John Trapp on Ecclesiastes 11:1

CHAP. XI. Verſ. 1. Caſt thy bread]

Acts and Mon. fol. 765. THine own well-gotten goods. Alms muſt not bee given (ſaid a Martyr) until it have ſweat in a mans hand. Let him labour working with his hands (ſaith the Apoſtle) that hee may have to give to him that needeth, Epheſ. 4.28. And the bountiful man giveth of his bread to the poor,Amos 2.8 ſaith Solomon, Prov. 22.9. God hateth to have ex rapina holocanſtum, a ſacrifice of things got by rapine and robbery: With ſuch Sacrifices God is not well-pleaſed. Wherefore if thou haſt of thine own, give: If not, better for thee to gratifie none, than to grate upon any, ſaith Auguſtine. When our Henry the third (an oppreſſing Prince) had ſent a load of Freeze to the Frier Minors to cloathe them,Dan. hiſt. 168 they returned the ſame with this meſſage, that hee ought not to give Alms of what hee had rent from the poor, [non-Latin text not transcribed] Buxtorf. neither would they accept of that abominable gift. The Hebrew word ſignifying Alms, ſignifies properly Juſtice; to intimate, that the matter of our alms ſhould bee goods juſtly gotten. Hence alſo the Jews call their Alms-box Kuphaſhel tſedaka, the cheſt of Juſtice. Into this box or basket, if thou caſt but bread (ſo it bee thy bread) brown bread, ſuch as thou haſt, and then wait for the Lord, when hee will return from the wedding with a full hand, thou ſhalt bee fed ſupernae menſae copioſis deliciis, as one ſaith, with the abundant dainties of the heavenly table.

[non-Latin text not transcribed]. Upon the waters] Heb. Upon the face of the waters, where it may ſeem clearly caſt away; as ſeed ſown upon the Sea, or a thing thrown down Avon (as wee ſay) no profit or praiſe to bee had by it. Or upon the waters, i. e. upon ſtrangers (if neceſſitous) whom wee never ſaw, and are never like to ſee again. Or upon the waters, i. e. upon ſuch as being hunger-bit, or hardly beſtead, do water their plants, being fed with bread of tears, as Pſal. 80.5. To this ſenſe Munster renders the words thus, Mitte panem tuum ſuper facies aquas, ſc. emittentes, caſt thy bread upon faces watered with tears. Or upon the waters, upon the ſurface of the waters, that it may be carried into the Ocean, where the multitude of waters is gathered together: ſo ſhall thine alms carried into Heaven bee found in the Ocean of Eternity, where there is a confluence of all comforts and contentments. Or laſtly, upon the waters, i. e. in loca irrigua, upon grounds well watered, moiſt and fertile ſoil,Blounts voy. p. 37 Herod. lib. 1. c. 193. Plin. lib. 6. c. 26. ſuch as is that by the River Nilus, where they do but throw in the ſeed, and they have four rich Harveſts, in leſs than four months: or as that in the Land of Shinar (where Babel was founded, Gen. 11.) that returns (if Herodotus and Pliny may bee beleeved) the ſeed, beyond credulity.

For thou ſhalt finde it after many daies] Thou ſhalt reap in due time, if thou faint not, ſlack not, withdraw not thy hand as verſ. 6. Mitte panem, &c. & in verbo Domini promitto tibi, &c. ſaith one, Caſt thy bread confidently without fear, and freely without compulſion, caſt it, though thou ſeem to caſt it away, and I dare promiſe thee in the name and word of the Lord,Greg. Thaum. Nequaquam infrugifera apparebit beneficentia, that thy bounty ſhall bee abundantly recompenſed into thy boſome. The liberal ſoul ſhall bee made fat, and hee that watereth ſhall bee watered himſelf, Prov. 11.25. See the Note there: See alſo my Common-place of Alms. Non pereunt ſed parturiunt pauperibus impenſa, That which is given to the poor is not loſt, but laid up. Not getting, but giving is the way to wealth, Prov. 19.17. Abigail for a ſmall preſent beſtowed on David, became a Queen, whereas churliſh Nabal was ſent to his place.