a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
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 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...
time to die-- (Psa 31:15; Heb 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.