to send away · verb, piel imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
bread
לַחְמְךָ֖lach.me.Kha
H3899
food (for man or beast) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
upon
פְּנֵ֣יpe.Nei
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · noun, common masculine plural construct
waters
הַמָּ֑יִםha.Ma.yim
H4325
water · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
find
תִּמְצָאֶֽנּוּtim.tza.'E.nu
H4672
properly · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
many
בְרֹ֥בve.Ro
H7230
abundance (in any respect) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
days
הַיָּמִ֖יםhai.ya.Mim
H3117
a day (as the warm hours) · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Proverbs 19:17 He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.
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…
Matthew 10:42 And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, h…
Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the s…
2 Corinthians 9:6 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
Isaiah 32:20 Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.
Psalms 41:1-2 Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.
Luke 14:14 And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 11:1-6
Solomon had often, in this book, pressed it upon rich people to take the comfort of their riches themselves; here he presses it upon them to do good to others with them and to abound in liberality to the poor, which will, another day, abound to their account. Observe,
I. How the duty itself is recommended to us, Ecc 11:1. 1. Cast thy bread upon the waters, thy bread-corn upon the low places (so some understand it), alluding to the husbandman, who goes forth, bearing precious seed, sparing bread-corn from his family for the seedness, knowing that without that he can have no harvest another year; thus the charitable man takes from his bread-corn for seed-corn, abridges himself to supply the po…
Cast thy bread upon the waters,.... As the wise man had often suggested that nothing was better for a man than to enjoy the good of his labour himself, he here advises to let others, the poor, have a share with him; and as he had directed in the preceding chapter how men should behave towards their superiors, he here instructs them what notice they should take of their inferiors; and as he had cautioned against luxury and intemperance, he here guards against tenacity and covetousness, and exhorts to beneficence and liberality: that which is to be given is "bread", which is put for all the necessaries of life, food and raiment; or money that answers all things, what may be a supply of wants,…
"Let thy bread go forth over the watery mirror: for in the course of many days shalt thou find it." Most interpreters, chiefly the Talm., Midrash, and Targ.,
(Note: The Midrash tells the following story: Rabbi Akiba sees a ship wrecked which carried in it one learned in the law. He finds him again actively engaged in Cappadocia. What whale, he asked him, has vomited thee out upon dry land? How hast thou merited this? The scribe learned in the law thereupon related that when he went on board the ship, he gave a loaf of bread to a poor man, who thanked him for it, saying: As thou hast saved my life, may thy life be saved. Thereupon Akiba thought of the proverb in Ecc 11:1. Similarly the Targ.…
The Church Fathers
When you give, give generously, with a joyous countenance, and give more than you are asked for, since it is said: "Send forth thy morsel of bread toward the face of the poor man, and soon you will find your recompense." Do not separate the rich from the poor, nor try to discriminate the worthy from the unworthy, but let all persons be equal in your eyes for a good deed.
There, tears are indeed bread, where justice is hungered after. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be filled. Therefore, there are tears that are bread, and they strengthen the soul of man. This also agrees with that saying of Ecclesiastes: Cast your bread upon the waters; for there is the bread of heaven, where the water of grace is; for they rightly receive the substance of the Word and the nourishment of mystical understanding, by which streams of the water of life flow from the womb.
It happens with most people that they give indeed, but they do not do so freely and readily, which is a greater and more perfect thing than the mere act of offering itself. It is far better to be generous to the unworthy for the sake of the worthy than to deprive the worthy out of fear of the unworthy. This seems to have a bearing on our duty of casting bread upon the waters, not that it may be swept away or perish in the eyes of the just examiner, but that it may come to that place where all our goods will be stored up. And [it will] be there to meet us in due time, even though we may think otherwise.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Liberality · 1:2-4; — 1:2-4;
Missionaries, All Christians Should Be As · In devoting all property to God — In devoting all property to God
Seed · Often sown beside rivers — Often sown beside rivers
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
All profitable activity involves risk. We must act as wisely as we can and trust God for the result.
11:1-2 We should invest rather than hoard our resources, even if we cannot control the results.
Rashi on Ecclesiastes 11:1
Cast you your bread upon the waters. Do goodness and kindness to a person about whom your heart tells you that you will never see him again,1Do kindness without anticipating reciprocity from the receiver. (Sforno) Or, when giving charity, needy Torah scholars should be given priority. The Gemara in Maseches Bava Kamma 17a states that Torah is symbolized by water. Thus, when you “cast your bread,” cast it first to the needy Torah Scholars. (Derech Hachayim) like a person who casts his food upon the water’s surface.2Alternatively, also give charity to people you do not know. (Ibn Ezra)
For after many days you will find it. Days will yet come, and you will receive your recompense.3Alternativel…
