--- title: "Ecclesiastes 11 - Study King James Bible with cokes commentary on the holy bible" description: "Read Ecclesiastes 11 with cokes commentary on the holy bible commentary. 1 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. 2 Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil sha" image: "/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg" url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/ecclesiastes/11" --- [ Read](/kjv/ecclesiastes/11)[ Commentary](/study/ecclesiastes/11)[ Interlinear](/interlinear/ecclesiastes/11) Audio 1 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.* 2 Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth. 3 If the clouds be full of rain, they empty *themselves* upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be. 4 He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap. 5 As thou knowest not what *is* the way of the spirit, *nor* how the bones *do grow* in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all. 6 In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both *shall be* alike good.* 7 ¶ Truly the light *is* sweet, and a pleasant *thing it is* for the eyes to behold the sun: 8 But if a man live many years, *and* rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh *is* vanity. 9 ¶ Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these *things* God will bring thee into judgment. 10 Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth *are* vanity.* [Ecclesiastes 10](/study/ecclesiastes/10) [Ecclesiastes 12](/study/ecclesiastes/12) ## Commentary To verse 1 ***[Ecclesiastes 11:1](/kjv/ecclesiastes/11/1)*****.*****Cast thy bread upon the waters*****—** *Cast thy corn before the waters, for thou shalt find it,*&c. Desvoex observes, the true design of this verse is so plainly pointed out by the context, that interpreters could not avoid seeing that it is an exhortation to benevolence and liberality; yet few of them understood the letter of the metaphor wherein that exhortation is in a manner wrapped up; and the Chaldee paraphrast would not even allow it to be a metaphor; but, through a very extraordinary *synecdoche,*made the surface of the water to mean *poor sailors, whose ships sail on that surface.*It has been observed by several interpreters, that in these words, *cast thy* לחם *lechem, upon the face of the waters,*לחם, which is generally translated *bread,*may as well be translated *corn:*besides other places, where it has that signification, no other construction can be put on it, Isa 28:28 nor in this place neither, if we consider that Solomon makes use of a proverbial metaphorical sentence, which must have a known, rational, literal sense, independently of the remoter moral application. But *to cast*one's *bread upon the surface of the waters,*where it must be either devoured by the fish, or diluted to nothing, before the waves leave it upon the shore, would be a very odd way of providing for futurity; and I doubt whether one who would try the experiment could find his bread again *after many days.*But the case is quite otherwise with respect to seed thrown upon the surface of an inundation: When the waters subside, the corn which remains in the mud grows, and is found again *many days after,*at the time of harvest. This is a very rational construction of Solomon's words, which the judicious Bishop Lowth, in his 10th Prelection, thinks may be illustrated from [Psalms 104:14](/kjv/psalms/104/14). But there is another, which, if I am not mistaken, has the advantage of being better connected with the other proverbial sentences, wherein the author has in a manner wrapped up his exhortation; and to which, for that reason, I have given the preference in my translation. The words פני על *al peni, upon the faces,*are often employed for לפני *lipni, before the faces,*to signify, *in presence of,*or *over against;*and the two phrases appear to be synonimous in that sense, by comparing Exo 14:2 with [Numbers 33:7](/kjv/numbers/33/7). They are so likewise in some places, especially Gen 32:21 and 2Sa 15:18 in the signification of *before,*with respect to time. Now, why should not המים עלאּפני *al-peni hammaiim,*in the passage before us, be rendered, *Before the rainy season?*Corn thrown at that time in the ground, which in hot climates is then like dust, may be looked upon as thrown away; and if you consider nothing but the impossibility of its thriving without moisture, it is very natural that you should wait for the wind which will bring clouds and rain ([Ecclesiastes 11:4](/kjv/ecclesiastes/11/4).). But the prudent husbandman knows, that in time of drought the clouds are filling, and that as soon as they are full they must pour down rain upon the earth ([Ecclesiastes 11:3](/kjv/ecclesiastes/11/3).): therefore he sows the seed in expectation of a crop, which he is not to see immediately, but only *after many days.*This kind of prudence is that which Solomon recommends with respect to the poor, as may be seen by the whole context. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/ecclesiastes/11#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","width":672,"height":448,"caption":"Real Bible Believers"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/ecclesiastes/11#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/ecclesiastes/11","name":"Ecclesiastes 11 - Study King James Bible with cokes commentary on the holy bible","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/ecclesiastes/11#primaryimage"},"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Read Ecclesiastes 11 with cokes commentary on the holy bible commentary. 1 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. 2 Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil sha","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/ecclesiastes/11#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/ecclesiastes/11"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/ecclesiastes/11#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","name":"Study Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible","name":"cokes commentary on the holy bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/ecclesiastes","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/ecclesiastes","name":"Ecclesiastes"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/ecclesiastes/11","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/ecclesiastes/11","name":"11"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]} ```