Time: Qohelet turns here to a consideration of “time.” The poem on time (3:1–8) is the most familiar passage in the book of Ecclesiastes, and is used in settings from funerals to folk-rock concerts. In the poem, pairs of opposites illustrate that there is a proper time for all human activity. When it is read in isolation from its context, the poem provides the reader with a sense of comfort and reassurance. There is a time for everything. In the unpleasant seasons of life, one can recognize that there will be balancing good times. Thus one is enabled to accept grief as part of a larger picture (when using this as a funeral reading), or to strive to work toward the time for peace (as in the Pete Seeger song “Turn, Turn, Turn”).

Following the poem is a prose reflection on the same subject (3:…