Charles Ellicott Commentary Ecclesiastes 3:17

"I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work." — Ecclesiastes 3:17 (ASV)

A time there—namely, with God. In this verse a judgment after this life is clearly spoken of, but not yet asserted as a conclusion definitely adopted, but only as a belief of the writer’s conflicting with the doubts expressed in the following verses. I said in mine heart, with which Ecclesiastes 3:17-18 both begin, conveys the idea, “I thought,” and “yet again I thought.” The writer returns again to speak of the punishment of the wicked in Ecclesiastes 8:15 and Ecclesiastes 11:9.