What Does Ecclesiastes 3:14 Mean in the King James?
I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Awe begins when you recognize that God’s work is whole beyond human improvement or removal.
THE MEANING
You encounter God’s work as something that stands through the ages: nothing can be added to it or diminished from it. Its wholeness brings you into awe before God.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that God’s work is unfinished until you improve it, or that human change can make it more complete.
THE ROOT
עוֹלָם
ʿolam
GROWS FROM
עלם
Age or long duration; the word is also associated with what lies beyond view.
“for ever” in this verse is ʿolam. עוֹלָם (ʿolam, age) gives this line a span that reaches beyond what you can see or measure. The related forms of the root carry the sense of concealment, so the verse holds both endurance and a horizon beyond human grasp.
ALSO GROWS
ʿalam: to conceal or hide
עָלַם
Its shared consonants echo the unseen horizon carried by the age through which God’s work endures.
neʿlam: hidden or unknown
נֶעְלָם
What remains beyond your grasp does not make God’s work incomplete or open to your revision.
יִרְאוּ
yirʾu
GROWS FROM
ירא
To fear, revere, or stand in awe.
The same root can name fear and reverence; here, with God as the one before whom people stand, the word carries awe. That awe follows from seeing a work that cannot be augmented or diminished.
ALSO GROWS
yareʾ: to fear or revere
יָרֵא
The verb shows fear as a response to the one before whom you stand.
yirʾah: fear or awe
יִרְאָה
This noun makes visible the verse’s movement from God’s enduring work to human awe.
עֹשֶׂה
ʿoseh
GROWS FROM
עשה
To do or make.
“doeth” in this verse is ʿoseh. The verse uses this root twice: God’s doing endures, and God does it so that people stand in awe. The repeated root binds the lasting work to the awe it evokes; neither is separate from God’s action.
ALSO GROWS
maʿaseh: deed or work
מַעֲשֶׂה
It names the work that cannot be enlarged or reduced.
ʿasiyah: action or doing
עֲשִׂיָּה
It keeps the verse grounded in an act, not merely an abstract claim about permanence.
THE PATTERN
What God purposes stands through time beyond human revision.
The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.THE THREAD
He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.The same Hebrew word, עוֹלָם (ʿolam, age), appears as “world” here and “for ever” in 3:14. The age rests in the human heart beyond full grasp, while God’s work stands across it beyond human alteration.
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