Prediger 11:4

"He who observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap." The proverb is not to be understood literally, but in the spirit of the whole paraenesis: it is not directed against the provident observation, guided by experience, of the monitions and warnings lying in the present condition of the weather, but against that useless, because impossible, calculation of the coming state of the weather, which waits on from day to day, from week to week, till the right time for sowing and reaping has passed away. The seed-time requires rain so as to open up and moisten the ground; he who has too much hesitation observes (שׁמר) the wind whether it will bring rain (Pro 25:23), and on that account puts off the sowing of the seed till it is too late. The time of harvest requires warmth without rain (Pro 26:1); but the scrupulous and timid man, who can never be sure enough, looks at the clouds (cf. Isa 47:13), scents rainy weather, and finds now and never any security for the right weather for the gathering in of the fruits of the field. He who would accomplish and gain anything, must have confidence and courage to venture something; the conditions of success cannot be wholly reckoned upon, the future is in the hand of God, the All-Conditioning.

In this chapter we have, I. A pressing exhortation to works of charity and bounty to the poor, as the best cure of the vanity which our worldly riches are subject to and the only way of making them turn to a substantial good account (Ecc 11:1-6). II. A serious admonition to prepare for death and judgment, and to begin betimes, even in the days of our youth, to do so (Ecc 11:7-10).