a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
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.
Commenting on Ecclesiastes 3:1-10
A time to weep, and a time to laugh,.... There is a time for these things, as it goes ill or well with persons, as to their health, estate, or friends; and as it goes ill or well with kingdoms and states.
mourn--namely, for the dead (Gen 23:2). dance--as David before the ark (Sa2 6:12-14; Psa 30:11); spiritually (Mat 9:15; Luk 6:21; Luk 15:25). The Pharisees, by requiring sadness out of time, erred seriously.