There is a time for everything

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In French, the phrase un temps pour tout is used as an idiom, comparable in meaning to “Everything comes to those who wait.” (Source: Muller 1991, p. 16)

mourn

The Hebrew, Latin, and Greek that is translated as “mourn” or similar in English is translated in Newari as “have one’s heart broken” or “have a bursting heart” (source: Newari Back Translation).

In Cherokee it is translated as “going around feeling badly” (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 16).

joy

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The Greek, Latin, Ge’ez, and Hebrew that is translated with “joy” or “gladness” in English is translated with various strategies:

  • Baoulé: “a song in the stomach” (see also peace (inner peace))
  • Bambara: “the spirit is made sweet”
  • Kpelle: “sweet heart”
  • Tzeltal: “the good taste of one’s heart”
  • Uduk: “good to the stomach”
  • Mískito: “the liver is wide open” (“happily letting the pleasures flooding in upon it”) (source for this and above: Nida 1952)
  • Mairasi: “good liver” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Noongar: koort-kwabba-djil or “heart very good” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “refreshed heart” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.).
  • Hausa Common Language Bible: farin ciki or “white stomach.” Other languages that use the same expression include Southern Birifor (pʋpɛl), Dera (popolok awo), Reshe (ɾipo ɾipuhã). (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

See also Seat of the Mind for traditional views of “ways of knowing, thinking, and feeling,” happiness / joy, and exceeding joy.

complete verse (Ecclesiastes 3:4)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ecclesiastes 3:4:

  • Kupsabiny: “There is a day for crying and one for laughing,
    there is a day for morning and one for singing/dancing.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “There is a time to weep, there is a time to laugh.
    There is a time to mourn, there is a time to dance.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “there is a time to cry and there is also a time to laugh,
    there is a time to mourn and there is also a time to dance,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Ecclesiastes 3:4

A time to weep almost certainly means a time to weep in lamentation, hence Good News Translation “a time for sorrow.” Note, however, that this verb is set over against the verb “laugh.”

A time to laugh: although Qoheleth sometimes uses “laugh” with a negative meaning (as in 7.3), here it appears to be joyous laughter (Good News Translation “a time for joy”).

Suggestions for translation are:

• Sometimes it is right to weep [in mourning], sometimes it is right to laugh [for joy].

• We weep at certain times, and we laugh at certain times.

A time to mourn reminds us that we don’t always mourn, and that even for periods of mourning there are fixed limits.

A time to dance illustrates the opposite reaction to mourning. Dancing is usually associated with moments of great joy and thanksgiving, and may be for religious or other purposes. Whichever it is, the point Qoheleth stresses is that we do these things only when it is appropriate. So “there is a right time to mourn and a right time to dance.” Dancing may have different meanings and purposes in cultures other than the Israelite one, so it is possible that some clarification is called for. In many parts of Africa, for example, dancing is an inherent part of mourning. So the translator may find it necessary to use a term like “celebration” to show what the dancing expresses.

Two possible examples for translation are:

• There is a time to sit and mourn and a time to rise up and dance.

• There is a time to mourn in sorrow, and a time to dance for joy.

Translators should avoid the Good News Translation example “He sets the time for…,” which suggests that God is the one who determines the time. As explained above, this makes the translation go beyond the ideas expressed in the poem.

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Ecclesiastes 3:4

3:4a a time to weep and a time to laugh,

⌊There is⌋ a time for weeping, and a time for laughing.
-or-

⌊There is also⌋ a time ⌊when people⌋ cry and a time ⌊when people⌋ laugh.
-or-

⌊People⌋ are sad at certain times and ⌊people⌋ are happy at certain times.

3:4b a time to mourn and a time to dance,

⌊There is⌋ a time for grieving, and a time for dancing.
-or-
There is a time ⌊when people⌋ lament and a time ⌊when people⌋ dance.
-or-

⌊People⌋ sit and mourn at certain times and ⌊people⌋ rise up and dance at certain times.

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Commentaire sur la traduction de l'Ecclésiaste 3.4

un temps pour pleurer et un temps pour rire : la paire pleurer-rire sera facile à rendre en traduction. Il s’agit de pleurer de tristesse et non de joie, bien sûr.

un temps pour se lamenter et un temps pour danser : ces verbes négatif et positif sont parallèles aux verbes dans le vers précédent. Il s’agit encore une fois de deux actes physiques.

se lamenter veut dire crier à haute voix, le plus souvent pendant un temps de deuil. Les Israélites se sont lamentés face à des catastrophes, mais aussi lorsqu’ils se rendaient compte de leur péché. Si l’on utilise une expression comme « crier à haute voix », il faudrait s’assurer qu’il ne s’agit pas de « crier de colère ». Il est question de pleurer, « sangloter », « exprimer son deuil ». En Israël les gens s’asseyaient par terre, déchiraient leurs vêtements, et versaient des cendres sur leur tête, en criant à haute voix leur douleur.

danser est l’opposé de se lamenter. Lorsqu’on est très content, on danse de joie. Dans certaines cultures, on danse aussi pendant les funérailles et cette danse peut exprimer la douleur. Si c’est le cas, le traducteur devra rendre explicite « danser de joie ».

Source: Zogbo, Lynell. L’Ecclésiaste – Manuel de traduction – Commentaire linguistique et exégétique de la Bible. Alliance biblique universelle, 2021.