1 Cast H7971 thy bread H3899 upon H6440 the waters: H4325 for thou shalt find H4672 it after many H7230 days. H3117
For G3754 he that soweth G4687 to G1519 his G1438 flesh G4561 shall G2325 of G1537 the flesh G4561 reap G2325 corruption; G5356 but G1161 he that soweth G4687 to G1519 the Spirit G4151 shall G2325 of G1537 the Spirit G4151 reap G2325 life G2222 everlasting. G166 And G1161 let us G1573 not G3361 be weary G1573 in well G2570 doing: G4160 for G1063 in due G2398 season G2540 we shall reap, G2325 if we faint G1590 not. G3361 As G5613 we have G2192 therefore G686 G3767 opportunity, G2540 let us do G2038 good G18 unto G4314 all G3956 men, especially G1161 G3122 unto G4314 them who are of the household G3609 of faith. G4102
[[To the chief Musician, H5329 A Psalm H4210 of David.]] H1732 Blessed H835 is he that considereth H7919 the poor: H1800 the LORD H3068 will deliver H4422 him in time H3117 of trouble. H7451 The LORD H3068 will preserve H8104 him, and keep him alive; H2421 and he shall be blessed H833 upon the earth: H776 and thou wilt not deliver H5414 him unto the will H5315 of his enemies. H341
There is H3426 that scattereth, H6340 and yet increaseth; H3254 and there is that withholdeth H2820 more than is meet, H3476 but it tendeth to poverty. H4270 The liberal H1293 soul H5315 shall be made fat: H1878 and he that watereth H7301 shall be watered H3384 also himself.
If there be among you a poor man H34 of one H259 of thy brethren H251 within any H259 of thy gates H8179 in thy land H776 which the LORD H3068 thy God H430 giveth H5414 thee, thou shalt not harden H553 thine heart, H3824 nor shut H7092 thine hand H3027 from thy poor H34 brother: H251 But thou shalt open H6605 thine hand H3027 wide H6605 unto him, and shalt surely H5670 lend H5670 him sufficient H1767 for his need, H4270 in that which he wanteth. H2637 Beware H8104 that there be not a thought H1697 in thy wicked H1100 heart, H3824 saying, H559 The seventh H7651 year, H8141 the year H8141 of release, H8059 is at hand; H7126 and thine eye H5869 be evil H7489 against thy poor H34 brother, H251 and thou givest H5414 him nought; and he cry H7121 unto the LORD H3068 against thee, and it be sin H2399 unto thee. Thou shalt surely H5414 give H5414 him, and thine heart H3824 shall not be grieved H3415 when thou givest H5414 unto him: because H1558 that for this thing H1697 the LORD H3068 thy God H430 shall bless H1288 thee in all thy works, H4639 and in all that thou puttest H4916 thine hand H3027 unto. For the poor H34 shall never cease H2308 out of H7130 the land: H776 therefore I command H6680 thee, saying, H559 Thou shalt open H6605 thine hand H3027 wide H6605 unto thy brother, H251 to thy poor, H6041 and to thy needy, H34 in thy land. H776
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Ecclesiastes 11
Commentary on Ecclesiastes 11 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
“Let thy bread go forth over the watery mirror: for in the course of many days shalt thou find it.” Most interpreters, chiefly the Talm., Midrash, and Targ.,
(Note: The Midrash tells the following story: Rabbi Akiba sees a ship wrecked which carried in it one learned in the law. He finds him again actively engaged in Cappadocia. What whale, he asked him, has vomited thee out upon dry land? How hast thou merited this? The scribe learned in the law thereupon related that when he went on board the ship, he gave a loaf of bread to a poor man, who thanked him for it, saying: As thou hast saved my life, may thy life be saved. Thereupon Akiba thought of the proverb in Ecclesiastes 11:1. Similarly the Targ.: Extend to the poor the bread for thy support; they sail in ships over the water.)
regard this as an exhortation to charity, which although practised without expectation of reward, does not yet remain unrewarded at last. An Aram. proverb of Ben Sira's ( vid ., Buxtorf's Florilegium , p. 171) proceeds on this interpretation: “Scatter thy bread on the water and on the dry land; in the end of the days thou findest it again.” Knobel quotes a similar Arab. proverb from Diez' Denkwürdigkeiten von Asien (Souvenirs of Asia), II 106: “Do good; cast thy bread into the water: thou shalt be repaid some day.” See also the proverb in Goethe's Westöst. Divan , compared by Herzfeld. Voltaire, in his Précis de l'Ecclésiaste en vers , also adopts this rendering:
Repandez vos bien faits avec magnificence,
Même aux moins vertueux ne les refusez pas.
Ne vous informez pas de leur reconnaissance -
Il est grand, il est beau de faire des ingrats