16 10:16 Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child,
and your princes feast in the morning!
17 10:17 Happy are you, O land, when your king is the son of the nobility,
and your princes feast at the proper time,
for strength, and not for drunkenness!
18 10:18 Through sloth the roof sinks in,
and through indolence the house leaks.
19 10:19 Bread is made for laughter,
and wine gladdens life,
and money answers everything.
20 10:20 Even in your thoughts, do not curse the king,
nor in your bedroom curse the rich,
for a bird of the air will carry your voice,
or some winged creature tell the matter.
11 11:1 Cast your bread upon the waters,
for you will find it after many days.
2 11:2 Give a portion to seven, or even to eight,
for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.
3 11:3 If the clouds are full of rain,
they empty themselves on the earth,
and if a tree falls to the south or to the north,
in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.
4 11:4 He who observes the wind will not sow,
and he who regards the clouds will not reap.
5 11:5As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb1 of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.
6 11:6In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.
Response
In the 1960s and ’70s Walter Mischel of Stanford University performed what is now famously known as the “marshmallow experiment.” Researchers placed a marshmallow in front of preschool children and left the room. The children were told that they could eat the marshmallow any time they wanted, but if they waited until the researcher returned they would receive two marshmallows. As one could probably have predicted, some children could not resist the temptation to eat it immediately, while others could.
Mischel followed up with the two groups of children over the years and found some remarkable patterns. As they developed from adolescence into young adulthood, the children who were able to resist eating one marshmallow immediately scored on average more than two hundred points higher on the Scholastic Aptitude Test, displayed greater emotional and social maturity, showed better ability to deal with stress, and had fewer cognitive disorders. As adults, they were less prone to drug addictions or other addictive behaviors, less likely to get divorced, and less likely to be overweight. In sum, the ability to defer one’s enjoyment of some pleasure clearly has major repercussions for a person’s mental, emotional, relational, and even physical health.
The Preacher was already aware of the importance of delayed gratification ages ago. He observed both the ability and the inability to defer one’s pleasures in the rulers of the world and drew applications for his listeners. The Preacher observed how some rulers feast first thing in the morning (Eccles. 10:16), while others are able to wait until the proper time (v. 17). The former are a cause of woe to a nation, leading ultimately to the decline of the political “house” (v. 18), while the latter are a source of blessed happiness to their people. Yet even if one is forced to endure the rule of a selfish “child” (v. 16) who pursues his own pleasures first, the Preacher urges a respectful attitude “even in your thoughts” (v. 20). This does not mean that one cannot question a king’s decisions or policies (cf. 8:2–9), but one must be able to do so without allowing one’s mind to descend into cursing thoughts, let alone to allow cursing words out of one’s mouth—no easy task, given the poor decisions often made by the authorities (cf. 10:5–7)!
However, focusing too much on political affairs can prove to be a distraction (11:3–4). Therefore, the Preacher argues from the greater to the lesser: if the ability to delay gratification is important among the rulers of a nation, it is also a necessary discipline for the common man. Ordinary folks need to pursue their vocations diligently, which requires self-sacrifice as well and the willingness to wait to enjoy one’s “bread” (11:1–2). We find it easy to criticize politicians—especially those who do not belong to our favored political party—but we often struggle with the same issues and temptations they do, albeit in a less public way. If we want rulers who embody godliness and spiritual wisdom, the first step is to make sure that we ourselves are growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.Ecclesiastes 10:16–11:6
Ecclesiastes 11:7–12:8
Some Hebrew manuscripts, Targum; most Hebrew manuscripts As you do not know the way of the wind, or how the bones grow in the womb
10:16–20 The Preacher begins by pronouncing a woe and a blessing on two types of countries, led by two different types of rulers. Woe is declared upon a country whose “king is a child” (v. 16). The word used here (Hb. naʿar) can refer to a range of ages, and the focus is not so much on age as it is on the king’s lack of maturity and experience. His administration follows his example in being undisciplined and mastered by selfish pleasure-seeking. Such a spiritually childish king and his royal counselors “feast in the morning,” thereby putting pleasure before business. In contrast, a blessing is pronounced upon a land whose “king is the son of the nobility,” in which the rulers have developed the discipline to work first and feast afterward without going to ungodly excess or drunkenness (v. 17). On the general attitude in antiquity that the wealthy noble class was the desirable one for producing a nation’s rulers cf. comments on 4:13–16; 9:16–18; 10:4–7.
The contrast between self-indulgent rulers and self-disciplined ones in verses 16–17 leads to the proverb of verse 18, which highlights the destruction resulting from sloth and pleasure-seeking. In this case the “roof” in verse 18a is a metonymy (part for the whole) that stands for an entire “house,” as indicated by verse 18b. Given the immediate context of wise and foolish kings, one should understand “house” to refer to a political house, that is, the administration or ruling dynasty of a nation. While the proverb is political in nature, the general principle of sloth’s leading to institutional decline is applicable to any type of organization.
Scholars debate the intent of verse 19. The Preacher has repeatedly urged the enjoyment of bread and wine as some of the good gifts of God’s creation (2:24–25; 3:13; 5:18; 8:15; 9:7). In this case, however, there is reason to question whether these words are to be taken at face value. The Preacher has indeed acknowledged the proper place of laughter (3:4), though he has balanced that with cautions concerning its value (2:2; 7:3, 6). Likewise, even though he briefly noted the advantage of possessing wealth (7:12), the Preacher has also made strong statements about its limitations and the need to approach it cautiously (5:10–17; cf. 2:11, 18). The wildly exaggerated nature of the final clause (“money answers everything”) in particular suggests that this verse is probably best understood as the quotation of a slogan from those with a party-animal mindset, such as the foolish princes of 10:16, who put their own pleasures first. One can compare Paul’s quotation “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (1 Cor. 15:32), which represents not his own saying but that of others. On the whole, then, it seems best to understand Ecclesiastes 10:19 as a mocking critique of a completely hedonistic and materialistic approach to life, which in the end will prove to be only vanity.
Thus far in the book the Preacher has subtly criticized any possible number of political rulers (4:13–16; 10:16) without naming any names. All kings and rulers are subject to God’s law and are to be evaluated in light of it. Yet when they fall short, as they often do, frustration and cynicism can lead one to complain about them in an ungodly way. Even an attitude of disrespect for authority is a sin in its own right, and therefore the Preacher warns against cursing the king or the wealthy governing class privately, “in your bedroom” or “in your thoughts” (10:20). It is noteworthy that he assumes that no one would dare utter criticism of the king publicly, presumably due to fear of reprisal. The Preacher seeks to uproot this sin of the heart before it expresses itself in speech, which might somehow be reported to others and make one accountable to judgment.
Given the way that even professing Christians today effectively “curse” the highest political rulers in both thought and word (and social media postings), this is a challenging exhortation that modern-day believers must take to heart. The right to freedom of speech is undoubtedly a precious one that must be zealously maintained, but it is obvious that some have used this right as a pretense to indulge an unbridled tongue and heart with respect to the civil authorities. While Christians may claim to “hate the sin but love the sinner” when it comes to private individuals, they seem to find it harder to “hate the policy but love the policy maker” when it comes to politics.
11:1–2 These and the following verses contain obscure imagery that makes the text difficult to interpret. To “cast your bread upon the waters” (v. 1) has been interpreted as a summons to engage in maritime trade, an urging to pursue a multiplicity of business ventures (e.g., to diversify one’s portfolio), or an encouragement to be generous to the poor. Similarly, to “give a portion” (v. 2) has been interpreted as a call to almsgiving or, alternately, to undertake a variety of economic enterprises. In light of the larger context, however, a sound interpretation emerges. In this unit the Preacher discourages putting pleasure before business and instead encourages industriousness at the appropriate times (10:16–17; 11:4, 6). In 10:19 bread is particularly associated with the pleasure-seeking lifestyle, and 11:1–2 is thus best understood as another exhortation to work diligently. The idea of casting one’s bread upon the water has the notion of putting something out of one’s mind. This sense of the expression is found in an Egyptian text known as the Instruction of Ankhsheshonq: “Do a good deed and throw it in the water; when it dries you will find it” (19:10). In Ecclesiastes 11:1, then, the Preacher is urging the wise worker to put thoughts of “bread” (or “feasting”; 10:16–17) out of mind during the proper time for labor. Work first, then play!
In accord with this reading of 11:1, the reference to giving a portion to seven or eight in verse 2 can also be understood as a summons to industriousness. In this instance it is best to understand the “portion” as wages paid to a variety of workers or employees under one’s supervision. The underlying idea is the importance of developing multiple business interests so that some future economic catastrophe does not leave one without any source of income whatsoever (“for you know not what disaster may happen on earth”).
11:3–4 On the surface these verses sound like a warning against spending too much effort scanning the heavens for meteorological signs in order to know when to sow and reap. In reality the seasons of the early and late rains in Syro-Palestine were well known (Deut. 11:14; Jer. 5:24; Zech. 10:1), along with their implications for when one needed to prepare and sow one’s fields for farming. A person claiming to wait for a sign from heaven to tell him when to start working his fields would, in fact, be a lazy fool seeking to avoid hard work (Eccles. 11:4). Hence these verses provide another practical exhortation to diligence.
These verses are also to be understood on a deeper level as a veiled reference to the shifting political currents of the day. Trees are a common symbol for kings or kingdoms in the Bible (Judg. 9:8–15; Ezekiel 17; 31; Daniel 4), and the mention of a tree falling “to the south or to the north” is likely a reference to the endless conflicts between the various kings vying for power in the ancient Near East. The Preacher urges his listeners not to spend all their time observing the vicissitudes of regional, national, or international politics but instead to remain diligent in their God-given vocations. In our modern age he would encourage many believers to turn off the TV, internet, social media, or talk radio that inundates them with political punditry and instead get busy laboring for their families, their neighbors, their churches and communities, and the kingdom of God.
11:5–6 The reality of our limited knowledge of God’s work, which Ecclesiastes has emphasized multiple times, is reiterated in 11:5 as the Preacher refers to the mysterious way in which the human spirit enters a child in the womb. This comparison initially seems like an abrupt shift but is triggered by the reference to “spirit” or “wind” (Hb. ruakh) in verse 4. Moreover, this brief reference to the mysterious process of the beginnings of human life sets the stage for the following section (11:7–12:8), which will reflect upon the life cycle from birth to death and the ultimate return of the human “spirit” (ruakh) to God in 12:7. On the theological significance of 11:5 with respect to the Bible’s teaching on the Holy Spirit cf. Introduction: Relationship to the Rest of the Bible and to Christ.
The final verse of this section provides another encouragement to hard work. The Preacher makes it clear that one should be industrious not only during the day (when everyone is expected to work) but in the evening as well. One should always look for ways to “make the best use of the time” (Eph. 5:16), since one does not know which labors or initiatives will prove successful.