Many commentators see this verse as a later addition to the poetic lines of verses 2-8. However, as we have suggested, verse 1 by its very structure shows that it belongs to the total pattern of the poem. The translator therefore must determine whether verse 1 should be represented as an introduction to the poem (Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, Jerusalem Bible) or as part of the poem itself (New Jerusalem Bible). Ending the verse with a colon helps the reader to see that it is a general introduction to all that follows.

For everything introduces this very general statement about time. In Hebrew we have a simple noun clause “to [or, for] everything [all], a season.” “All” refers to events or actions within human life on earth. If terms like “all” and “everything” are considered too general, a longer clause can be used: “all events,” “all activity,” “everything that happens [in the world].”

The Hebrew term for season is from a root meaning “devise, plan” and it comes to mean “appointed time” as in Dan 2.16. The question we may want to ask is, Who determines the times? As noted above, Good News Translation answers that when it says that they are the times that “God chooses.” While that may be true, yet there are many actions in the list in which people are the major actors. Good News Translation may have gone too far in adding this interpretation to its translation. Translation should reflect this broader meaning, so “All things happen at fixed times,” or “Every event has its appointed time,” or “There are appropriate times for everything.”

A time for every matter under heaven introduces a second term for time, matching the one in the first half of the verse and its sense of moments or points of time. With the phrase every matter we meet the word “matter” from the root meaning “pleasure.” It can mean “will” or “purpose.” Its meaning can be given as “everything we do” or “everything we plan.” For under heaven see comments on 1.13. It is used throughout this book to describe events on earth, in human history, but can obviously refer to things both people and God purpose to do.

Difficulties will arise when our translation involves cultural groups with a very different approach to what is here called time. In some cultures the idea of particular moments of time may be absurd. It will be difficult to render the meaning of this poem without mentioning the word “time,” but alternatives may need to be found. So, for example, we may have to consider the situation or event that tells people that it is time to do something: “[When nine months are past] a child is born; [when a person grows old] he will die” to convey the sense of verse 2a, and “[when the rains come] we plant [crops]”; “[when the southeast wind blows] we can dig up [crops]” for verse 2b.

As indicated above, this verse has a chiastic structure, or X-structure. It involves the use of two terms, time and season, but if there is only one term in the translator’s language, then the chiastic pattern may not be easily retained. If the translator wishes to preserve the chiastic form, then the one term available can be repeated in both parts of the verse; for example, “Everything has its appointed time, and every time has its appropriate action.” Translators will also note that some translations such as Good News Translation and FRCL combine the parallel structure into one clause, “Everything in this world has an appointed time.” In some languages where chiastic structures are not acceptable, we may be able to repeat the sentence: “Everything in its time; everything in its time on this earth.” This form of “ascending parallelism” can be very effective.

Two models for translation are:

• Every event has its appointed time; everything we do has a right time.

• Everything has its appropriate time and there is an appointed time for everything.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Zogbo, Lynell. A Handbook on the Book of Ecclesiates. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .