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Cast
your bread upon the waters
What is the meaning of ‘Cast your bread upon the waters’ in
Ecclesiastes 11:1?
.
Got Questions Ministries
Ecclesiastes 11:1 says, “Cast your bread upon the
waters, for you will find it after many days” (ESV).
This maxim has led to a variety of
interpretations, some better than others. We will take a look at a couple of
them in this article.
One view is that the instruction to “cast
your bread upon the waters” has to do with international commerce.
A couple of Bible translations bring out this
meaning:
“Ship your grain across
the sea; after many days you may receive a return” (NIV).
“Invest your money in
foreign trade, and one of these days you will make a profit” (GNT).
The problem with seeing this verse as advice on
international trade is that the context doesn’t much support it.
One of the themes of Ecclesiastes is that financial gain is “vanity”
(see Ecclesiastes 5:10–17), so why would the author, Solomon, near
the end of the book, be giving advice on how to turn a profit?
Another view is that
the instruction to “cast your bread upon the waters” is a metaphor for
being generous, even if a return seems unlikely.
A couple translations
emphasize this meaning:
“Be generous, and someday you will be rewarded” (CEV).
“Be generous, and someday you will be rewarded” (CEV).
“Do good wherever you
go. After a while, the good you do will come back to you” (ERV).
This second, metaphorical view is probably more
in line with the intent of the verse.
Casting bread or sowing seed on water seems to
be an exercise in futility.
But you don’t know what the actual results will
be, says Solomon; in faith be generous, and in faith expect a return somewhere
down the road.
This accords with Proverbs 11:18, “The one who sows righteousness
reaps a sure reward.”
And Galatians 6:9, “Let us not become weary in doing
good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
Carrying that interpretation forward, we look
at Ecclesiastes 11:1–2 together:
“Ship your grain across
the sea;
after many days you may receive a return.
Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight;
you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.”
after many days you may receive a return.
Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight;
you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.”
The book of Ecclesiastes is unique in the
Hebrew Scriptures. It is the only book that overtly philosophizes.
Specifically, Ecclesiastes is a book of
practical philosophy — it is based on observation and experience, not on
strained, esoteric ideas.
The topic in Ecclesiastes 11:1–6 is not how water affects bread.
It is about how our goodness affects the world.
The bread and water are used as imagery.
The “bread,” which by metonymy is best
understood to be the seed of the bread (its grain), represents our goodness,
and the rest of the passage encourages us to be undeterred in our “sowing.”
We must “cast our bread” — we must
liberally extend our goodness, even when it doesn’t seem to be doing any good (cf. Matthew 5:44 and Luke 14:13–14).
We should note that Ecclesiastes 11:1 is not a holy algorithm that says
if you do X in the Y way then Z will
happen.
It is not a formula like those used in
laboratories that necessarily yield the same results time after time.
Sowing goodness comes under the realm of social
science.
Solomon is offering good advice based on his
observations.
But since people are involved — and since
people are volitional creatures — the maxim cannot guarantee a positive result
in every case.
This “no guarantees” aspect of
benevolence is shown by the phrase “upon the waters.”
We cast our bread out into the world, and we
simply cannot know if every seed will find a place to grow.
What we do know is that a significant number of
seeds will grow.
We should not get hung up on the fact that some
of the seeds will not thrive (cf. Mark 4:3–20).
Casting bread upon the waters evokes the law
of sowing and reaping. The seed in this case is one’s acts of
goodness.
There will be a harvest in heaven, if not in
this world.
But the point Solomon makes is more than that
we should sow goodness in order to reap a future harvest; the idea is for us to
become people who will do good for goodness’ sake, irrespective of
the harvest.
Ecclesiastes 11:1–6 can reasonably mean, “Sow seeds
of goodness every day, even when it doesn’t make sense to do so. In due season
you will reap a reward. Be diligent about sowing goodness, and accept no
excuses! Then goodness will become a part of who you are, not just a thing that
you do, and the world will be a better place because of it.”
Got Questions Ministries seeks to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ by providing
biblical, applicable, and timely answers to spiritually related questions
through an internet presence.
GotQuestions.org is a ministry of dedicated and trained servants who have a desire to assist others in their understanding of God, Scripture, salvation, and other spiritual topics. We are Christian, Protestant, evangelical, theologically conservative, and non-denominational. We view ourselves as a para-church ministry, coming alongside the church to help people find answers to their spiritually related questions.
We will do our best to prayerfully and thoroughly research your question and answer it in a biblically based manner. It is not our purpose to make you agree with us, but rather to point you to what the Bible says concerning your question. You can be assured that your question will be answered by a trained and dedicated Christian who loves the Lord and desires to assist you in your walk with Him. Our writing staff includes pastors, youth pastors, missionaries, biblical counselors, Bible/Christian college students, seminary students, and lay students of God’s Word.
GotQuestions.org is a ministry of dedicated and trained servants who have a desire to assist others in their understanding of God, Scripture, salvation, and other spiritual topics. We are Christian, Protestant, evangelical, theologically conservative, and non-denominational. We view ourselves as a para-church ministry, coming alongside the church to help people find answers to their spiritually related questions.
We will do our best to prayerfully and thoroughly research your question and answer it in a biblically based manner. It is not our purpose to make you agree with us, but rather to point you to what the Bible says concerning your question. You can be assured that your question will be answered by a trained and dedicated Christian who loves the Lord and desires to assist you in your walk with Him. Our writing staff includes pastors, youth pastors, missionaries, biblical counselors, Bible/Christian college students, seminary students, and lay students of God’s Word.
