Ecclesiastes 3:4

Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

A time to weep, And a time to laugh. A time to mourn, And a time to skip.

📖 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 inspired one, sister of Aaron, taketh the timbrel in her hand, and all the women go out after her, with timbrels and with choruses;
• Rom 12:15 : 15 to rejoice with the rejoicing, and to weep with the weeping,
• John 16:20-22 : 20 verily, verily, I say to you, that ye shall weep and lament, and the world will rejoice; and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow joy will become. 21 `The woman, when she may bear, hath sorrow, because her hour did come, and when she may bear the child, no more doth she remember the anguish, because of the joy that a man was born to the world. 22 `And ye, therefore, now, indeed, have sorrow; and again I will see you, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no one doth take from you,
• Ps 30:5 : 5 For -- a moment `is' in His anger, Life `is' in His good-will, At even remaineth weeping, and at morn singing.
• 2 Cor 7:10 : 10 for the sorrow toward God reformation to salvation not to be repented of doth work, and the sorrow of the world doth work death,
• Jas 4:9 : 9 be exceeding afflicted, and mourn, and weep, let your laughter to mourning be turned, and the joy to heaviness;
• Ps 126:5-6 : 5 Those sowing in tears, with singing do reap, 6 Whoso goeth on and weepeth, Bearing the basket of seed, Surely cometh in with singing, bearing his sheaves!
• Isa 22:12-13 : 12 And call doth the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, In that day, to weeping and to lamentation, And to baldness and to girding on of sackcloth, 13 And lo, joy and gladness, slaying of oxen, And slaughtering of sheep, Eating of flesh, and drinking of wine, Eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.
• Matt 9:15 : 15 And Jesus said to them, `Can the sons of the bride-chamber mourn, so long as the bridegroom is with them? but days shall come when the bridegroom may be taken from them, and then they shall fast.
• Matt 11:17 : 17 and saying, We piped unto you, and ye did not dance, we lamented to you, and ye did not smite the breast.
• Luke 1:13-14 : 13 and the messenger said unto him, `Fear not, Zacharias, for thy supplication was heard, and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear a son to thee, and thou shalt call his name John, 14 and there shall be joy to thee, and gladness, and many at his birth shall joy,
• Luke 1:58 : 58 and the neighbours and her kindred heard that the Lord was making His kindness great with her, and they were rejoicing with her.
• Luke 6:21-25 : 21 `Happy those hungering now -- because ye shall be filled. `Happy those weeping now -- because ye shall laugh. 22 `Happy are ye when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you, and shall reproach, and shall cast forth your name as evil, for the Son of Man's sake -- 23 rejoice in that day, and leap, for lo, your reward `is' great in the heaven, for according to these things were their fathers doing to the prophets. 24 `But wo to you -- the rich, because ye have got your comfort. 25 `Wo to you who have been filled -- because ye shall hunger. `Wo to you who are laughing now -- because ye shall mourn and weep.
• 2 Sam 6:16 : 16 and it hath come to pass, the ark of Jehovah hath come in to the city of David, and Michal daughter of Saul, hath looked through the window, and seeth king David moving and dancing before Jehovah, and despiseth him in her heart.
• Neh 8:9-9 : 9 And Nehemiah -- he `is' the Tirshatha -- saith (and Ezra the priest, the scribe, and the Levites who are instructing the people) to all the people, `To-day is holy to Jehovah your God, do not mourn, nor weep:' for all the people are weeping at their hearing the words of the law. 10 And he saith to them, `Go, eat fat things, and drink sweet things, and sent portions to him for whom nothing is prepared, for to-day `is' holy to our Lord, and be not grieved, for the joy of Jehovah is your strength.' 11 And the Levites are keeping all the people silent, saying, `Be silent, for to-day `is' holy, and be not grieved.' 12 And all the people go to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great joy, because they have understood concerning the words that they made known to them.
• Neh 9:1-9 : 1 And in the twenty and fourth day of this month have the sons of Israel been gathered, with fasting, and with sackcloth, and earth upon them; 2 and the seed of Israel are separated from all sons of a stranger, and stand and confess concerning their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers, 3 and rise up on their station, and read in the book of the law of Jehovah their God a fourth of the day, and a fourth they are confessing and bowing themselves to Jehovah their God. 4 And there stand up on the ascent, of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, Chenani, and they cry with a loud voice unto Jehovah their God. 5 And the Levites say, `even' Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, Pethahiah, `Rise, bless Jehovah your God, from the age unto the age, and they bless the name of Thine honour that `is' exalted above all blessing and praise. 6 Thou `art' He, O Jehovah, Thyself -- Thou hast made the heavens, the heavens of the heavens, and all their host, the earth and all that `are' on it, the seas and all that `are' in them, and Thou art keeping all of them alive, and the host of the heavens to Thee are bowing themselves. 7 `Thou `art' He, O Jehovah God, who didst fix on Abraham, and didst bring him out from Ur of the Chaldeans, and didst make his name Abraham, 8 and didst find his heart stedfast before Thee, so as to make with him the covenant, to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite, and the Girgashite, to give `it' to his seed. `And Thou dost establish Thy words, for Thou `art' righteous, 9 and dost see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and their cry hast heard by the sea of Suph, 10 and dost give signs and wonders on Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land, for Thou hast known that they have acted proudly against them, and Thou makest to Thee a name as `at' this day. 11 And the sea Thou hast cleaved before them, and they pass over into the midst of the sea on the dry land, and their pursuers Thou hast cast into the depths, as a stone, into the strong waters. 12 And by a pillar of cloud Thou hast led them by day, and by a pillar of fire by night, to lighten to them the way in which they go. 13 `And on mount Sinai Thou hast come down, even to speak with them from the heavens, and Thou dost give to them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commands. 14 And Thy holy sabbath Thou hast made known to them, and commands, and statutes, and law, Thou hast commanded for them, by the hand of Moses Thy servant; 15 and bread from the heavens Thou hast given to them for their hunger, and water from a rock hast brought out to them for their thirst, and dost say to them to go in to possess the land that Thou hast lifted up Thy hand to give to them. 16 `And they and our fathers have acted proudly, and harden their neck, and have not hearkened unto Thy commands, 17 yea, they refuse to hearken, and have not remembered Thy wonders that Thou hast done with them, and harden their neck and appoint a head, to turn back to their service, in their rebellion; and Thou `art' a God of pardons, gracious, and merciful, long-suffering, and abundant in kindness, and hast not forsaken them. 18 `Also, when they have made to themselves a molten calf, and say, this `is' thy god that brought thee up out of Egypt, and do great despisings, 19 and Thou, in Thine abundant mercies, hast not forsaken them in the wilderness -- the pillar of the cloud hath not turned aside from off them by day, to lead them in the way, and the pillar of the fire by night, to give light to them and the way in which they go. 20 `And Thy good Spirit Thou hast given, to cause them to act wisely; and Thy manna Thou hast not withheld from their mouth, and water Thou hast given to them for their thirst, 21 and forty years Thou hast nourished them in a wilderness; they have not lacked; their garments have not worn out, and their feet have not swelled. 22 `And Thou givest to them kingdoms, and peoples, and dost apportion them to the corner, and they possess the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan. 23 And their sons Thou hast multiplied as the stars of the heavens, and bringest them in unto the land that Thou hast said to their fathers to go in to possess. 24 `And the sons come in, and possess the land, and Thou humblest before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and givest them into their hand, and their kings, and the peoples of the land, to do with them according to their pleasure. 25 And they capture fenced cities, and fat ground, and possess houses full of all good, digged-wells, vineyards, and olive-yards, and fruit-trees in abundance, and they eat, and are satisfied, and become fat, and delight themselves in Thy great goodness. 26 `And they are disobedient, and rebel against Thee, and cast Thy law behind their back, and Thy prophets they have slain, who testified against them, to bring them back unto Thee, and they do great despisings, 27 and Thou givest them into the hand of their adversaries, and they distress them, and in the time of their distress they cry unto Thee, and Thou, from the heavens, dost hear, and, according to Thine abundant mercies, dost give to them saviours, and they save them out of the hand of their adversaries. 28 `And when they have rest, they turn back to do evil before Thee, and Thou dost leave them in the hand of their enemies, and they rule over them; and they turn back, and call Thee, and Thou from the heavens dost hear, and dost deliver them, according to Thy mercies, many times, 29 and dost testify against them, to bring them back unto Thy law; and they -- they have acted proudly, and have not hearkened to Thy commands, and against Thy judgments have sinned, -- which man doth and hath lived in them -- and they give a refractory shoulder, and their neck have hardened, and have not hearkened. 30 `And Thou drawest over them many years, and testifiest against them by Thy Spirit, by the hand of Thy prophets, and they have not given ear, and Thou dost give them into the hand of peoples of the lands, 31 and in Thine abundant mercies Thou hast not made them a consumption, nor hast forsaken them; for a God, gracious and merciful, `art' Thou. 32 `And now, O our God -- God, the great, the mighty, and the fearful, keeping the covenant and the kindness -- let not all the travail that hath found us be little before Thee, for our kings, for our heads, and for our priests, and for our prophets, and for our fathers, and for all Thy people, from the days of the kings of Asshur unto this day; 33 and Thou `art' righteous concerning all that hath come upon us, for truth Thou hast done, and we have done wickedly; 34 and our kings, our heads, our priests, and our fathers, have not done Thy law, nor attended unto Thy commands, and to Thy testimonies, that Thou hast testified against them; 35 and they, in their kingdom, and in Thine abundant goodness, that Thou hast given to them, and in the land, the large and the fat, that Thou hast set before them, have not served Thee, nor turned back from their evil doings. 36 `Lo, we -- to-day -- `are' servants, and the land that Thou hast given to our fathers, to eat its fruit and its good -- lo, we `are' servants on it, 37 and its increase it is multiplying to the kings whom Thou hast set over us in our sins; and over our bodies they are ruling, and over our cattle, according to their pleasure, and we `are' in great distress. 38 And for all this we are making a stedfast covenant, and are writing, and over him who is sealed `are' our heads, our Levites, our priests.'
• Ps 126:1-2 : 1 A Song of the Ascents. In Jehovah's turning back `to' the captivity of Zion, We have been as dreamers. 2 Then filled `with' laughter is our mouth, And our tongue `with' singing, Then do they say among nations, `Jehovah did great things with these.'
• Gen 21:6 : 6 and Sarah saith, `God hath made laughter for me; every one who is hearing laugheth for me.'