Ecclesiastes 11:5 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ecclesiastes 11:5
As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.
to know (properly · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
way
דֶּ֣רֶךְDe.rekh
H1870
a road (as trodden) · noun, common both genders singular construct
spirit
הָר֔וּחַha.Ru.ach
H7307
wind · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
bones
כַּעֲצָמִ֖יםka.'a.tza.Mim
H6106
a bone (as strong) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural absolute
womb
בְּבֶ֣טֶןbe.Ve.ten
H990
the belly · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
child
הַמְּלֵאָ֑הha.me.le.'Ah
H4392
full (literally or figuratively) or filling (literally) · definite article + adjective, feminine singular absolute
knowest
תֵדַע֙te.Da'
H3045
to know (properly · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
works
מַעֲשֵׂ֣הma.'a.Seh
H4639
an action (good or bad) · noun, common masculine singular construct
God
הָֽאֱלֹהִ֔יםha.'E.lo.Him
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
maketh
יַעֲשֶׂ֖הya.'a.Seh
H6213
to do or make · 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
John 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is ever…
Psalms 92:5 O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.
Ecclesiastes 8:17 Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek it ou…
Romans 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
Isaiah 40:28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is…
Psalms 104:24 O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.
Psalms 139:13-16 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.
Ecclesiastes 7:24 That which is far off, and exceeding deep, who can find it out?
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…
spirit--How the soul animates the body! Thus the transition to the formation of the body "in the womb" is more natural, than if with MAURER we translate it "wind" (Ecc 1:6; Joh 3:8).
bones . . . grow-- (Job 10:8-9; Psa 139:15-16).
knowest not the works of God-- (Ecc 3:11; Ecc 8:17; Ecc 9:12).
John Gill on Ecclesiastes 11:5
As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit,.... If indeed a man could foresee and be assured of seasonable weather for sowing and reaping, or a proper opportunity for doing good, all circumstances agreeing, it would be right to wait for it, and take it; but as these things are not in our power, nor within the compass of our knowledge, we should take the first opportunity of doing good, and leave the issue to divine Providence: as in many things in nature we are and should be content to be ignorant of them, and leave them with God, who brings them about by his secret power and providence: as, for instance, we know not "the way of the spirit", or "of the wind" (r), as some render it; fr…
"As thou hast no knowledge what is the way of the wind, like as the bones in the womb of her who is with child; so thou knowest not the work of God who accomplisheth all." Luther, after Jerome, renders rightly: "As thou knowest not the way of the wind, and how the bones in the mother's womb do grow; so," etc. The clause, instar ossium in ventre praegnantis, is the so-called comparatio decurtata for instar ignorantiae tuae ossium, etc., like thy ignorance regarding the bones, i.e., the growth of the bones. כּעץ,
(Note: The Targ. reads בעץ, and construes: What the way of the spirit in the bones, i.e., how the embryo becomes animated.)
because more closely defined by 'בּב הם, has not the art.…
The Church Fathers
Men then sing of the Lord, when either spirits from above, or perfect teachers, make known to us His power. But yet His work is not known; because doubtless even they who preach Him, venerate His unpenetrated judgments. They, therefore, both know Him, Whom they preach, and yet know not His works: because they know, by grace, Him, by Whom they were made, but yet cannot understand His judgments, which are wrought by Him even above their understanding. For that Almighty God is not clearly seen in His doings the Psalmist bears witness, saying, Who hath made darkness His secret place. And again, Thy judgments are a great deep. And again, The deep like a garment is His clothing. Whence also it is well said by Solomon, As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones grow together in the belly of her that is with child, so thou knowest not the works of God, Who is the Maker of all things.
"As you do not know what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so you know not the works of God who makes all. "Just as you do not know the way of the spirit and of the soul entering a child, and are unknowing of the types of bone and veins in the stomach of a pregnant woman. It is hard to know how the human body is formed from the simplest elements into the many varied forms and limbs, and from the very same seed, one makes soft our hair, another makes our bones hard; one connects the veins, another links the nerves together. Thus you cannot know the work of God, who has made all things. From this he teaches that the variety of things in the world must not be feared, and you must not fear the winds and the clouds, which as we have mentioned above must be judged. But although the sower ought to reap in the course of his career, he ought to save the outcome for the judgement of the Lord.
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
Economics · HOUSEHOLD — HOUSEHOLD
Ignorance · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
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).
The activity of God is often unpredictable and mysterious. Our job is to work when we have the opportunity to do so (see Prov 12:11; 24:27).
Rashi on Ecclesiastes 11:5
Just as you do not know, etc., nor the nature of that which is hidden in the womb of her that is with child. Things closed in and confined in the womb which is full, and even though it protrudes outward, “just as you do not know [the way of the wind].” This is a transposed verse, expounded from its end to its beginning. “Just as you do not know the way of the wind,” i.e., the knowledge of both these things is equal, neither is one revealed to you, nor is the other revealed to you, for sometimes you think that you know by the clouds that the wind will come, and it does not come here, but it passes and goes away to another land. This expression is similar to, “like the garden of Adonoy, like t…
