Ecclesiastes 11:3 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ecclesiastes 11:3
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.
properly · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
full
יִמָּלְא֨וּyi.mal.'U
H4390
to fill or (intransitively) be full of · verb, niphal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
rain
גֶּ֙שֶׁם֙ge.shem
H1653
a shower · noun, common masculine singular absolute
empty
יָרִ֔יקוּya.Ri.ku
H7324
to pour out (literally or figuratively) · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
earth
הָאָ֣רֶץha.'A.retz
H776
the earth (at large · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
tree
עֵ֛ץ'etz
H6086
a tree (from its firmness) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
fall
יִפּ֥וֹלyi.Pol
H5307
to fall · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
south
בַּדָּר֖וֹםba.da.Rom
H1864
the south · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
north
בַּצָּפ֑וֹןba.tza.Fon
H6828
properly · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
place
מְק֛וֹםme.Kom
H4725
properly · noun, common masculine singular construct
tree
הָעֵ֖ץha.'Etz
H6086
a tree (from its firmness) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
falleth
שֶׁיִּפּ֥וֹלshei.yi.Pol
H5307
to fall · relative particle + verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
be
יְהֽוּאye.Hu'
H1933
to be (in the sense of existence) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
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
Psalms 65:9-13 Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it: thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water: thou preparest them corn,…
Isaiah 55:10-11 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud,…
1 John 3:17 But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love…
Luke 13:7 Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down;…
1 Kings 18:45 And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went t…
Matthew 3:10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast int…
Luke 16:22-26 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
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…
clouds--answering to "evil" (Ecc 11:2), meaning, When the times of evil are fully ripe, evil must come; and speculations about it beforehand, so as to prevent one sowing seed of liberality, are vain (Ecc 11:4).
tree--Once the storm uproots it, it lies either northward or southward, according as it fell. So man's character is unchangeable, whether for hell or heaven, once that death overtakes him (Rev 22:11, Rev 22:14-15). Now is his time for liberality, before the evil days come (Ecc 12:1).
John Gill on Ecclesiastes 11:3
If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth,.... They do not retain it; sad would it be for the earth if they did; but they let it down softly and gently, in plentiful showers upon each of the parts of the earth without distinction, by which it is refreshed, and made fruitful; nor are they losers by it, for they draw up great quantities again out of the ocean, and so constantly answer the ends for which they are appointed. And so rich men, who are full of the good things of this world, should not keep them to themselves, and for their own use only; but should consider they are stewards under God, and for others, and should be like the full clouds, empty themselves; an…
He who needs and apprehends much is filled, he who hath been filled waters others, and therefore Scripture saith, If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth.
This sentence obviously is meant in a figurative and spiritual sense.…The south is in many ways distinguished from the north geographically, but also in a spiritual sense: The bride in the Song of Songs says, "Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind!" So she sends the evil power away. The evil power was within her. When the evil was active, that is, the evil regarding faith and vocation, then she had the north wind living within. When she "turned away from evil" and went to the doing of good, she called for the south wind. Pay attention to the occasion: "Blow upon my garden that its fragrance may be wafted abroad," [she says to the south wind]; the north wind does not do this. She uses the terms in a quite physical sense, since the "cold wind" is called "north wind." The cold wind closes the openings of the trees, the so-called invisible pores, so that the elements of fragrance are kept inside. But when the warm south wind blows through the garden of the soul, … then the pores are widened.
"If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree falls toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it shall be. "Keep the commandments that have been taught to you above so that the clouds above you will break open in rain. For wherever you have made your home and seat for the future, whether to the east or facing the north, when you die you will remain there. Differently: as I have said above 'send your bread over the water and divide it to all who ask'. Since when the clouds are full they pour their riches down on mortals, and you are as a tree: however aged you may be, you will not live forever, but one day suddenly struck by the storm of death like a storm of winds, there where you fall you will lie forever. The time of your end will come whether you may be stiff and savage, or mild and merciful. Differently: God is addressed in the Psalms: "you are truth up to the clouds" [Ps. 35, 6.], and in Isaiah God warns the sinner of the vineyard, "I will command the clouds not to rain down" [Is. 5, 6.]. Therefore the clouds are as prophets or holy men, who have amassed many talents in their mind, so that he can rain his teachings of doctrine down on others and say, "their speech should be awaited just as rain, and they will pour out rain across the earth" [Deut. 32, 2.], to which is replied, "let the earth hear the words of my mouth" [Deut. 32, 1.]. But this follows: "and if a tree falls to the east, or to the north, in the place where it falls, there it will remain." We can take the example of the book of Hebrews, in which is written, "God will come to Teyma" [Heb. 3,3.], which some interpreters have taken to mean that God will come from the south, and when I come to think about it the south is always used in a good context. This can be seen in Song of Songs: "arise oh north" that is 'return' and 'go away'; "and come O south wind" [Cant. 4, 16.]. Therefore a tree, if in this life it falls and is cut in its state of mortality, either must sin before while it stands and is then placed in the north afterwards, or if the south winds takes away all its worthy fruit, it will lie wounded in the south. The text does not mean any tree, but only if it lies to the north or south. This means the same as that which is written: "I will say to the north wind, come, and to the south wind, do not hold…
Dictionary and topics
Meteorology And Celestial Phenomena · 9:7;26:7,8,11;27:20,21;28:24-27;29:19;36:27-33;37:6-22;38:8-11,22,24-29,31-35,37; — 9:7;26:7,8,11;27:20,21;28:24-27;29:19;36:27-33;37:6-22;38:8-11,22,24-29,31-35,37;
Rain · Occasioned by the condensing of the clouds — Occasioned by the condensing of the clouds
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).
Keil & Delitzsch on Ecclesiastes 11:3
With this verse there is not now a transition, εἰς ἄλλο γένος (as when one understands Ecc 11:1. of beneficence); the thoughts down to Ecc 11:6 move in the same track. "When the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth: and if a tree fall in the south, or in the north - the place where the tree falleth, there it lieth." Man knows not - this is the reference of the verse backwards - what misfortune, as e.g., hurricane, flood, scarcity, will come upon the earth; for all that is done follows fixed laws, and the binding together of cause and effect is removed beyond the influence of the will of man, and also in individual cases beyond his knowledge. The interpunction of 3a…
clouds . . . rains: Sometimes we can be reasonably certain of what will happen. • a tree . . . stays where it falls: Our actions sometimes yield irrevocable consequences.
Rashi on Ecclesiastes 11:3
When the clouds are filled with rain. If you have seen clouds full of rain, you know that they will ultimately empty their rains upon the earth. In the place where the benefit grows and is discernible, there it is destined [for the rains] to come to rest. Likewise, you should know that “if a tree falls, etc.,” [i.e.,] if a wise and righteous man7In Bamidbar 13:20, Rashi explains that a tree [עץ] is symbolizes a righteous man. See also the last Rashi on this verse below. resides in a city or in a province, the place where he resides, there his deeds will be discernible after his death, and his words of wisdom, exemplary traits and bestowal of goodness upon the inhabitants of that place by his…