to the planting and plucking up of the kingdom of Israel; the people of Israel were a vine brought out of Egypt and planted in the land of Canaan, and afterwards plucked up and carried captive into Babylon; and afterwards planted again, and then again plucked up by the Romans; and will be assuredly planted in their own land again; see Psalm 80:8; It may be illustrated in a spiritual sense by the planting of the Jewish church, sometimes compared to a vineyard; and the plucking it up, abolishing their church state and ordinances; and by planting Gospel churches in the Gentile world, and plucking them up again, as in the seven cities of Asia; or removing the candlestick out of its place; and by planting particular persons in churches, and removing them again: some indeed that are planted in the house of the Lord are planted in Christ, and rooted and grounded in the love of God; are plants which Christ's Father has planted, and will never be rooted up; but there are others who are planted through the external ministry of the word, or are plants only by profession, and these become twice dead, plucked up by the roots; and there are times for these things, Psalm 92:14.
(f) "Stat sua cuique dies, breve et irreparabile tempus omnibus est vitae"; Virgil. Aeneid. l. 10.
time to die-- (Psalm 31:15; Hebrews 9:27).
plant--A man can no more reverse the times and order of "planting," and of "digging up," and transplanting, than he can alter the times fixed for his "birth" and "death." To try to "plant" out of season is vanity, however good in season; so to make earthly things the chief end is vanity, however good they be in order and season. GILL takes it, not so well, figuratively (Jeremiah 18:7, Jeremiah 18:9; Amos 9:15; Matthew 15:13).
(Note: These seven verses, 2-8, are in Codd and Edd., like Joshua 12:9., and Esther 9:7., arranged in the form of a song, so that one עת (time) always stands under another, after the scheme described in Megilla 16b, Massecheth Sofrim xiii. 3, but without any express reference to this passage in Koheleth. J has a different manner of arranging the words, the first four lines of which we here adduce: -
'ēth lāmoth veeth lalěděth 'ēth 'ēth nathu'ǎ lǎ'ǎqor veeth lathǎ'ǎth 'ēth lirpō veeth lǎhǎrog 'ēth livnoth veeth liphrots)
"To be born has its time, and to die has its time; to plant has its time, and to root up that which is planted has its time." The inf. ללדת signifies nothing else than to bring forth; but when that which is brought forth comes more into view than she who brings forth, it is used in the sense of being born (cf. Jeremiah 25:34, לט = להטּבח); ledah, Hosea 9:11, is the birth; and in the Assyr., li-id-tu, li-i-tu, li-da-a-tu, designates posterity, progenies. Since now lālǎděth has here lāmuth as contrast, and thus does not denote the birth-throes of the mother, but the child's beginning of life, the translation, "to be born has its time," is more appropriate to what is designed than "to bring forth has its time." What Zckler, after Hitzig, objects that by lěděth a הפץ an undertaking, and thus a conscious, intended act must be named, is not applicable; for לכּל standing at the beginning comprehends doing and suffering, and death also (apart from suicide) is certainly not an intended act, frequently even an unconscious suffering. Instead of לטעת (for which the form לטּעת
(Note: This Abulwalid found in a correct Damascus ms., Michlol 81b.)
is found, cf. למּוט, Psalm 66:9), the older language uses לנטע, Jeremiah 1:10. In still more modern Hebrews. the expression used would be ליטע, i.e., לטּע (Shebith ii. 1). עקד has here its nearest signification: to root up (denom. of עקּד, root), like עקר, 2-Kings 3:25, where it is the Targ. word for הפּיל (to fell trees).
From out-rooting, which puts an end to the life of plants, the transition is now made to putting to death.
To die - And as there is a time to die, so there is a time to rise again, a set time when they that lie in the grave shall be remembered.
*More commentary available at chapter level.