Passage

Ecclesiastes 11.5

Book: Ecclesiastes · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"3. If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth; and if a tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there shall it be. 4. He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap."

"5. As thou knowest not what is the way of the wind, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child; even so thou knowest not the work of God who doeth all."

"6. In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thy hand; for thou knowest not which shall prosper, whether this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good. 7. Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun." (Ecclesiastes 11:3-7, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"3. If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth; and if a tree falls toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falls, there shall it be. 4. He who observes the wind won’t sow; and he who regards the clouds won’t reap."

"5. As you don’t know what is the way of the wind, nor how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child; even so you don’t know the work of God who does all."

"6. In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening don’t withhold your hand; for you don’t know which will prosper, whether this or that, or whether they both will be equally good. 7. Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to see the sun." (Ecclesiastes 11:3-7, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"3. If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be. 4. He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap."

"5. As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all."

"6. In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good. ^{shall prosper: Heb. shall be right} 7. Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun:" (Ecclesiastes 11:3-7, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"3. If the thick clouds are full of rain, On the earth they empty [themselves]; And if a tree doth fall in the south or to the north, The place where the tree falleth, there it is. 4. Whoso is observing the wind soweth not, And whoso is looking on the thick clouds reapeth not."

"5. As thou knowest not what [is] the way of the spirit, How, bones in the womb of the full one, So thou knowest not the work of God who maketh the whole."

"6. In the morning sow thy seed, And at even withdraw not thy hand, For thou knowest not which is right, this or that, Or whether both of them alike [are] good. 7. Sweet also [is] the light, And good for the eyes to see the sun." (Ecclesiastes 11:3-7, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
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Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.