Ecclesiastes 11:1–6
"Cast thy bread upon the waters"
"Send your bread on the face of the waters, for after many days you will find it" (11:1). Commercial reading: send goods by sea and diversify (v. 2). Charitable reading: give generously without calculation. Verses 3–6 teach action under uncertainty. In v. 5 some Hebrew manuscripts and the Targum are reported to read "into the bones" for "like the bones."
Same letters, different readings: the consonants agree, but ancient readers vocalized or interpreted them differently
The family tree
Each row is a language or text tradition. Witnesses in the same row may share ancestry, revise one another, or have an uncertain relationship; the line under each box says which. A solid arrow appears only where direct copying or a documented revised edition is established. Order by date never implies copying. Scroll sideways on a phone.
✓ contains it · ✕ does not · ❝ quotes part of it · ⓘ reports on manuscripts · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives
- Same line, through lost copies
- Translation
Every witness, in order
Often dated 4th–3rd century BC (debated)
The book as first written
No original survives. The oldest Hebrew copies of Ecclesiastes are two Qumran fragments, 4Q109 (4QQoh-a, mid-2nd century BC, reported) and 4Q110 (4QQoh-b, reported).
Jerome c. AD 398, from Hebrew; edition 1592
Latin Vulgate (Clementine)
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition).
Mitte panem tuum super transeuntes aquas, quia post tempora multa invenies illum. Da partem septem necnon et octo, quia ignoras quid futurum sit mali super terram. Si repletæ fuerint nubes, imbrem super terram effundent. Si ceciderit lignum ad austrum aut ad aquilonem, in quocumque loco ceciderit, ibi erit. Qui observat ventum non seminat; et qui considerat nubes numquam metet. Quomodo ignoras quæ sit via spiritus, et qua ratione compingantur ossa in ventre prægnantis, sic nescis opera Dei, qui fabricator est omnium. Mane semina semen tuum, et vespere ne cesset manus tua: quia nescis quid magis oriatur, hoc aut illud; et si utrumque simul, melius erit.
Latin numbering: Ecclesiastes 11:1–6. Jerome translated Ecclesiastes from Hebrew (c. AD 398), after writing a commentary on it (c. 388); the Vulgate is an indirect witness to a Hebrew text, with Jerome's interpretation.
AD 1008
Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.
שַׁלַּ֥ח לַחְמְךָ֖ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י הַמָּ֑יִם כִּֽי־בְרֹ֥ב הַיָּמִ֖ים תִּמְצָאֶֽנּוּ׃ תֶּן־חֵ֥לֶק לְשִׁבְעָ֖ה וְגַ֣ם לִשְׁמוֹנָ֑ה כִּ֚י לֹ֣א תֵדַ֔ע מַה־יִּהְיֶ֥ה רָעָ֖ה עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ אִם־יִמָּלְא֨וּ הֶעָבִ֥ים גֶּ֙שֶׁם֙ עַל־הָאָ֣רֶץ יָרִ֔יקוּ וְאִם־יִפּ֥וֹל עֵ֛ץ בַּדָּר֖וֹם וְאִ֣ם בַּצָּפ֑וֹן מְק֛וֹם שֶׁיִּפּ֥וֹל הָעֵ֖ץ שָׁ֥ם יְהֽוּא׃ שֹׁמֵ֥ר ר֖וּחַ לֹ֣א יִזְרָ֑ע וְרֹאֶ֥ה בֶעָבִ֖ים לֹ֥א יִקְצֽוֹר׃ כַּאֲשֶׁ֨ר אֵֽינְךָ֤ יוֹדֵ֙עַ֙ מַה־דֶּ֣רֶךְ הָר֔וּחַ כַּעֲצָמִ֖ים בְּבֶ֣טֶן הַמְּלֵאָ֑ה כָּ֗כָה לֹ֤א תֵדַע֙ אֶת־מַעֲשֵׂ֣ה הָֽאֱלֹהִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר יַעֲשֶׂ֖ה אֶת־הַכֹּֽל׃ בַּבֹּ֙קֶר֙ זְרַ֣ע אֶת־זַרְעֶ֔ךָ וְלָעֶ֖רֶב אַל־תַּנַּ֣ח יָדֶ֑ךָ כִּי֩ אֵֽינְךָ֨ יוֹדֵ֜ע אֵ֣י זֶ֤ה יִכְשָׁר֙ הֲזֶ֣ה אוֹ־זֶ֔ה וְאִם־שְׁנֵיהֶ֥ם כְּאֶחָ֖ד טוֹבִֽים׃
Send your bread on the face of the waters, for in the multitude of days you will find it (v. 1)
Hebrew numbering: Ecclesiastes 11:1–6.
1611
King James Bible
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).
Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth. 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. He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap. 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. In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.
Greek translation c. 1st–2nd century AD (debated); French 1872
Greek Ecclesiastes (library: Giguet's French)
How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.
Laisse aller ton pain au cours de l’eau; car après bien des jours tu le retrouveras. Distribues-en à sept, même à huit personnes; car tu ignores ce qu’il doit y avoir de maux sur la terre. Lorsque les nuées sont pleines, elles fondent en pluie sur la terre; et si un arbre tombe au midi ou au nord, il restera là où il sera tombé. Celui qui observe le vent ne sèmera pas; et celui qui regarde aux nuages ne moissonnera pas. Car nul ne sait quelle est la voie du vent; comme les os cachés dans les entrailles de la femme grosse, de même te sont cachées les œuvres que Dieu a faites et toutes celles qu’il fera encore. Sème ton grain dès l’aurore, et que ta main ne s’arrête pas le soir; car tu ignores de celui-ci ou de celuilà lequel doit lever; s’ils lèvent tous deux à la fois, c’est bien.
Greek (digital file) numbering: Ecclesiastes 11:1–6. Giguet's 1872 French of a printed Greek text (D check). A C check needs the Göttingen edition of Greek Ecclesiastes (P. J. Gentry, 2019).
What changed, and why
An Egyptian saying in the Instruction of Ankhsheshonq (Ptolemaic period) advises doing a good deed and throwing it into the water, to find it when the water dries; it supports the charitable reading's antiquity. The Targum and much Jewish and Christian tradition read 11:1 of almsgiving. Neither reading is a promise of guaranteed return.
"Seven, and also eight" (v. 2) is the x / x+1 pattern meaning "many and more."
11:5: Masoretic ka'atsamim ("like the bones"); the reported variant ba'atsamim ("into the bones") yields "how the spirit comes into the bones in the womb." The site has not checked the manuscripts (C check EC-C06).
What the evidence shows
- Both commercial and charitable readings of 11:1 have ancient support.
- 11:1 promises a financial return.
- Some Hebrew manuscripts read 'into the bones' in 11:5. Reported; C check.
Sources
Related lessons
- Ecclesiastes 11: Cast Your Bread upon the Waters →"Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days" (11:1). Give a portion to seven or eight, since you do not know what disaster will come (v. 2). Clouds empty rain when full; a tree lies where it falls (v. 3). Whoever watches the wind will never sow (v. 4). As you do not know the way of the wind (or spirit) or how bones grow in the womb, you do not know the work of God (v. 5). So sow morning and evening: you do not know which will prosper (v. 6). Light is sweet; rejoice in all your years, but remember the days of darkness (vv. 7–8). "Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth… but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment" (v. 9). Remove vexation and evil, for youth is fleeting (v. 10).
- Investigation: Egypt, Greece and Qoheleth →Scholars have compared Ecclesiastes with Egyptian harpers' songs and instructions, with Babylonian dialogues, and with Greek thinkers (Theognis, Epicurus, the Stoics, the Cynics). Some argued for direct Greek influence; others see a thoroughly Hebrew book using international wisdom themes. This investigation sets out the main comparisons and why caution is needed.
- Investigation: Time, Eternity and the Limits of Knowing →Ecclesiastes is a book about time: generations passing, fourteen pairs of times, eternity in the heart, the evil time that falls suddenly. It is also a book about knowing: again and again humans "cannot find out" God's work or know what comes after. This investigation traces both themes and the key words et (time) and olam (eternity, world).