Invest in Life
1 Send your bread on the surface of the water, k
for after many days you may find it.
2 Give a portion to seven or even to eight, l
for you don’t know what disaster may happen on earth.
3 If the clouds are full, they will pour out rain on the earth;
whether a tree falls to the south or the north,
the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.
4 One who watches the wind will not sow,
and the one who looks at the clouds will not reap.
5 Just as you don’t know the path of the wind,
or how bones develop in the womb of a pregnant woman,
so also you don’t know the work of God who makes everything. m
6 In the morning sow your seed,
and at evening do not let your hand rest,
because you don’t know which will succeed,
whether one or the other,
or if both of them will be equally good.
7 Light is sweet,
and it is pleasing for the eyes to see the sun. n
8 Indeed, if someone lives many years,
let him rejoice in them all,
and let him remember the days of darkness, o since they will be many.
All that comes is futile.
9 Rejoice, young person, while you are young,
and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth.
And walk in the ways of your heart
and in the desire of your eyes; p
but know that for all of these things God will bring you to judgment.
10 Remove sorrow from your heart,
and put away pain from your flesh, q
because youth and the prime of life are fleeting.
A. Be bold (11:1–6). 11:1–2. The first subunit addresses the question of how one should act when so much remains unknown or unknowable (11:2b, 5, 6b). Some commentators take verses 1–2 as offering commercial advice: send your merchandise across the sea, expecting a profit (11:1), as Solomon did in 1 Kg 10:22 (cf. Pr 31:14), and spread the risk so that you will not be bankrupted by an unexpected catastrophe (11:2; cf. 5:14). In light of striking parallels in Egyptian wisdom instructions, however, these verses are more likely an encouragement to strategic philanthropy, as in Pr 19:17 and Lk 16:9: freely give away some of your goods—with hopeful patience and fearless generosity.
11:3–6. These verses encourage decisive, unhesitant action despite uncertainty. Natural events (11:3) can be more or less predictable, but constantly watching for them and waiting for favorable conditions can keep one from either sowing or reaping (11:4). Despite our ignorance, we must act. Similarly, the path of the wind (as in 11:4a; cf. Jn 3:8) and how a child forms in the womb are unknown (11:5a). If “wind” (Hb ruah) designates “spirit” in verse 5, then only one example is noted: how the life-breath (as in 3:21; 12:7) enters an unborn child (see the CSB footnote). This and more fall under the rubric of “the work of God” (11:5b; cf. 7:13; 8:17).
B. Be joyful (11:7–10). The second subunit presents the Teacher’s final commendation of joyful living, although the typical reference to eating and drinking is lacking here. The subunit begins by affirming that it is good to be alive (11:7, “to see the sun”; cf. 6:5). We should enjoy the light of each day God grants us, not knowing how many we will have and keeping in mind the many dark days (11:8). The reference here is to death, as in 6:4, rather than to difficulties during life, as in 5:17.