A time to seek, and a time to lose is a further general example of certain kinds of conduct. The verb seek often has the sense of “seeking to attain some goal or object” and so can be translated as “a time to aim for some goal.” A time to lose has little meaning unless we appreciate that the verb “lose” can also denote giving up something as lost, or abandoning the search for something. Here the translator needs to find a verb pair which expresses such opposites. Remember that, if the verb in our language requires an object, then we should use the most general word available.

Some models for translation are:

• There is an appropriate time to seek something, and an appropriate time to give up on something.

• There is a time to try to attain some goal and a time to give up [trying].

• There is a time to search and a time to stop searching.

A time to keep, and a time to cast away: the first verb, keep or “preserve,” also means “obey [laws],” though this latter sense may not be adequate here. The lack of an object makes it difficult to know precisely what Qoheleth intends. Even though these examples only illustrate the principle of appropriate times, we may have difficulty rendering them meaningfully in languages where the verb requires an object, unless we can say “keep things” and “throw away things.”

A time to cast away uses the same verb and form as in verse 5a. Qoheleth is here speaking generally of good times for saving things and good times for throwing things away. This is reflected in Good News Translation. However, the Good News Translation creates a difficulty for us when it states that God is the one who determines the times for these activities. For reasons already given above, we should use a general expression and not specify God as the subject. If one is absolutely required by the verb, then it must be the general “you,” or “we,” or “one.”

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 .