Ecclesiastes 3:5 Study Bible: a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

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a time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

Study Bible

a time to cast away stones
The phrase "cast away stones" can be understood in the context of ancient agricultural practices. In the Hebrew culture, clearing a field of stones was necessary for planting crops. The act of casting away stones symbolizes preparation and making way for new growth. Spiritually, this can represent the need to remove obstacles or burdens in our lives to allow for spiritual growth and renewal. The Hebrew root word for "cast away" (שָׁלַךְ, shalak) implies a deliberate action, suggesting that there are times when we must actively remove hindrances from our lives.

and a time to gather stones
Conversely, "gather stones" might refer to the practice of collecting stones to build altars, walls, or memorials. In biblical times, stones were often used to construct significant structures or to mark important events. Gathering stones can symbolize building up, creating, or commemorating. Spiritually, this can be seen as a time to build relationships, strengthen faith, or remember God's faithfulness. The act of gathering is intentional and purposeful, indicating that there are seasons for constructing and establishing in our lives.

a time to embrace
The phrase "a time to embrace" speaks to the importance of relationships and community. Embracing is an act of love, acceptance, and support. In the Hebrew context, embracing can also signify reconciliation and peace. The act of embracing is a physical manifestation of connection and unity. Spiritually, this can be seen as a time to draw close to others, to offer forgiveness, and to strengthen bonds within the community of faith. It is a reminder of the importance of fellowship and the warmth of human connection.

and a time to refrain from embracing
Finally, "a time to refrain from embracing" acknowledges that there are seasons when distance or separation is necessary. This could be due to circumstances that require solitude, reflection, or even discipline. In the biblical context, there were times when individuals were called to separate themselves for purification or consecration. Spiritually, this can represent times when God calls us to focus on Him, to seek personal growth, or to prepare for future challenges. It is a reminder that there are times when stepping back is necessary for personal and spiritual development.

Persons / Places / Events

1. Solomon
Traditionally considered the author of Ecclesiastes, Solomon was the king of Israel known for his wisdom, wealth, and writings.

2. Israel
The nation where Solomon reigned, often symbolically represented in the text as a place of spiritual and physical significance.

3. The Preacher (Qoheleth)
The voice in Ecclesiastes, often identified with Solomon, who reflects on the meaning of life and the human experience.

4. Ancient Near East
The cultural and historical context of Ecclesiastes, where stones were used for building, boundary marking, and as symbols in various practices.

5. Seasons of Life
The broader theme of Ecclesiastes 3, emphasizing the cyclical nature of human experiences and divine timing.

Teaching Points

Understanding Seasons
Recognize that life has different seasons, each with its own purpose. Embrace the current season and seek God's wisdom to navigate it.

Building and Tearing Down
Just as stones can be gathered for building or cast away, evaluate what in your life needs to be built up and what should be removed.

Embracing Relationships
There is a time to embrace relationships and a time to set boundaries. Seek discernment in knowing when to do each.

Symbolism of Stones
In biblical times, stones were used for altars, memorials, and boundaries. Reflect on what "stones" in your life serve as spiritual markers or boundaries.

Divine Timing
Trust in God's perfect timing for every activity under heaven. Patience and faith are essential in waiting for the right time to act.

Bible Study Questions

1. How can understanding the "time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones" help you in making decisions about what to prioritize in your life?

2. Reflect on a time when you had to choose between embracing or refraining from embracing a relationship. How did you discern the right course of action?

3. In what ways can the concept of "gathering stones" be applied to building a strong spiritual foundation in your life?

4. How does the cyclical nature of life, as described in Ecclesiastes 3, encourage you to trust in God's timing and sovereignty?

5. Consider the symbolic use of stones in the Bible. How can these symbols inspire you to set spiritual markers or boundaries in your own life?

Connections to Other Scriptures

1 Corinthians 3:12-13
Paul speaks of building with materials like gold, silver, and stones, which connects to the idea of casting and gathering stones as a metaphor for building one's life on a solid foundation.

Proverbs 24:3-4
Highlights the importance of wisdom in building a house, paralleling the gathering of stones for construction.

Luke 15:20
The account of the Prodigal Son, where the father embraces his returning son, illustrating the time to embrace.

2 Samuel 12:20
David refrains from embracing his son after his death, showing a time to refrain from embracing.

Isaiah 28:16
Refers to the cornerstone, symbolizing Christ, connecting to the idea of gathering stones for a purpose.

Sermons

Decision and Perseverance Needed by the Christian	J. W. Hardman, LL. D.	Ecclesiastes 3:5
Opportuneness	J. Willcoc	Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
The Clock of Destiny	A. H. Moment, D. D.	Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
The Fall of the Leaf	H. Macmillan, D. D.	Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
The Manifold Interests and Occupations of Life	D. Thomas	Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
The Realities of Life	W. Walters.	Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Times and Seasons in the Church	Bp. Harvey Goodwin.	Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Opportunity; Opportuneness; Ordination	W. Clarkson	Ecclesiastes 3:1-10

People

Solomon

Places

Jerusalem

Topics

Cast, Embrace, Embracing, Gather, Heap, Kissing, Refrain, Shun, Stones, Throw

Dictionary of Bible Themes

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

4903 time
5547 speech, power of

Library

Eternity in the Heart
'He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also He hath set the world in their heart.'--ECCLES. iii. 11. There is considerable difficulty in understanding what precise meaning is to be attached to these words, and what precise bearing they have on the general course of the writer's thoughts; but one or two things are, at any rate, quite clear. The Preacher has been enumerating all the various vicissitudes of prosperity and adversity, of construction and destruction, of society and solitude, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

'A Time to Plant'
'A time to plant.'--Eccles. iii. 2. The writer enumerates in this context a number of opposite courses of conduct arranged in pairs, each of which is right at the right time. The view thus presented seems to him to be depressing, and to make life difficult to understand, and aimless. We always appear to be building up with one hand and pulling down with the other. The ship never heads for two miles together in the same direction. The history of human affairs appears to be as purposeless as the play …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

For what Christian Men of Our Time Being Free from the Marriage Bond...
15. For what Christian men of our time being free from the marriage bond, having power to contain from all sexual intercourse, seeing it to be now "a time," as it is written, "not of embracing, but of abstaining from embrace," [1977] would not choose rather to keep virginal or widowed continence, than (now that there is no obligation from duty to human society) to endure tribulation of the flesh, without which marriages cannot be (to pass over in silence other things from which the Apostle spares.) …
St. Augustine—On the Good of Marriage

But Thou who Both Hast Sons, and Livest in that End of the World...
11. But thou who both hast sons, and livest in that end of the world, wherein now is the time not of casting stones, but of gathering; not of embracing, but of abstaining from embracing; [2244] when the Apostle cries out, "But this I say, brethren, the time is short; it remains, that both they who have wives be as not having;" [2245] assuredly if thou hadst sought a second marriage, it would have been no obedience of prophecy or law, no carnal desire even of family, but a mark of incontinence alone. …
St. Augustine—On the Good of Widowhood.

Letter xxvi. (Circa A. D. 1127) to the Same
To the Same He excuses the brevity of his letter on the ground that Lent is a time of silence; and also that on account of his profession and his ignorance he does not dare to assume the function of teaching. 1. You will, perhaps, be angry, or, to speak more gently, will wonder that in place of a longer letter which you had hoped for from me you receive this brief note. But remember what says the wise man, that there is a time for all things under the heaven; both a time to speak and a time to keep …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

The Conclusion of the Matter
'Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; 2. While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain; 3. In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened, 4. And the doors shall be shut in …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Of Self-Annihilation
Of Self-Annihilation Supplication and sacrifice are comprehended in prayer, which, according to S. John, is "an incense, the smoke whereof ascendeth unto God;" therefore it is said in the Apocalypse that "unto the Angel was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all Saints'' (Chap. viii. 3). Prayer is the effusion of the heart in the Presence of God: "I have poured out my soul before God" saith the mother of Samuel. (1 Sam. i. 15) The prayer of the wise men at the feet of …
Madame Guyon—A Short and Easy Method of Prayer

Introductory Note.
[a.d. 145-220.] When our Lord repulsed the woman of Canaan (Matt. xv. 22) with apparent harshness, he applied to her people the epithet dogs, with which the children of Israel had thought it piety to reproach them. When He accepted her faith and caused it to be recorded for our learning, He did something more: He reversed the curse of the Canaanite and showed that the Church was designed "for all people;" Catholic alike for all time and for all sorts and conditions of men. Thus the North-African …
Tertullian—Apology

The Lapse of Time.
"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest."--Eccles. ix. 10. Solomon's advice that we should do whatever our hand findeth to do with our might, naturally directs our thoughts to that great work in which all others are included, which will outlive all other works, and for which alone we really are placed here below--the salvation of our souls. And the consideration of this great work, …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII

"For they that are after the Flesh do Mind,"
Rom. viii. s 5, 6.--"For they that are after the flesh do mind," &c. "For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." There are many differences among men in this world, that, as to outward appearance, are great and wide, and indeed they are so eagerly pursued, and seriously minded by men, as if they were great and momentous. You see what a strife and contention there is among men, how to be extracted out of the dregs of the multitude, and set a little higher …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

How the Silent and the Talkative are to be Admonished.
(Admonition 15.) Differently to be admonished are the over-silent, and those who spend time in much speaking. For it ought to be insinuated to the over-silent that while they shun some vices unadvisedly, they are, without its being perceived, implicated in worse. For often from bridling the tongue overmuch they suffer from more grievous loquacity in the heart; so that thoughts seethe the more in the mind from being straitened by the violent guard of indiscreet silence. And for the most part they …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

The Holy War,
MADE BY SHADDAI UPON DIABOLUS, FOR THE REGAINING OF THE METROPOLIS OF THE WORLD; OR, THE LOSING AND TAKING AGAIN OF THE TOWN OF MANSOUL. THE AUTHOR OF 'THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS.' 'I have used similitudes.'--Hosea 12:10. London: Printed for Dorman Newman, at the King's Arms in the Poultry; and Benjamin Alsop, at the Angel and Bible in the Poultry, 1682. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. Bunyan's account of the Holy War is indeed an extraordinary book, manifesting a degree of genius, research, and spiritual …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

A Sermon on Isaiah xxvi. By John Knox.
[In the Prospectus of our Publication it was stated, that one discourse, at least, would be given in each number. A strict adherence to this arrangement, however, it is found, would exclude from our pages some of the most talented discourses of our early Divines; and it is therefore deemed expedient to depart from it as occasion may require. The following Sermon will occupy two numbers, and we hope, that from its intrinsic value, its historical interest, and the illustrious name of its author, it …
John Knox—The Pulpit Of The Reformation, Nos. 1, 2 and 3.

"Who Walk not after the Flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the Flesh,"
Rom. viii. 4, 5.--"Who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh," &c. If there were nothing else to engage our hearts to religion, I think this might do it, that there is so much reason in it. Truly it is the most rational thing in the world, except some revealed mysteries of faith, which are far above reason, but not contrary to it. There is nothing besides in it, but that which is the purest reason. Even that part of it which is most difficult to man, …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Appendix 2 Extracts from the Babylon Talmud
Massecheth Berachoth, or Tractate on Benedictions [76] Mishnah--From what time is the "Shema" said in the evening? From the hour that the priests entered to eat of their therumah [77] until the end of the first night watch. [78] These are the words of Rabbi Eliezer. But the sages say: Till midnight. Rabban Gamaliel says: Until the column of the morning (the dawn) rises. It happened, that his sons came back from a banquet. They said to him: "We have not said the Shema.'" He said to them, "If the column …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

Ecclesiastes
It is not surprising that the book of Ecclesiastes had a struggle to maintain its place in the canon, and it was probably only its reputed Solomonic authorship and the last two verses of the book that permanently secured its position at the synod of Jamnia in 90 A.D. The Jewish scholars of the first century A.D. were struck by the manner in which it contradicted itself: e.g., "I praised the dead more than the living," iv. 2, "A living dog is better than a dead lion," ix. 4; but they were still more …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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