English Standard Version
Ecclesiastes 11:1
1Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.
Ecclesiastes 11:1 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.
- New International Version (NIV)Ship your grain across the sea; after many days you may receive a return.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Cast your bread upon the waters, For you will find it after many days.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Send your grain across the seas, and in time, profits will flow back to you.
Context of Ecclesiastes 11:1
Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. 2Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth. 3If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth, and if a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.
Read all of Ecclesiastes 11Ecclesiastes 11:1 word by word
שַׁלַּ֥ח לַחְמְךָ֖ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י הַמָּ֑יִם כִּֽי־בְרֹ֥ב הַיָּמִ֖ים תִּמְצָאֶֽנּוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 11:1
- Isaiah 32:20Happy are you who sow beside all waters, who let the feet of the ox and the donkey range free.
- Ecclesiastes 11:6In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.
- Deuteronomy 15:10You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake.
- Psalms 41:1Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;
- Psalms 126:5Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!
- Proverbs 11:18The wicked earns deceptive wages, but one who sows righteousness gets a sure reward.
- Proverbs 19:17Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.
- Matthew 10:13And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.
- Matthew 25:40And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'
- Luke 14:14and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just."
- 2 Corinthians 9:6The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
- Galatians 6:8For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
- Hebrews 6:10For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 11:1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1Cast thy bread upon the waters - An allusion to the sowing of rice; which was sown upon muddy ground, or ground covered with water, and trodden in by the feet of cattle: it thus took root, and grew, and was found after many days in a plentiful harvest. Give alms to the poor, and it will be as seed sown in good ground. God will cause thee afterwards to receive it with abundant increase. The Targum understands it of giving bread to poor sailors. The Vulgate…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1The verse means: “Show hospitality, even though the corresponding return of hospitality to you may seem improbable; nevertheless, be hospitable in faith.” Compare Luke 14:13-14; Hebrews 13:2. Some interpreters (not unreasonably) understand by “bread” the seed from the produce of which bread is made. Seed cast upon the fertile soil flooded by the early rains would be returned to the sower in autumn with large increase.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1Exhortation to liberality. (Eccl. 11:1-6) An admonition to prepare for death, and to young persons to be religious. (Eccl. 11:7-10) Verses 1-6 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…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-2We should invest our resources instead of hoarding them, even if we cannot control the outcomes.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-10Ec 11:1-10. 1. Ec 11:2 shows that charity is here inculcated. bread--bread corn. As in the Lord's prayer, all things needful for the body and soul. Solomon reverts to the sentiment (Ec 9:10). waters--image from the custom of sowing seed by casting it from boats into the overflowing waters of the Nile, or in any marshy ground. When the waters receded, the grain in the alluvial soil sprang up (Is 32:20). "Waters" express multitudes, so Ec 11:2; Re 17:15…Read the comment
Topics related to Ecclesiastes 11:1
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 11
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries