Ecclesiastes 3:17

Bible in Basic English (1941)

I said in my heart, God will be judge of the good and of the bad; because a time for every purpose and for every work has been fixed by him.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

אָמַ֤רְתִּֽי אֲנִי֙ בְּלִבִּ֔י אֶת־הַצַּדִּיק֙ וְאֶת־הָ֣רָשָׁ֔ע יִשְׁפֹּ֖ט הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים כִּי־עֵ֣ת לְכָל־חֵ֔פֶץ וְעַ֥ל כָּל־הַֽמַּעֲשֶׂ֖ה שָֽׁם׃

Transliteration

ʾāmartî ʾănî in-libbî ʾeṯ-the-ṣaddîq wə-ʾeṯ-the-rāšāʿ yišpōṭ the-ʾĕlōhîm for-ʿēt to-every-ḥēp̄eṣ wə-upon every-the-maʿăśeh there

Grammar Details

• *ʾāmartî*: verb, qal perfect, 1st person singular - I said
• *ʾănî*: personal pronoun, 1st person singular - I
• *bə*: preposition - in
• *libbî*: noun, masculine singular + 1st person singular suffix - my heart
• *ʾeṯ*: direct object marker
• *ha-ṣaddîq*: definite article + adjective/noun, masculine singular - the righteous
• *wə*: conjunction - and
• *hā-rāšāʿ*: definite article + adjective/noun, masculine singular - the wicked
• *yišpōṭ*: verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular - he will judge
• *hā-ʾĕlōhîm*: definite article + noun, masculine plural (with singular meaning) - God
• *kî*: conjunction - for/because
• *ʿēt*: noun, feminine singular - time
• *lə*: preposition - to/for
• *kol*: adjective - every/all
• *ḥēp̄eṣ*: noun, masculine singular - matter/purpose/desire
• *ʿal*: preposition - upon/over/concerning
• *ha-maʿăśeh*: definite article + noun, masculine singular - the deed/work
• *šām*: adverb - there

Word Meanings

• *ʾāmartî*: I said/told/declared
• *libbî*: my heart/mind/inner self
• *ṣaddîq*: righteous person/just one
• *rāšāʿ*: wicked person/evil one
• *yišpōṭ*: will judge/govern/vindicate
• *ʿēt*: time/season/proper time
• *ḥēp̄eṣ*: purpose/matter/desire/delight
• *maʿăśeh*: deed/work/action

Referenced Verses

• Matt 16:27 : 27 For the Son of man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he will give to every man the reward of his works.
• Eccl 3:1 : 1 For everything there is a fixed time, and a time for every business under the sun.
• 2 Cor 5:10 : 10 For we all have to come before Christ to be judged; so that every one of us may get his reward for the things done in the body, good or bad.
• 2 Thess 1:6-9 : 6 For it is an act of righteousness on God's part to give trouble as their reward to those who are troubling you, 7 And to you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus comes from heaven with the angels of his power in flames of fire, 8 To give punishment to those who have no knowledge of God, and to those who do not give ear to the good news of our Lord Jesus: 9 Whose reward will be eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his strength, 10 At his coming, when he will have glory in his saints, and will be a cause of wonder in all those who had faith (because our witness among you had effect) in that day.
• Rom 2:5-9 : 5 But by your hard and unchanged heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of the revelation of God's judging in righteousness; 6 Who will give to every man his right reward: 7 To those who go on with good works in the hope of glory and honour and salvation from death, he will give eternal life: 8 But to those who, from a love of competition, are not guided by what is true, will come the heat of his wrath, 9 Trouble and sorrow on all whose works are evil, to the Jew first and then to the Greek; 10 But glory and honour and peace to all whose works are good, to the Jew first and then to the Greek:
• Gen 18:25 : 25 Let such a thing be far from you, to put the upright to death with the sinner: will not the judge of all the earth do right?
• Ps 98:9 : 9 Before the Lord, for he has come as judge of the earth; judging the world in righteousness, and giving true decisions for the peoples.
• Eccl 12:14 : 14 God will be judge of every work, with every secret thing, good or evil.
• Jer 29:10-11 : 10 For this is what the Lord has said: When seventy years are ended for Babylon, I will have pity on you and give effect to my good purpose for you, causing you to come back to this place. 11 For I am conscious of my thoughts about you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you hope at the end.
• Dan 11:40 : 40 And at the time of the end, the king of the south will make an attack on him: and the king of the north will come against him like a storm-wind, with war-carriages and horsemen and numbers of ships; and he will go through many lands like overflowing waters.
• Dan 12:4 : 4 But as for you, O Daniel, let the words be kept secret and the book rolled up and kept shut till the time of the end: numbers will be going out of the way and troubles will be increased.
• Dan 12:9 : 9 And he said, Go on your way, Daniel: for the words are secret and shut up till the time of the end;
• Dan 12:11-13 : 11 And from the time when the regular burned offering is taken away, and an unclean thing causing fear is put up, there will be a thousand, two hundred and ninety days. 12 A blessing will be on the man who goes on waiting, and comes to the thousand, three hundred and thirty-five days. 13 But you, go on your way and take your rest: for you will be in your place at the end of the days.
• Eccl 1:16 : 16 I said to my heart, See, I have become great and am increased in wisdom more than any who were before me in Jerusalem--yes, my heart has seen much wisdom and knowledge.
• Eccl 2:1 : 1 I said in my heart, I will give you joy for a test; so take your pleasure--but it was to no purpose.
• 1 Cor 4:5 : 5 For this reason let there be no judging before the time, till the Lord comes, who will make clear the secret things of the dark, and the designs of the heart; and then will every man have his praise from God.
• Eccl 8:6 : 6 For every purpose there is a time and a decision, because the sorrow of man is great in him.
• Eccl 11:9 : 9 Have joy, O young man, while you are young; and let your heart be glad in the days of your strength, and go in the ways of your heart, and in the desire of your eyes; but be certain that for all these things God will be your judge.
• Matt 25:31-46 : 31 But when the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then will he be seated in his glory: 32 And before him all the nations will come together; and they will be parted one from another, as the sheep are parted from the goats by the keeper. 33 And he will put the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then will the King say to those on his right, Come, you who have the blessing of my Father, into the kingdom made ready for you before the world was: 35 For I was in need of food, and you gave it to me: I was in need of drink, and you gave it to me: I was wandering, and you took me in; 36 I had no clothing, and you gave it to me: when I was ill, or in prison, you came to me. 37 Then will the upright make answer to him, saying, Lord, when did we see you in need of food, and give it to you? or in need of drink, and give it to you? 38 And when did we see you wandering, and take you in? or without clothing, and give it to you? 39 And when did we see you ill, or in prison, and come to you? 40 And the King will make answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, Because you did it to the least of these my brothers, you did it to me. 41 Then will he say to those on the left, Go from me, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire which is ready for the Evil One and his angels: 42 For I was in need of food, and you gave it not to me; I was in need of drink, and you gave it not to me: 43 I was wandering, and you took me not in; without clothing, and you gave me no clothing; ill, and in prison, and you came not to me. 44 Then will they make answer, saying, Lord, when did we see you in need of food or drink, or wandering, or without clothing, or ill, or in prison, and did not take care of you? 45 Then will he make answer to them, saying, Truly I say to you, Because you did it not to the least of these, you did it not to me. 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment; but the upright into eternal life.
• John 5:22 : 22 The Father is not the judge of men, but he has given all decisions into the hands of the Son;
• John 5:26-29 : 26 For even as the Father has life in himself, so he has given to the Son to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to be judge because he is the Son of man. 28 Do not be surprised at this: for the time is coming when his voice will come to all who are in the place of the dead, 29 And they will come out; those who have done good, into the new life; and those who have done evil, to be judged.
• Acts 1:7 : 7 And he said to them, It is not for you to have knowledge of the time and the order of events which the Father has kept in his control.
• Acts 17:31 : 31 Because a day has been fixed in which all the world will be judged in righteousness by the man who has been marked out by him for this work; of which he has given a sign to all men by giving him back from the dead.
• 2 Pet 3:7-8 : 7 But the present heaven and the present earth have been kept for destruction by fire, which is waiting for them on the day of the judging and destruction of evil men. 8 But, my loved ones, keep in mind this one thing, that with the Lord one day is the same as a thousand years, and a thousand years are no more than one day.
• Rev 11:2-3 : 2 But do not take the measure of the space outside the house; because it has been given to the nations: and the holy town will be under their feet for forty-two months. 3 And I will give orders to my two witnesses, and they will be prophets for a thousand, two hundred and sixty days, clothed with haircloth.
• Rev 11:18 : 18 And the nations were angry, and your wrath has come, and the time for the dead to be judged, and the time of reward for your servants, the prophets, and for the saints, and for those in whom is the fear of your name, small and great, and the time of destruction for those who made the earth unclean.
• Rev 17:12-17 : 12 And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings, which still have been given no kingdom; but they are given authority as kings, with the beast, for one hour. 13 These have one mind, and they give their power and authority to the beast. 14 These will make war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because he is the Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with him are named, marked out, and true. 15 And he said to me, The waters which you saw, where the evil woman is seated, are peoples, and armies, and nations and languages. 16 And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will be turned against the evil woman, and will make her waste and uncovered, and will take her flesh for food, and will have her burned with fire. 17 Because God has put it in their hearts to do his purpose, and to be of one mind, giving their kingdom to the beast, till the words of God have effect and are complete.
• Rev 20:2 : 2 And he took the dragon, the old snake, which is the Evil One and Satan, and put chains on him for a thousand years,
• Rev 20:7-9 : 7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be let loose out of his prison, 8 And will go out to put in error the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to get them together to the war, the number of whom is like the sands of the sea. 9 And they went up over the face of the earth, and made a circle about the tents of the saints, and the well loved town: and fire came down out of heaven for their destruction.
• Rev 20:11-15 : 11 And I saw a great white seat, and him who was seated on it, before whose face the earth and the heaven went in flight; and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, taking their places before the high seat; and the books were open, and another book was open, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged by the things which were in the books, even by their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and Hell gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man by his works. 14 And death and Hell were put into the sea of fire. This is the second death, even the sea of fire. 15 And if anyone's name was not in the book of life, he went down into the sea of fire.
• 1 Thess 5:1 : 1 But about the times and their order, my brothers, there is no need for me to say anything to you.