George Haydock's Catholic Commentary
Ecclesiastes 11:5
Spirit. In a man, or of the wind. Why then wouldst thou judge of the merit of thy petitioner? or pretend to determine why God has made thee rich and him poor?
Spirit. In a man, or of the wind. Why then wouldst thou judge of the merit of thy petitioner? or pretend to determine why God has made thee rich and him poor?
Verse Ecclesiastes 11:5. _AS THOU KNOWEST NOT - THE WAY OF THE SPIRIT_] _Why_ God should have permitted such an such persons to fall into want, and how they came into all their distresses, thou canst...
“Unforeseen events come from God; and the man who is always gazing on the uncertain future will neither begin nor complete any useful work: but do thou bear in mind that times and circumstances, the p...
CHAPTER 11 _ 1. Proverbs concerning man's work(Ecclesiastes 11:1)_ 2. The vanity of life (Ecclesiastes 11:7) Ecclesiastes 11:1. These continued proverbs concern the work of m
ECCLESIASTES 11:1 TO ECCLESIASTES 12:8. CLOSING COUNSELS. It is well to do and to get all one can, in the way of industry and pleasure, before old age draws on. Ecclesiastes 11:1 and...
AS. According as. See note on John 3:8. spirit. Hebrew. _ruach._ App-9. GOD. Hebrew. _Elohim._ (with Art.). the [true] God, or the Deity. App-4. See note on Ecclesiastes 1:13....
_As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit_ The Hebrew word for "spirit" has also the meaning of "wind" as in the verse immediately preceding, and this has led many commentators (as with the c...
AS THOU KNOWEST NOT WHAT IS THE WAY OF THE SPIRIT— _As thou knowest not which way the wind will blow, nor how the bones are formed in the womb of her who is with child; even so thou knowest not the wo...
F. EXHORTATIONS TO WORK IN HARMONY WITH Wisdom 11:112:8 1. Trust God and be cheerful in all of your activities. Ecclesiastes 11:1-8 TEXT 11:1-8 1 Cast your bread on the surface of the waters, for...
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. THOU KNOWEST NOT ... WA...
11:5 spirit, (m-11) Or 'the wind.'...
LIFE AFTER ALL IS WORTH LIVING 1-3. Fulfil the duty of beneficence, knowing that results are in the hands of God....
THE TEACHER SEARCHES FOR THE PURPOSE OF OUR LIVES BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES _HILDA BRIGHT AND KITTY PRIDE_ CHAPTER 11 THE KNOWLEDGE OF HUMAN BEINGS HAS LIMITS – ECCLESIASTES 11:1-6 V1 Throw your bre...
The wording of this passage leaves it ambiguous whether we have here two illustrations of man’s ignorance, or only one; whether we are to understand the verse as declaring that we know neither the way...
כַּ אֲשֶׁ֨ר אֵֽינְךָ֤ יֹודֵ֨עַ֙ מַה ־דֶּ֣רֶךְ...
BUT IN A WISE USE AND A WISE ENJOYMENT OF THE PRESENT LIFE, Ecclesiastes 11:1 What that Good is, and where it may be found, the Preacher now proceeds to show. But, as his manner is, he does not say i...
FOURTH SECTION The Quest Achieved. The Chief Good Is To Be Found, Not In Wisdom, Nor In Pleasure, Nor In Devotion To Affairs And Its Rewards; But In A Wise Use And A Wise Enjoyment Of The Present Li...
LIVE NOT FOR TODAY ALONE Ecclesiastes 11:1-10 The casting of bread upon the waters is an allusion to the oriental custom of casting rice-grains on the fields, when they lie submerged beneath the annu...
The method of worldly wisdom is not that of discretion only; it is, moreover, that of diligence, and this passage urges such diligence. Again, we have taken more than one text out of this passage to p...
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. (4) He that obs...
THE FOLLOWING COMMENTARY COVERS CHAPTER S 1 THROUGH 12. The Book of Ecclesiastes is, up to a certain point, the converse of the Book of Proverbs. (see NOTE TO PROVERBS below) It is the experience of a...
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 circumst...
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. Ver. 5. _As thou kn...
_As thou knowest not the way of the spirit_ Of the soul of man, how it comes into the child in the womb; or how it is united with the body; or how, and whether it goes out of the body. _Nor how the bo...
As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, or of the wind, concerning whose various vagaries men are just as puzzled as ever, in spite of the progress made by the science of meteorology, Cf Jo...
PRACTICING BENEVOLENCE...
"JUST AS YOU DO NOT KNOW THE PATH OF THE WIND AND HOW BONES ARE FORMED IN THE WOMB OF THE PREGNANT WOMAN, SO YOU DO NOT KNOW THE ACTIVITY OF GOD WHO MAKES ALL THINGS."JUST AS" -Human ignorance, even i...
1-6 Solomon presses the rich to do good to others. Give freely, though it may seem thrown away and lost. Give to many. Excuse not thyself with the good thou hast done, from the good thou hast further...
OF THE SPIRIT; of the spirit or soul of man, how it first comes into the body of the child in the womb, whether from God by creation, or from the parents by propagation; nor how it is united with and...
Ecclesiastes 11:5 know H3045 (H8802) way H1870 wind H7307 bones H6106 womb H990 child H4392 know H3045 ...
CHAPTER ECCLESIASTES 11:1 ADVICE FROM THE WISE MAN TO THE WISE. Central to these verses is the recognition of our ignorance. We do not know what will happen when we do things, we do not know what God...
CHAPTER S ECCLESIASTES 11:9 TO ECCLESIASTES 12:14 THE VENTURING OF THE YOUNG, THE TRIALS OF THE OLD AND MAN'S FINAL DESTINY. As we come to the end of the writer's musings we are rewarded with the fina...
Ecclesiastes 8:16-12 I. The Preacher commences this section by carefully defining his position and equipment as he starts on his last course. (1) His first conclusion is that wisdom, which of all temp...
Ecclesiastes 11:1. _Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days._ Hoard not thy bread; for if thou dost, it will mildew, it will be of no use to thee. Cast it on the waters...
CONTENTS: Exhortation to works of charity and right living. CHARACTERS: God, Solomon. CONCLUSION: Since we have death and judgment to prepare for, we should do good to others and abound in liberalit...
Ecclesiastes 11:1. _Cast thy bread upon the waters; for thou shalt find it after many days._ The root לחם _lechem,_ designates bread, corn, and all kinds of meat which sustain life. It refers also to...
_Thou knowest not the work of God, who doeth all _ CHRISTIAN AGNOSTICISM (with James 1:5):--The favourite intellectual mood of unbelief in recent times has been agnosticism. It declares that the gre...
CRITICAL NOTES.— ECCLESIASTES 11:1. CAST THY BREAD UPON THE WATERS.] “Bread,” rendered in Isaiah 28:28, “bread corn.” It has been supposed that there is an allusion to the manner of sowing the seed-co...
EXPOSITION Approaching the end of his treatise, Koheleth, in view of apparent anomalies in God's moral government, and the difficulties that meet man in his social and political relations, proceeds t...
Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for you don't know what evil shall be upon the eaRuth (Ecclesiastes 11:1-2). You do...
Ecclesiastes 7:24; Ecclesiastes 8:17; Isaiah 40:28; Job 26:5;...
The spirit — Of the soul of man, how it comes into the child in the womb; or how it is united with the body; or how and whether it goes out of the body. The works — What God is doing and will do with...