Ecclesiastes 11:6 - Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

Bible Comments

In the morning, and in the evening; early and late, in all seasons and occasions; do it speedily and continually, be not weary of it. Sow thy seed; do all good works, and especially that of almsgiving, as sowing is understood, 2 Corinthians 9:6 Galatians 6:7. Withhold not thine hand from working or giving. Whether shall prosper; which shall prosper most, as the next clause explains it; the positive degree being put for the comparative, or the superlative, which is not unusual in the Hebrew text. Which shall best answer thine end, or do most good to others, or which shall tend most to the comfort of thy great and last account; for thy morning alms may possibly be given to an unworthy person, or to one who did not need it, and will abuse it, and thy evening alms may fall upon a person of eminent worth, yea, upon an angel in human shape, which is remembered as a motive to hospitality, Hebrews 13:2, or upon one in extreme necessity, who might possibly have perished both in soul and body, if thou hadst not comforted and relieved him: or one time thou mayst give with more sincere intention, and with more tender compassion, than another time, and so one will be more right and more acceptable to God than the other. Alike good; equally successful to the receiver, or to the giver.

Ecclesiastes 11:6

6 In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper,b either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.