← Ecclesiastes 10 | Ecclesiastes | Ecclesiastes 12 →
v1
Cast your bread on the waters; for you shall find it after many days.
v2
Give a portion to seven, yes, even to eight; for you don’t know what evil will be on the earth.
v3
If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth; and if a tree falls toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falls, there shall it be.
v4
He who observes the wind won’t sow; and he who regards the clouds won’t reap.
v5
As you don’t know what is the way of the wind, nor how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child; even so you don’t know the work of God who does all.
v6
In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening don’t withhold your hand; for you don’t know which will prosper, whether this or that, or whether they both will be equally good.
v7
Truly the light is sweet, and it is a pleasant thing for the eyes to see the sun.
v8
Yes, if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many. All that comes is vanity.
v9
Rejoice, young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in 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 these things God will bring you into judgment.
v10
Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh; for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.
← Ecclesiastes 10 | Ecclesiastes | Ecclesiastes 12 →
My Notes
notes on v1
*Cast your bread on the waters; for you shall find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, yes, even to eight; for you don’t know what evil will be on the earth. *
I believe this means, be generous. There are 2 stated reasons. 1. Give and it shall be given to you. and 2. You don’t know what calamity will come. In other words, those people could really really need that generosity some day, if not now.
notes on v3-7
Verses v3 through v7 all talk about the weather, yet hint at the deeper truths of God.
Verse 4 seems to be about action. You can learn meteorology (observe the wind). You can learn theory, and be greatly intellectual, but sooner or later, someone, somewhere has to do some planting or no crop will grow.
Furthermore verses 5 and 6 humble us to realize how little we know about God or His plans. We don’t even know the way of the wind. Perhaps a bit of you is taken back. Yes, we know the way of the wind. We have science. Well, I don’t desire to diminish the value of science in any way, but if you think that we know the way of the wind right now, then you’re fooling yourself. When have weather predictions ever been close to infallible? We still have so much to learn about how weather works, or how entire human beings grow in the womb. So why would we think that we would know better than God? What makes us presume to understand what He’s doing? Even worse, what makes us think that we’re qualified to tell Him how He should be running things. (See the Book of Job).
notes on v8-10
Verses 8-10 are what I would call disturbingly nuanced. On the one hand they are quite encouraging. We are told rejoice, and let your heart cheer you, and remove sorrow from your heart, yet we are also told remember the days of darkness for they shall be many and know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment, and youth and the dawn of life are vanity.
These words seem to summarize the nuanced view of the whole book. It’s too optimistic to be nihilism, and yet it is far too dark to be advocating for blind optimism. (This book certainly wouldn’t agree with the “Good vibes only” signs.)
In some ways it is reminiscent of stoicism, which advocates that we should remember the negative things in life so that we better appreciate the positive things in life.