Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.
Bread - bread-corn. As in the Lord's prayer, all things needful for the body and soul. Solomon reverts to the sentiment in Ecclesiastes 9:4.
Waters - image from the custom of sowing seed by casting it from boats into the overflowing waters of the Nile, or in any marshy ground. When the waters receded, the grain in the alluvial soil sprang up (Isaiah 32:20). "Waters" express multitudes; so Ecclesiastes 11:2; Revelation 17:15; also the seemingly hopeless character of the recipients of the charity; but it shall prove at last to have been not thrown away (Isaiah 49:4). Earthly seed is sometimes lost, but not so any heavenly seed of good works, sown in faith and love.