A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
All Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 3:5 Go To Ecclesiastes 3
Didymus the Blind
AD 398
In the literal sense the following is said: The law prescribes that Israel’s judges have to investigate the behavior of the people; and if someone was found to have done prohibited things, he was to be convicted to be stoned.… Now, we relate the verse to rebuke instead of stoning. The wise teacher knows whom he has to rebuke and whom not, and in a certain way he throws the rebuke like stones in order to dissuade the rebuked from a bad way of life. If the person improves through the rebuke, the rebuke is gathered in and no more stones are thrown against him. Paul indicates this when he says, “Convince, rebuke and encourage!” By rebuking and convincing he was throwing stones. After seeing the one who was rebuked improve, he encourages and gathers the stones together. The following is meant: There is a time to punish and a time not to punish.
