Ecclesiastes 11:1

ASV⁽ⁱ⁾ ¹ Cast thy bread upon the waters; for thou shalt find it after many days.

Online Parallel Study Bible

Ecclesiastes 11:1 Directions for charity.
Ecclesiastes 11:7 Death in life,
Ecclesiastes 11:9 and the day ofjudgment in the days of youth, are to be thought on.

Cast.That is, says Bp. Lowth, "Sow thy seed or corn on the face of the waters;" in plain terms, sow without any hope of a harvest: do good even to them on whom your benefactions seem thrown away. Dr. Jebb has well illustrated it by the following passages: "Vain are the favours done to vicious men; Not vainer 'tis to sow the foaming deep. The deep no pleasant harvest shall afford, Nor will the wicked ever make return." "To befriend the wicked is like sowing in the sea." These, indeed, invert this precept; nor is it extraordinary that they should; "The one, frail human power alone produced, The other, God."
thy bread.
Deuteronomy 15:7-11; Proverbs 11:24; Proverbs 11:25; Proverbs 22:9; Isaiah 32:8
waters. Heb. face of the waters.
Isaiah 32:20
for.
Ecclesiastes 11:6; Deuteronomy 15:10; Psalms 41:1; Psalms 41:2; Psalms 126:5; Psalms 126:6; Proverbs 11:18; Proverbs 19:17; Matthew 10:13; Matthew 10:42; Matthew 25:40
Luke 14:14; 2 Corinthians 9:6; Galatians 6:8-10; Hebrews 6:10