A time to love does not necessarily have sexual nuances and can be broader in meaning, speaking also of the love between a father and son, or between God and people. It denotes a caring attitude toward another person. Also in Scripture the word speaks more of loving action than of simple emotion: “A time to act lovingly [or, caringly].”

A time to hate should not be thought of as encouraging a person to hate someone else. When Good News Translation says “He sets the time for … hate,” it seems inappropriate, for Qoheleth never suggests that God agrees with that kind of activity. It is also not clear whether love and hate are to be used with human objects in mind. Quite possibly Qoheleth is thinking of the right time for these activities in a figurative sense. For example, we should “love good” and “hate evil.” Once again the translator should guard against making the translation more precise than the original.

Two models for translation are:

• There are times when people are loving, and there are times when they are hateful.

• There are right times for loving and right times for hating.

A time for war indicates that people go to war only at certain times and in response to certain situations. For example, battles in the ancient world were not usually fought when there were crops to be harvested (see 2 Sam 11.1).

A time for peace balances the saying and indicates that there are times when wholeness, security, and well-being are best attained. The Hebrew term rendered as peace (shalom) refers not just to the absence of war, but describes a situation of total well-being. However, in the present context a word like “peace” or “not fighting” can be used.

As noted earlier the last line of the poem differs from the rest of the poem in that it uses noun forms, “war” and “peace,” in place of verb forms. This is a stylistic way of marking the end of the poem. Indeed the question that follows in verse 9 clearly indicates a change in direction and thought and thus marks a new paragraph. If the translator’s language has a special way of noting the close of a poem, then that is what should be considered for use here.

What Qoheleth sets forth in these twenty-eight contrasting actions is a selection of general activities, all of which are undertaken at given moments in time. For those involved in these activities there are moments when one action is appropriate and others when it is not. Time and action are coordinated, says Qoheleth.

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 .