Ecclesiastes 11:2
Divide your portion among seven, or even eight, for you do not know what disaster may befall the land.
Majority Standard Bible
In The King James Version
Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.
In Context
1Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again.
Cross References
1 Samuel 25:8Ask your young men, and they will tell you. So let my young men find favor with you, for we have come on the day of a feast. Please give whatever you can spare to your servants and to your son David.’”
Esther 9:19This is why the rural Jews, who live in the villages, observe the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day of joy and feasting. It is a holiday for sending gifts to one another.
Job 5:19He will rescue you from six calamities; no harm will touch you in seven.
Proverbs 6:16There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him:
Micah 5:5And He will be our peace when Assyria invades our land and tramples our citadels. We will raise against it seven shepherds, even eight leaders of men.
Matthew 18:22Jesus answered, “I tell you, not just seven times, but seventy-seven times!
Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 11:2-7
The Obligations to Be Liberal; Answers to Objections against Liberality. 1 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. 2 Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth. 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… Read the whole commentary →