Charles Ellicott Commentary Ecclesiastes 3:5

"a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;" — Ecclesiastes 3:5 (ASV)

Gather stones.— As the collecting of stones for building purposes is included in Ecclesiastes 3:4, it is thought that what is here referred to is the clearing or marring of land (Isaiah 5:2; Isaiah 62:10; 2 Kings 3:19; 2 Kings 3:25).