Ecclesiastes 11 Commentary

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Ecclesiastes 11:1  Cast your bread on the surface of the waters, for you will find it after many days.

• Cast: That is, says Bp. Lowth, "Sow thy seed or corn on the face of the waters;" in plain terms, sow without any hope of a harvest:  do good even to them on whom your benefactions seem thrown away.  Dr. Jebb has well illustrated it by the following passages:
•     "Vain are the favours done to vicious men;
•     Not vainer 'tis to sow the foaming deep.
•     The deep no pleasant harvest shall afford,
•     Nor will the wicked ever make return."
•     "To befriend the wicked is like sowing in the sea."  These,
•     indeed, invert this precept; nor is it extraordinary that they should;
•     "The one, frail human power alone produced,
•     The other, God."
• thy bread: De 15:7-11 Pr 11:24,25 22:9 Isa 32:8 
• waters: Heb. face of the waters, Isa 32:20 
• for: Ec 11:6 De 15:10 Ps 41:1,2 126:5,6 Pr 11:18 19:17 Mt 10:13,42 25:40 Lu 14:14 2Co 9:6 Ga 6:8-10 Heb 6:10 

Cast your bread on the surface of the waters, for you will find it after many days.

Ecclesiastes 11:2  Divide your portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what misfortune may occur on the earth.

• a portion: Ne 8:10 Es 9:19,22 Ps 112:9 Lu 6:30-35 1Ti 6:18,19 
• seven: Job 5:19 Pr 6:16 Mic 5:5 Mt 18:22 Lu 17:4 
• for: Da 4:27 Ac 11:28-30 Ga 6:1 Eph 5:16 Heb 13:3 

Divide your portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what misfortune may occur on the earth.

Ecclesiastes 11:3  If the clouds are full, they pour out rain upon the earth; and whether a tree falls toward the south or toward the north, wherever the tree falls, there it lies.

• the clouds: 1Ki 18:45 Ps 65:9-13 Isa 55:10,11 1Jn 3:17 
• if the tree: Mt 3:10 Lu 13:7 16:22-26 

If the clouds are full, they pour out rain upon the earth; and whether a tree falls toward the south or toward the north, wherever the tree falls, there it lies

Ecclesiastes 11:4  He who watches the wind will not sow and he who looks at the clouds will not reap.

• Pr 3:27 20:4 22:13 

He who watches the wind will not sow and he who looks at the clouds will not reap.

Ecclesiastes 11:5  Just as you do not know the path of the wind and how bones are formed in the womb of the pregnant woman, so you do not know the activity of God who makes all things.

• thou knowest not what: Joh 3:8 
• nor: Ps 139:14,15 
• even: Ec 7:24 8:17 Job 5:9 26:5-14 36:24-33 37:23 38:4-41 39:1-41:34 Ps 40:5 92:5 104:24 Isa 40:28 Ro 11:33 

Just as you do not know the path of the wind and how bones are formed in the womb of the pregnant woman, so you do not know the activity of God who makes all things.

Ecclesiastes 11:6  Sow your seed in the morning and do not be idle in the evening, for you do not know whether morning or evening sowing will succeed, or whether both of them alike will be good.

• sow: Ec 9:10 Isa 55:10 Ho 10:12 Mk 4:26-29 Joh 4:36-38 2Co 9:6 2Ti 4:2 
• thou knowest: Ec 9:1 Hag 1:6-11 2:17-19 Zec 8:11,12 Ac 11:20,21 1Co 3:5-7 2Co 9:10,11 

Sow your seed in the morning and do not be idle in the evening, for you do not know whether morning or evening sowing will succeed, or whether both of them alike will be good

Ecclesiastes 11:7  The light is pleasant, and it is good for the eyes to see the sun.

• the light: Job 33:28,30 Ps 56:13 Pr 15:30 29:13 
• a pleasant: Ec 7:11 Ps 84:11 Mt 5:45 

The light is pleasant, and it is good for the eyes to see the sun.

Ecclesiastes 11:8  Indeed, if a man should live many years, let him rejoice in them all, and let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything that is to come will be futility.

• if a  man, Ec 6:6 8:12 
• rejoice: Ec 3:12,13 5:18-20 8:15 
• yet: Ec 7:14 12:1-5 De 32:29 Job 10:22 14:10 15:23 18:18 Jer 13:16 Joe 2:2 Mt 22:13  Joh 12:35 Jude 1:18 
• All that: Ec 2:1-11,15,17,19,21-23,26 4:8,16 5:15,16 6:11 

Indeed, if a man should live many years, let him rejoice in them all, and let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything that is to come will be futility.

Ecclesiastes 11:9  Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. And follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things.

• Rejoice: 1Ki 18:27 22:15 Lu 15:12,13 
• in thy youth: Ec 12:1 1Ki 18:12 La 3:27 
• walk: Nu 15:30 22:32 De 29:19 Job 31:7 Ps 81:12 Jer 7:24 23:17 Jer 44:16,17 Ac 14:16 Eph 2:2,3 1Pe 4:3,4 
• in the sight: Ec 2:10 Ge 3:6 6:2 Jos 7:21 2Sa 11:2-4 Mt 5:28 1Jn 2:15,16 
• know: Ec 3:17 12:14 Ps 50:4-6 Ac 17:30,31 24:25 Ro 2:5-11 14:10 1Co 4:5 2Co 5:10 2Pe 3:7 Heb 9:27 Rev 20:12-15 

Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. And follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things

Ecclesiastes 11:10  So, remove grief and anger from your heart and put away pain from your body, because childhood and the prime of life are fleeting.

• remove: Ec 12:1 Job 13:26 Ps 25:7 2Pe 3:11-14 
• sorrow: or, anger, Ps 90:7-11 
• and put: Job 20:11 2Co 7:1 2Ti 2:22 
• for: Ec 1:2,14 Ps 39:5 Pr 22:15 

So, remove grief and anger from your heart and put away pain from your body, because childhood and the prime of life are fleeting.