New English Translation
Ecclesiastes 11:1
1Send your grain overseas, for after many days you will get a return.
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.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Cast your bread upon the waters, For you will find it after many days.
Context of Ecclesiastes 11:1
Send your grain overseas, for after many days you will get a return. 2Divide your merchandise among seven or even eight investments, for you do not know what calamity may happen on earth. 3If the clouds are full of rain, they will empty themselves on the earth, and whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, the tree will lie wherever it falls.
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 32:20you will be blessed, you who plant seed by all the banks of the streams, you who let your ox and donkey graze.
- Ecclesiastes 11:6Sow your seed in the morning, and do not stop working until the evening; for you do not know which activity will succeed – whether this one or that one, or whether both will prosper equally.
- Deuteronomy 15:10You must by all means lend to him and not be upset by doing it, for because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you attempt.
- Psalms 41:1How blessed is the one who treats the poor properly! When trouble comes, the Lord delivers him.
- Psalms 126:5Those who shed tears as they plant will shout for joy when they reap the harvest.
- Proverbs 11:18The wicked person earns deceitful wages, but the one who sows righteousness reaps a genuine reward.
- Proverbs 19:17The one who is gracious to the poor lends to the Lord, and the Lord will repay him for his good deed.
- Matthew 10:13And if the house is worthy, let your peace come on it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.
- Matthew 25:40And the king will answer them, ‘I tell you the truth, just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did it for me.’
- Luke 14:14Then you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
- 2 Corinthians 9:6My point is this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously.
- Galatians 6:8because the person who sows to his own flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.
- Hebrews 6:10For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name, in having served and continuing to serve the saints.
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
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