Ecclesiastes 3:4

Ecc 3:4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

Ver. 4. A time to weep, and a time to laugh.] Only we must not invert the order, but weep with men that we may laugh with angels; lay godly sorrow as a foundation of spiritual joy. Surely out of this eater comes meat; out of this strong, sweet. Strong and sweet refreshments follow upon penitential performances; these April showers bring on May flowers. Tertullian saith that he was nulli rei natus nisi poenitentiae, born for no other purpose but to repent; but then he that truly repenteth, de peccatis dolet et de dolore gaudet, is grieved for his sins, and then is glad of such a grief. "Those that so sow in tears shall reap in joy": whereas those that will not - in an evil time, especially when God "calls to weeping and mourning," {Isa 22:12} and even thrusts men down, as it were, with a thump on the back - weep here, where there are weeping handkerchiefs in the hands of Christ, are like to have their eyes whipt out in hell, and to howl with devils.

A time to mourn.] Matter enough of mourning we shall be sure of (and we should be soberly sensible of it) while we are in this vale of misery, valley of tears, in hoc exilio, in hoc ergastulo, in hoc peregrinatione, as Bernard hath it, in this prison house, purgatory, pilgrimage. In this place of banishment and bondage, how can we look for better? God sets us not here, as he did Adam in paradise, to take his pleasure, or as he did Leviathan in the sea, to sport and dally. We must not think to do as the people of Tombutum, in Africa, who are said to spend their time in singing and dancing. The way of this world is like the wilderness of Sin, or the vale of Siddim, or the Pacific Sea, which Captain Drake found tempestuous and troublous above measure. {a} Many miseries and molestations, both satanical and secular, we are sure to meet with, to make us mourn. Jerome complains that he had furrows in his face, and icicles from his lips, with continual weeping. Origen is thought to have died of grief. Chrysostom calls the days of his life the days of his sorrow. Basil was made old and unprofitable for God’s Church before his time, with travail and trouble. Rebecca is weary of her life; so is Elijah. Naomi will be Naomi no longer, but Marah; Paul veils all his topsails, and sits down in the dust, {1Ti 1:15} besides his sympathising with others. {2Co 11:29-30}

And a time to dance.] Or, Skip, as young cattle do at spring time. Here is nothing for mixed immodest dancings. Quid opus est talibus salsamentis? What need people provoke themselves to that evil they so naturally incline to? Nemo sobrius saltat, said the heathen orator: No sober man will offer to dance. Where there is dancing, there the devil is, saith a Father: {b} and cannot men be merry unless they have the devil for their playfellow? Dancing, saith another, {c} is a circle, whose centre is the devil, but busily blowing up the fire of lust, as in Herod, that old goat.

{a} Camden’s Elisabeth.

{b} Chrysostom.

{c} Augustine.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

mourn--namely, for the dead (Gen 23:2).

dance--as David before the ark (Sa2 6:12-14; Psa 30:11); spiritually (Mat 9:15; Luk 6:21; Luk 15:25). The Pharisees, by requiring sadness out of time, erred seriously.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 4. A time to weep, - laugh, - mourn, - dance]

_________________ "When private griefs affect

The heart, our tears with decent sorrow flow;

Nor less becoming, when the public mourns,

To vent the deepest sighs. But all around

When things a smiling aspect bear, our souls

May well exult; 'tis then a time for joy."

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(4) Mourn.—This is the ordinary word used for noisy funeral lamentations (Jer_4:8; 1Sa_25:1).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. a time to weep] The two couples are naturally grouped together, the first taking in the natural spontaneous expression of individual feeling, the second the more formal manifestation of the feelings in the mourners and wailers of a funeral (Zec_12:10, where the same verb is found) and the dancers at a wedding feast. In the parable of the Children in the Market-place our Lord practically inculcates the lesson of the Debater. The Scribes who sneered at the fasts of John’s disciples, and condemned the disciples of Jesus for not fasting were as the children whose dramatic funerals and weddings were alike out of place and inopportune, and so the true followers after the Wisdom which “is justified of her children,” who recognised that the ascetic and the joyous life had each its true time and season, would not weep to their lamenting or dance to their piping (Mat_11:16-19).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

A time to weep, and a time to laugh,.... There is a time for these things, as it goes ill or well with persons, as to their health, estate, or friends; and as it goes ill or well with kingdoms and states. The Jews wept when they were in Babylon, and their mouths were filled with laughter when their captivity was returned, Psa 137:1; and as it goes ill or well with the church of Christ, when there are corruptions in doctrine and worship, a neglect of ordinances, declensions in faith and practice, few instances of conversion, and there are divisions and contentions, it is a time for the mourners in Zion to weep but when God creates Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy, or makes her an eternal excellency, and the praise of the whole earth, then it is a time to rejoice and be glad, Isa 61:3; and as it is, with believers, when Christ is withdrawn from them, it is a time to lament, but, when the bridegroom is with them, it is a time of joy; when it is a night of darkness and desertion, weeping endures, but when the morning comes, the day breaks, and the sun of righteousness arises, joy comes with it, Mat 9:15 Joh 16:19. Now in the present state is the saints' weeping time; in the time to come they will laugh, or be filled with joy unspeakable and full of glory, Luk 6:21;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance; to mourn at funerals, and to dance at festivals; in a spiritual sense, God sometimes turns the mourning of his people into dancing, or joy, which that is expressive of; see Psa 30:11.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

A time to weep; when men shall have just occasion for weeping and mourning.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

4. Weep… laugh… mourn — The human heart must vent its emotions, and they must have appropriate expression. Tears are no more virtuous than laughter. The moral quality lies further back than the mere expression. Life is full of both. “Man, thou pendulum between a smile and tear!” To dance should be to rejoice, which is the exact opposite of to mourn. The Hebrew to dance is clearly used from its rhyming or mating the word to mourn. But even “to dance” expresses joyousness.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

A time to weep, and a time to laugh, grouped naturally with a time to mourn, and a time to dance. The funeral and the wedding, the hired mourners and the guests at the marriage-feast, are set against one another. The first clause intimates the spontaneous manifestation of the feelings of the heart; the second, their formal expression in the performances at funerals and weddings and on other solemn occasions. The contrast is found in the Lord"s allusion to the sulky children in the marketplace, who would not join their companions" play: "We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented". (Mat_11:17) Dancing sometimes accompanied religious sere-monies, as when David brought up the ark. (2Sa_6:14, 2Sa_6:16)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

To weep - When men have just occasion for weeping.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

"To weep has its time, and to laugh has its time; to mourn has its time, and to dance has its time." It is possible that the author was led by the consonance from livnoth to livkoth, which immediately follows it; but the sequence of the thoughts is at the same time inwardly mediated, for sorrow kills and joy enlivens, Sir. 32:21-24. ספוד is particularly lamentation for the dead, Zac 12:10; and רקוד, dancing (in the more modern language the usual word for hholēl, kirkēr, hhāgǎg) at a marriage festival and on other festal occasions.

It is more difficult to say what leads the author to the two following pairs of contrasts: -

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

General Information:

The writer continues with merisms to describe various aspects of life from one extreme to the other. (See: Merism)

embrace

to hold someone in your arms to show love or friendship

translationWords

mourn

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

A time to weep on the ninth of Av.

and a time to laugh in the future, as it is said (Ps. 126:2): “Then our mouths will be filled with laughter.”

a time of wailing in the days of mourning.

and a time of dancing with bridegrooms and brides.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.