Ecclesiastes11
New Living Translation
1Send your grain across the seas, and in time, profits will flow back to you.
2But divide your investments among many places, for you do not know what risks might lie ahead.
3When clouds are heavy, the rains come down. Whether a tree falls north or south, it stays where it falls.
4Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.
5Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.
6Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both.
7Light is sweet; how pleasant to see a new day dawning.
8When people live to be very old, let them rejoice in every day of life. But let them also remember there will be many dark days. Everything still to come is meaningless.
9Young people, it’s wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in. But remember that you must give an account to God for everything you do.
10So refuse to worry, and keep your body healthy. But remember that youth, with a whole life before you, is meaningless.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Ecclesiastes 11.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Exhortation to liberality. (1-6). An admonition to prepare for death, and to young persons to be religious. (7-10).
vv1-6
Solomon presses the rich to do good to others. Give freely, though it may seem thrown away and lost. Give to many. Excuse not thyself with the good thou hast done, from the good thou hast further to do. It is not lost, but well laid out. We have reason to expect evil, for we are born to trouble; it is wisdom to do good in the day of prosperity. Riches cannot profit us, if we do not benefit others. Every man must labour to be a blessing to that place where the providence of God casts him. Wherever we are, we may find good work to do, if we have but hearts to do it. If we magnify every little difficulty, start objections, and fancy hardships, we shall never go on, much less go through with our work. Winds and clouds of tribulation are, in God's hands, designed to try us. God's work shall agree with his word, whether we see it or not. And we may well trust God to provide for us, without our anxious, disquieting cares. Be not weary in well-doing, for in due season, in God's time, you shall reap, Gal. 6:9.
vv7-10
Life is sweet to bad men, because they have their portion in this life; it is sweet to good men, because it is the time of preparation for a better; it is sweet to all. Here is a caution to think of death, even when life is most sweet. Solomon makes an effecting address to young persons. They would desire opportunity to pursue every pleasure. Then follow your desires, but be assured that God will call you into judgment. How many give loose to every appetite, and rush into every vicious pleasure! But God registers every one of their sinful thoughts and desires, their idle words and wicked words. If they would avoid remorse and terror, if they would have hope and comfort on a dying bed, if they would escape misery here and hereafter, let them remember the vanity of youthful pleasures. That Solomon means to condemn the pleasures of sin is evident. His object is to draw the young to purer and more lasting joys. This is not the language of one grudging youthful pleasures, because he can no longer partake of them; but of one who has, by a miracle of mercy, been brought back in safety. He would persuade the young from trying a course whence so few return. If the young would live a life of true happiness, if they would secure happiness hereafter, let them remember their Creator in the days of their youth.
Key Words
שָׁלַח: to send away, for, or out (in a great variety of applications)
לֶחֶם: food (for man or beast), especially bread, or grain (for making it)
פָּנִים: the face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and figuratively); also (with prepositional prefix) as a preposition (before, etc.)
מַיִם: water; figuratively, juice; by euphemism, urine, semen
כִּי: (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below); often largely modified by other particles annexed
מָצָא: properly, to come forth to, i.e. appear or exist; transitively, to attain, i.e. find or acquire; figuratively, to occur, meet or be present
רֹב: abundance (in any respect)
יוֹם: a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)
נָתַן: to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etc.)
חֵלֶק: properly, smoothness (of the tongue); also an allotment
Cross References
Ecclesiastes 11Explicitly connects youthful self-indulgence to the reality of God's final, all-encompassing judgment.
Supported by JFB
Refers to the ancient agricultural practice of casting seed upon well-watered, flooded lands.
Supported by JFB
Uses the idiomatic numerical formula 'seven... and eight' to denote abundance or a sufficient number.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Parallels the exhortation to sow good deeds continuously, trusting God for the harvest in due season.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Illustrates how a person's final state at death remains unchangeable, like a fallen tree.
Supported by JFB
Uses the mystery of the invisible wind/spirit to illustrate human ignorance of God's sovereign workings.
Supported by JFB
Contemplates the mysterious, intricate formation of the child's body in the mother's womb.
Supported by JFB
Reinforces that man, despite diligent effort, cannot fully comprehend the vast works of God.
Supported by JFB
Exhorts using present wealth to make friends who will welcome you when evil times come.
Supported by JFB
Employs agricultural sowing as an active metaphor for performing righteous and godly deeds.
Supported by JFB
Uses biting irony and mock encouragement to warn the wayward of impending consequences.
Supported by JFB
Echoes the ancient practice of distributing portions of food and drink to those in need.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Associates feasting and joyous celebrations with sending portions of food to the poor.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Warns against walking in the sight of one's own eyes and following a wayward heart.