Ecclesiastes 11:6

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. MORNING ... EVENING - early and late; when young and when old; in sun shine and under clouds. SOW THY SEED - of godly works (). PROSPER - (Isaiah 55:10.) BOTH ... ALIKE - both the unpromising and the promising sowing may bear good fruit in others: certainly they shall to BOTH ... ALIKE - both the unpromising and the promising sowing may bear good fruit in others: certainly they shall to the faithful sower....

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 good in the day of prosperity. Riches cannot profit us, if we do not benefit others. Every man must labour to be a blessing to that place where the providence of God casts him. Wherever we are, we may find good work to do, if we have but hearts to do it. If we magnify every little difficulty, start objections, and fancy hardships, we shall never go on, much less go through with our work. Winds and clouds of tribulation are, in God's hands, designed to try us. God's work shall agree with his word, whether we see it or not. And we may well trust God to provide for us, withou...

Verse Ecclesiastes 11:6. _IN THE MORNING SOW THY SEED_] Be ready at _all times_ to show mercy; begin in the _morning_, continue till the _evening_. Thou knowest not the most worthy object; it is enough that God knoweth; and if thy motive be _good_, he will applaud and reward thee; not according to the _worthiness_ or _unworthiness_ of the _object_ of thy charity, but according to the _motive_ which induced thee to relieve him....

“Unforeseen events come from God; and the man who is always gazing on the uncertain future will neither begin nor complete any useful work: but do thou bear in mind that times and circumstances, the powers of nature and the results to which they minister, are in the hand of God; and be both diligent and trustful.” The images are connected chiefly with the occupation of an agricultural laborer: the discharge of rain from the cloud, and the inclination of the falling tree, and the direction of the wind, are beyond his control, though the result of his work is affected by them. The common application of the image of the fallen tree to the state of departed souls was probably not in the mind of the inspired writer. Ecclesiastes 11:5 SPIRIT - The same Hebrew word (like πνεῦ

EXPOSITION Approaching the end of his treatise, Koheleth, in view of apparent anomalies in God's moral government, and the difficulties that meet man in his social and political relations, proceeds to give his remedies for this state of things. These remedies are (1) beneficence and active life (Ecclesiastes 11:1); (2) joyful light-heartedness (Ecclesiastes 11:7); (3) piety (Ecclesiastes 11:10-Ecclesiastes 12:7)....

IN THE MORNING SOW THY SEED,.... Do all good works early and diligently, which is expressed by sowing in righteousness, Hosea 10:12; particularly alms deeds, often signified by sowing seed, Psalms 112:9 2 Corinthians 9:6; this should be in the morning of youth, that persons may be inured to it betimes as Obadiah was; and in the morning of prosperity, as soon as ever Providence smiles on men, and puts it into the power of their hands, who should honour the Lord with the firstfruits of their increase; AND IN THE EVENING WITHHOLD NOT THINE HAND; from sowing seed, from doing good, particularly acts of charity, in the evening of old age, as Jarchi, like old Barzillai; an age in which men are apt to be

Ecclesiastes 11:1. _Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days._ Hoard not thy bread; for if thou dost, it will mildew, it will be of no use to thee. Cast it on the waters; scatter it abroad; give it to the unworthy men if need be. Some here have seen an allusion to the casting of seed into the Nile when it overflowed its banks. When the waters subsided, the corn would grow, and be gathered in «after many days.» Ecclesiastes 11:2. _Give a portion to seven,_ And if that be a perfect number, give beyond it, Ecclesiastes 11:2. _And also to eight;_ Give to more than thou canst afford to give to. Help

CHAPTER 11 _ 1. Proverbs concerning man's work(Ecclesiastes 11:1)_ 2. The vanity of life (Ecclesiastes 11:7) Ecclesiastes 11:1. These continued proverbs concern the work of man and begin with exhortations to charity and are followed by the wise acknowledgement that no one knows the works of God, who is the maker of all. All this knowledge is within the compass of the natural man. Ecclesiastes 11:7. After these philosophic proverbs he comes back to his former finding--vanity. So to speak he sums up life in one verse, “Truly the light is sweet and a pleasant thing i

ECCLESIASTES 11:1 TO ECCLESIASTES 12:8. CLOSING COUNSELS. It is well to do and to get all one can, in the way of industry and pleasure, before old age draws on. Ecclesiastes 11:1 and Ecclesiastes 11:2 are best taken as referring either to merchandise or generosity, though bread has also been interpreted as seed sown on irrigated land (_cf._ Ecclesiastes 11:4 and Ecclesiastes 11:6) or even as human semen, and...

PROSPER. Hebrew. _kasher:_ supposed to be. later Hebrew word, but. kindred form seems to be found in Psalms 68:6, where "with chains" should be rendered "into prosperity". See App-75....