Chapter Eleven

1–6. Exhortation to benevolence. 7–10. Call to enjoy life.

In chapters Eccl 9:1–12 is given as it were a summary of the Preacher’s preceding reflections on the conditions of a happy life. There are three such conditions: good deeds, innocent pleasures, and complete surrender to divine providence. The first condition is unfolded in Eccl 11:1-6, the second in Eccl 11:7-10, the third in Eccl 12:1-7.

Ecclesiastes 11:1. Send out your bread on the waters, for after many days you will find it again. In figurative expressions the Preacher urges the widest benevolence, free from any calculation of personal gain (“on the waters”). Every gift in time will bear its fruit to the giver. Some commentators think that the Preacher here encourages his contemporaries to commercial enterprise, to bold maritime operations. But, as is evident from other places in the book, the Preacher sought rather to restrain the excessive enterprise of wealthy men who spent their whole lives in care for increasing their wealth. From the following verse it is clear that the discourse is here about benevolence.

Ecclesiastes 11:2. Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what misfortune will fall upon the earth. “Seven and even eight” point to as comprehensive a number of people as possible with whom one should share one’s property.

Ecclesiastes 11:3. When the clouds are full, they pour rain upon the earth; and if a tree falls to the south or to the north, wherever the tree falls, there it remains. “When the clouds are full, they pour rain upon the earth.” Every gift in time returns to the giver just as water evaporating from the earth, filling the clouds, falls again upon the earth. The image of rain clouds is usual in the Bible and symbolizes mercy, benevolence (Prov 25:14; Sir 35:23). And if a tree falls to the south or to the north, there it remains where it fell. In the moral world, as in the physical, definite causes always produce definite effects, and generally speaking, a man reaps only where and what he has sown, with the same necessity as a fallen tree remains in the place where it fell.

Ecclesiastes 11:4. Whoever watches the wind will not sow, and whoever looks at the clouds will not reap. In doing good, man should not display excessive calculation, caution, and anxiety, so as not to be left without any harvest, like one who too assiduously watches the wind and clouds.

Ecclesiastes 11:5. Just as you do not know the path of the wind and how the bones form in the womb of the pregnant, so you cannot know the work of God, who does all things. Ecclesiastes 11:6. In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening do not let your hand rest, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or if both will be equally good. Not knowing the ways of God, and being unable to foresee where his activity will be fruitful, man should take advantage of every moment for good action.

Ecclesiastes 11:7. Sweet is the light, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. Ecclesiastes 11:8. If a man lives many years, let him rejoice in all of them, and remember the dark days, which will be many: all that comes is vanity! Ecclesiastes 11:9. Rejoice, young man, in your youth, and let your heart be glad during the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes; but know that for all this God will bring you into judgment. Ecclesiastes 11:10. And remove sorrow from your heart, and cast away evil from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity. In these verses the Preacher calls for joy and gladness while the dark days have not yet come. Man should enjoy all that is pleasant and beautiful in the world, remembering, however, the righteous judgment of God. “Remember the dark days.” The dark days, in contrast to all the years of one’s life, mean the days of stay in Sheol. “Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes,” that is, follow the promptings of your heart and eyes, while this does not contradict the truth of God. The LXX saw in these words a contradiction with Num 15:39, where it is forbidden to “walk after your heart and your eyes,” and therefore before the words: “in the sight of your eyes,” they added the negative μή (Slav.—“not”). This negative is, however, unnecessary, for from the context it is clear that the Preacher speaks only of such promptings of the heart that do not contradict God’s commandments.