Ecclesiastes 11:4

4 He that observes the wind sows not; and he that looks at the clouds will not reap.

Ecclesiastes 11:4 Meaning and Commentary

Ecclesiastes 11:4

He that observeth the wind shall not sow
Who before he sows his seed is careful to observe where the wind is, from what corner it blows, and forbears sowing until it is down or changes, lest it should be troublesome unto him in sowing, or blow away his seed, and waits for a better season; such a man may lose his seedtime and never sow at all, and his grain in his barn may be devoured by vermin, or be destroyed by one accident or another, and so he may lose both his seed and his crop; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap;
which are uncertain signs of weather; and if a man gives heed to them, and puts off his sowing from time to time, for the sake of better weather, as he may never sow, so it is impossible that he should reap; and if he sows, and when his grain is ripe and forbears to reap because of the clouds, lest his grain should be wet, may never reap at all: and so it is with respect to liberality; if a man will raise difficulties, and make objections, and attend unto them; if he puts off giving till such an affliction is removed from him and his family, or that is grown up; or such an estate is obtained, or he has got to such an amount of riches, or till more proper and deserving objects present, with twenty things more of the like kind; if he defers giving on such accounts, or through fear of want, which may possess his mind for various reasons, he may never give nor get, yea, never do any good work; for, if nothing is done till all difficulties are removed, no good thing will ever be done.

Ecclesiastes 11:4 In-Context

2 Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil there shall be upon the earth.

3 If the clouds be filled with rain, they pour out upon the earth: and if a tree fall southward, or if it fall northward, in the place where the tree shall fall, there it shall be.

4 He that observes the wind sows not; and he that looks at the clouds will not reap.

5 Among whom none knows what is the way of the wind: as the bones in the womb of a pregnant , so thou shalt not know the works of God, all things whatsoever he shall do.

6 In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening let not thine hand be slack: for thou knowest not what sort shall prosper, whether this or that, or whether both shall be good alike.