Ecclesiastes 9:11
→Bible→Old Testament→Ecclesiastes
11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
11 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to the men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all. (RSV)
"Time and chance happen to all"
The meaning of this wise saying is clear in its context. Fast runners can lose races, strong warriors can lose battles, wise people can go hungry, intelligent people can live in poverty, skilful people can be disrespected. As time passes, random things occur, and expected outcomes never come.
See also Ecclesiastes 7:11-13: "Consider the work of God; who can make straight what he has made crooked?"
Time and chance in the natural world
The examples of chance occurrences cited in this verse all relate to human nature and human expectations. Elsewhere in Scripture we learn that chance has a much wider scope. Our question is whether the Creator makes use of chance events, allowing things to happen "naturally".
