Bible Strands
Ecclesiastes 3:3
a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Qohelet addresses an unspecified audience within a rapid catalog of paired opposites (Ecclesiastes 3:1–8), framed by the claim that "for everything there is a season" (3:1). This verse sits mid-list, between birth/death and weeping/laughing.
The words — 'et (עֵת, H6256) is the structural hinge, repeated four times; it denotes not mere chronological time but a divinely appointed window. f.Rotz (לִפְרוֹץ, H6555) is a violent verb meaning "to burst, shatter," not a gentle breaking.
The thread — The same paired pattern of divine action appears in Hosea 6:1 (torn/healed), 1 Samuel 2:6 (death/life, Sheol/raised up), and Jeremiah 45:4 (demolish what was built). In each case the pairs are attributed to the LORD's hand, not to chance.
Why it lands — The verse refuses to let a reader settle in any single state; killing and healing, breaking and building are all equally real and equally appointed. It asks the reader to stop treating their current season as the final word.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
Cross-references
- Hosea 6:1 Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.
- 1 Samuel 2:6 The LORD brings death and gives life; He brings down to Sheol and raises up.
- Jeremiah 45:4 Thus Jeremiah was to say to Baruch: “This is what the LORD says: Throughout the land I will demolish what I have built and uproot what I have planted.
- Jeremiah 31:28 Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, to demolish, destroy, and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the LORD.
- Deuteronomy 32:39 See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My hand.
- Isaiah 44:26 who confirms the message of His servant and fulfills the counsel of His messengers, who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be inhabited,’ and of the cities of Judah, ‘They will be rebuilt, and I will restore their ruins,’
- Isaiah 5:5 Now I will tell you what I am about to do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will tear down its wall, and it will be trampled.
- 1 Samuel 2:25 If a man sins against another man, God can intercede for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to their father, since the LORD intended to put them to death.
- Isaiah 38:5 “Go and tell Hezekiah that this is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: ‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.
- Jeremiah 33:6 Nevertheless, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal its people and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth.