CHAPTER XI _Give alms to all_, 1-4. _The works of God unknown to man_, 5. _Diligence necessary_, 6. _Prosperity frequently succeeded by adversity_, 7, 8. _There will be a day of judgment_, 9, 10. NOTES ON CHAP. XI Verse Ecclesiastes 11:1. _CAST THY BREAD UPON THE WATERS_] An allusion to the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ecclesiastes 11:2. _GIVE A PORTION TO SEVEN_] Never cease giving while thou seest a person in distress, and hast wherewithal to relieve him. _THOU KNOWEST NOT WHAT EVIL_] Such may be the change of times, that thou mayest yet stand in need of similar help thyself. _Do as_ _thou wouldst be done... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ecclesiastes 11:3. _IF THE CLOUDS BE FULL OF RAIN._] Act as the clouds; when they are full they pour out their water indifferently on the _field_ and on the _desert_. By giving charity indiscriminately, it may be that thou wilt often give it to the unworthy: but thou shouldst ever consider tha... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ecclesiastes 11:4. _HE THAT OBSERVETH THE WIND SHALL NOT SOW_] The man that is too scrupulous is never likely to succeed in any thing. If a man neither plough nor sow till the weather is entirely to his mind, the season will in all probability pass before he will have done any thing: so, if t... [ Continue Reading ]
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 not tell, no more than thou canst how _their soul_ is united to their body, how it came to _inform_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ecclesiastes 11:6. _IN THE MORNING SOW THY SEED_] Be ready at _all times_ to show mercy; begin in the _morning_, continue till the _evening_. Thou knowest not the most worthy object; it is enough that God knoweth; and if thy motive be _good_, he will applaud and reward thee; not according to t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ecclesiastes 11:7. _TRULY THE LIGHT_ IS _SWEET_] Life is dear to every man as the _light of the sun_ is to the _eye_. A man would give all that he has for his life, and it is particularly dear to him when he is in ease and affluence: but let each remember that,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ecclesiastes 11:8. _IF A MAN LIVE MANY YEARS_] And even have _prosperity_ through the whole; yet the _days of darkness_-times of affliction, weakness, and perhaps _old age, will be many_. If he die not a _violent_ death, which no man can wish, he will die a _lingering_ _death_; and this is ord... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ecclesiastes 11:9. _REJOICE, O YOUNG MAN, IN THY YOUTH_] _Youth_ is devoid of cares; and, consequently, of many perplexities and distresses. Were it not so, we should have no _old men_; nay, perhaps not _one_ even of _middle age_. It is in the order of a most gracious God, that the _young_ sho... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ecclesiastes 11:10. _THEREFORE REMOVE SORROW_] כעס _caas, anger_; every kind of violent passion, all filthiness of _the flesh_ and spirit. "Childhood and youth are vanity;" they pass away and come to nothing. Eternity alone is permanent; live for eternity.... [ Continue Reading ]