Ecclesiastes 3:4

Coverdale Bible (1535)

A tyme to wepe, and a tyme to laugh: A tyme to mourne, and a tyme to daunse:

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

עֵ֤ת לִבְכּוֹת֙ וְעֵ֣ת לִשְׂח֔וֹק עֵ֥ת סְפ֖וֹד וְעֵ֥ת רְקֽוֹד׃

Transliteration

ʿēt to-liḇkôṯ wə-ʿēt to-liśḥôq, ʿēt səp̄ôḏ wə-ʿēt rəqôḏ

Grammar Details

• *ʿēt*: noun, feminine singular construct - time of
• *li*: preposition prefix - to/for
• *ḇkôṯ*: verb, qal infinitive construct - to weep
• *wə*: conjunction - and
• *liśḥôq*: verb, qal infinitive construct - to laugh
• *səp̄ôḏ*: verb, qal infinitive construct - to mourn/lament
• *rəqôḏ*: verb, qal infinitive construct - to dance

Word Meanings

• *ḇkôṯ*: to weep/cry
• *śḥôq*: to laugh/rejoice
• *səp̄ôḏ*: to mourn/lament/wail
• *rəqôḏ*: to dance/skip about

Referenced Verses

• Exod 15:20 : 20 And Miriam the prophetisse, Aarons sister, toke a tymbrell in hir hande, and all the women folowed out after her with timbrels in a daunse.
• Rom 12:15 : 15 Be mery with them that are mery and wepe with them that wepe.
• John 16:20-22 : 20 Verely verely I saye vnto you: Ye shal wepe and lamente, but the worlde shal reioyse: Ye shal be sory, but youre sorowe shal be turned in to ioye. 21 A woman whan she trauayleth, hath sorowe, for hir houre is come. But whan she is delyuered of the childe, she thinketh nomore of the anguyshe, for ioye that a man is borne in to the worlde. 22 And now haue ye sorowe also: but I wil se you agayne, and youre hert shal reioyse, and youre ioye shal noman take from you.
• Ps 30:5 : 5 For his wrath endureth but the twincklinge of an eye, and his pleasure is in life: heuynesse maye well endure for a night, but ioye commeth in the mornynge.
• 2 Cor 7:10 : 10 For godly sorowe causeth repentaunce vnto saluacion, not to be repented of: but worldly sorowe causeth death.
• Jas 4:9 : 9 Suffre affliccions: sorowe ye and wepe. Let youre laughter be turned to mornynge, and youre ioye to heuynes.
• Ps 126:5-6 : 5 Turne oure captiuyte (o LORDE) as the ryuers in the south. 6 They that sowe in teeres, shal reape in ioye. He yt now goeth his waye wepige & beareth forth good sede, shal come agayne with ioye, and brynge his sheaues with him.
• Isa 22:12-13 : 12 And at the same tyme shal ye LORDE of hoostes cal me to wepinge mourninge, to baldnesse and puttinge on of sack clothe. 13 But they to fulfil their lust and wilfulnes, slaugter oxe, they kyll shepe, they eate costly meate, & drynke wyne: let vs eate and drinke, tomorow we shal die.
• Matt 9:15 : 15 And Iesus sayde vnto the: Can the weddynge chyldre mourne as loge as the bridegrome is with them? The tyme will come, when the bridegrome shalbe taken from them, and the shall they fast.
• Matt 11:17 : 17 & saye: we haue pyped vnto you, and ye wolde not daunse: We haue morned vnto you, & ye wolde not wepe.
• Luke 1:13-14 : 13 But the angell sayde vnto him: Feare not Zachary, for thy prayer is herde. And yi wife Elizabeth shal beare the a sonne, whose name thou shalt call Ihon, 14 & thou shalt haue ioye and gladnesse: and many shal reioyce at his byrth,
• Luke 1:58 : 58 And hir neghbours and kynsfolkes herde, yt the LORDE had shewed greate mercy vpo her,& they reioysed with her.
• Luke 6:21-25 : 21 Blessed are ye that honger here, for ye shalbe satisfied. Blessed are ye yt wepe here, for ye shal laugh. 22 Blessed are ye, whan men hate you, and put you out of their copanyes, and reuyle you, and cast out youre name as an euell thinge, for the sonne of mans sake. 23 Reioyse ye then, and be glad: for beholde, youre rewarde is greate in heauen. Euen thus dyd their fathers vnto the prophetes also. 24 But wo vnto you riche, for ye haue youre cosolacion allready. 25 Wo vnto you that are full, for ye shal honger. Wo vnto you that laugh here, for ye shal wepe and wayle.
• 2 Sam 6:16 : 16 And whan the Arke of the LORDE came into the cite of Dauid, Michol the doughte of Saul loked out at a window, and sawe kynge Dauid leapynge, sprynginge and dausynge before the LORDE, and despysed him in hir hert.
• Neh 8:9-9 : 9 And Nehemias (which is Hathirsatha) and Esdras the prest and scrybe, and the Leuites yt caused the people to take hede, sayde vnto all the people: This daye is holy vnto the LORDE youre God: be not ye sory therfore, & wepe not. For all ye people wepte, wha they herde the wordes of the lawe. 10 Therfore sayde he vnto them: Go youre waye, and eate the fat, and drynke the swete, and sende parte vnto them also that haue not prepared themselues: for this daye is holy vnto oure LORDE, be not ye sory therfore: for the ioye of the LORDE is youre strength. 11 And the Leuites stylled all the people, and sayde: Holde youre peace, for the daye is holy, vexe not ye youre selues. 12 And all the people wente their waye to eate and drinke, and to sende parte vnto other, and to make greate myrth, for they had vnderstonde the wordes that were declared vnto them.
• Neh 9:1-9 : 1 In the foure and twentieth daye of this moneth came the children of Israel together with fastinge and sack clothes, and earth vpon them, 2 and separated the sede of Israel from all the straunge children, and stode and knowleged their synnes, and the wyckednesses of their fathers, 3 and stode vp in their place, and red in the boke of the lawe of the LORDE their God foure tymes on the daye, and they knowleged, and worshipped the LORDE their God foure tymes on the daye. 4 And the Leuites stode on hye, namely Iesua, Bani, Cadmiel, Sebania, Buni, Serebia, Bani, and Chenani, and cryed loude vnto the LORDE their God. 5 And the Leuites, Iesua, Cadmiel, Bani, Hasabenia, Serebia, Hodia, Sebania, Pethahia, sayde: Stonde vp, prayse the LORDE oure God for euer: and let thankes be geue vnto the name of thy glorye, which excelleth all thankesgeuynge and prayse. 6 LORDE, thou art alone, thou hast made heauen, and the heauen of all heauens, with all their hoost, the earth and all that therin is, the See and all that is therin: thou geuest life vnto all, and ye hoost of heauen bowe themselues vnto the. 7 Thou art the LORDE God, that hast chosen Abra, and broughte him out of Vr in Chaldea, & called him Abraham, 8 and founde his hert faithfull before the, and madest a couenaut with him, to geue vnto his sede the londe of the Cananites, Hethites, Amorites, Pheresites, Iebusites, and Girgosites, and hast made good thy wordes: for thou art righteous. 9 And hast considered the mysery of oure fathers in Egipte, and herde their complainte by the reed See, 10 and shewed tokes and wonders vpo Pharao, and on all his seruautes, and on all his people of his londe: for thou knewest yt they were presumptuous & cruell against them, & so madest thou the a name as it is this daie. 11 And the reed See partedst thou in sunder before them, so that they wete thorow the myddes of the See drye shod: & their persecuters threwest thou in to the depe as a stone, in the mightie waters, 12 and leddest them on the daye tyme in a cloudy pyler, and on the nighte season in a piler of fyre, to shewe them lighte in the waye yt they wente. 13 Thou camest downe also vpo mount Sinai, and spakest vnto them from heauen, and gauest them righte iudgmentes, true lawes, good commaundementes and statutes, 14 and declared vnto them thy holy Sabbath, and commaunded them preceptes, ordinaunces, and lawes, by Moses thy seruaunt: 15 and gauest them bred from heauen whan they were hongrye, and broughte forth water for them out of the rock whan they were thyrstye: and promysed them, that they shulde go in, and take possession of the londe, where ouer thou haddest lyfte vp thine hande for to geue them. 16 Neuertheles oure fathers were proude and hardnecked, so that they folowed not yi comaundementes, 17 and refused to heare, and were not myndefull of the wonders yt thou dyddest for them: but became obstynate and heady, in so moch that they turned back to their bondage in their dishobedience. But thou my God forgauest, and wast gracious, mercifull, pacient, and of greate goodnesse, and forsokest them not. 18 And though they made a molten calfe (and sayde: This is thy God, that broughte the out of the londe of Egipte) and dyd greate blasphemies, 19 yet forsokest thou them not in the wyldernes, acordinge to thy greate mercy. And ye cloudy piler departed not from them on ye dayetyme to lede them the waye, nether the piler of fyre in the night season, to shewe them lighte in the waye that they wente. 20 And thou gauest them thy good sprete to enfourme them, and withheldest not thy Manna from their mouth, and gauest the water wha they were thirstie. 21 Fortye yeares longe madest thou prouysion for them in the wyldernesse, so that they wanted nothinge: their clothes waxed not olde, and their fete swelled not. 22 And thou gauest the kigdomes & nacions, & partedst the acordinge to their porcions, so that they possessed the londe of Sihon kynge of He?bon, & the londe of Og ye kynge of Basan. 23 And their childre multiplyedst thou as the starres of heauen, and broughtest the in to the londe wherof thou haddest spoken vnto their fathers, that they shulde go in to it, and haue it in possession. 24 And ye children wente in, and possessed the londe, and thou subdudest before the the inhabiters of the londe, euen the Cananites, & gauest them in to their hande, and their kynges and ye people of the londe, yt they might do with them what they wolde. 25 And they wanne their stronge cities, & a fat londe, and toke possession of houses yt were full of all maner goodes, welles dygged out, vynyardes, oylgardens, & many frutefull trees: and they ate & were fylled, & became fat, & lyued in welth thorow thy greate goodnes. 26 Neuertheles they were disobedient, and rebelled agaynst the, and cast thy lawe behynde their backes, and slewe thy prophetes (which exhorted them so earnestly, that they shulde couerte vnto the) and dyd greate blasphemies. 27 Therfore gauest thou them ouer in to the hade of their enemies that vexed them. And in ye tyme of their trouble they cried vnto the, and thou hardest them from heauen: and thorow thy greate mercy thou gauest them sauiours, which helped the out of the hande of their enemies. 28 But whan they came to rest, they turned back agayne to do euell before the: therfore leftest thou them in the hande of their enemies, so yt they had ye dominion ouer them. So they couerted, and cryed vnto the, and thou herdest them from heauen, and many a tyme hast thou delyuered them acordinge to yi greate mercy, 29 and testified vnto them, that they shulde turne agayne vnto thy lawe. Notwithstodinge they were proude, and herkened not vnto thy comaundementes, but synned in thy lawes (which a man shulde do, & lyue in them) & turned their shulder awaye, & were styffnecked, & wolde not heare. 30 And many yeares dyddest thou forbeare them, & testified vnto them thorow yi sprete, euen by the office of yi prophetes, & yet wolde they not heare. Therfore gauest thou the in to ye hade of ye nacions in the londes. 31 But for thy greate mercies sake thou hast not vtterly cosumed them, nether forsaken them: for thou art a gracious and mercifull God. 32 Now oure God, thou greate God, mightie and terrible, thou that kepest couenaunt and mercy, regarde not a litle all the trauayle yt hath happened vnto vs, & oure kynges, prynces, prestes, prophetes, fathers & all thy people, sence the tyme of the kynges of Assur vnto this daie. 33 Thou art righteous in all yt thou hast broughte vpo vs: for thou hast done righte. 34 As for vs, we haue bene vngodly, and or kynges, prynces, prestes & fathers haue not done after yi lawe, ner regarded yi comaundementes, & thy earnest exhortacios wherwith thou hast exhorted them, 35 & haue not serued ye in their kyngdome, and in thy greate goodes yt thou gauest them, and in the large and plenteous lode which thou gauest them to good, and haue not conuerted from their wicked workes. 36 Beholde, therfore are we in bondage this daye: Yee euen in the lode that thou gauest vnto oure fathers, to enioye the frutes and goodes therof, beholde, there are we bondmen. 37 And greate is the increase of it vnto the kynges, whom thou hast set ouer vs because of oure synnes, and they haue dominion ouer oure bodies and catell, and we are in greate trouble. 38 And in all this made we a sure couenaunt, & wrote it, & let or prynces, Leuites & prestes seale it.
• Ps 126:1-2 : 1 When the LORDE turneth agayne ye captiuyte of Sion, then shal we be like vnto them that dreame. 2 The shal oure mouth be fylled with laughter, and oure tonge with ioye.
• Gen 21:6 : 6 And Sara sayde: God hath prepared a ioye for me, for who so euer heareth of it, wyll reioyse with me.