Глава 11

Eccl.11:1. Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again. Throw your bread on the face of the water, for after many days you will find it. He exhorts people to give alms that everyone who asks should be given and given charity indiscriminately. For just as he who sows in damp soil expects fruit from his sowing, so he who gives to the poor sows; and he sows not grains of seeds, but the bread itself, and therefore expects his sowing to be multiplied with great increase; and when the day of judgment comes, he will receive much more than he gave. Otherwise: in whatever person you see that water about which it is said: “rivers from his belly will flow out of living waters” (John 7:38), do not be burdened to give him the bread of wisdom, the bread of understanding, the bread of the word. For if you do this often, you will find that you did not sow the seeds of learning in vain. Something similar, I believe, is said in Isaiah: “Blessed are those who sow by all water, where the ox and the donkey trample” (Is. 32:20), - that the teacher who sows on the watered heart of listeners, whether gathered from Jews or from pagans, should be recognized as worthy of blessedness. Eccl.11:2. Give us part seven or even eight, because you don’t know what kind of trouble will happen on earth. Give us part of seven and even eight, because you don’t know what kind of trouble will happen on earth. And Ezekiel mentions seven and eight steps at the entrance to the church (Ezekiel 40:26–31). And after this ethic psalm, that is, the one hundred and eighteenth, fifteen degrees are given, but by which we first learn in the law, and then, after fulfilling the sevenfold number, we ascend through the octagon to the Gospel. So, it is commanded that we believe with equal reverence in both testaments, that is, both the old and the new. The Jews gave part of the seven, believing the Sabbath; but they did not give it to the eight, rejecting the resurrection of the day of the Lord. On the contrary, the heretics Marcion, Manichaeus and all those who furiously torment the Old Testament give part of the octah, accepting the Gospel, but do not give this part in the septenary number, rejecting the Old Testament. We will believe in both testaments. For we cannot now even imagine the worthy torments and worthy punishment that are intended for those living on earth, Jews and heretics, who reject one of the two covenants. The Jew understands this passage this way: keep both the Sabbath and circumcision, so that unexpected disaster does not befall you if for some reason you do not do this. Eccl.11:3. When the clouds are full, they will pour rain on the earth; and if a tree falls to the south or north, then it will remain where it falls. If the clouds are full, they will rain on the earth. And if a tree falls to the south or to the north, then in the place where it fell, there it will be. Keep the commandments prescribed for you above, so that the clouds will pour their rain on you. For, wherever you prepare a place and future home for yourself, whether in the south or in the north, there, when you die, you will remain. Otherwise: because above we said: “throw your bread on the face of water and give to everyone who asks you”, because the clouds, when they are filled, distribute their wealth to mortals, and you, like a tree, even if you were durable, will not exist forever, but suddenly thrown over by a storm, like winds - death, where you fall, you will remain there forever, whether the last day overtakes you cruel and insensitive, or merciful and merciful. Otherwise: in the Psalm it is said to God: “Your truth reaches to the clouds” (Ps. 35:6) and in Isaiah God threatens the vineyard that has sinned: “We will command the clouds, lest rain fall on it” (Is. 5:6). So, the clouds are prophets and every holy man who has collected a lot of knowledge in his heart will be able to receive teaching instructions and say: “Let my message fall like rain” and “Let my words pour rain on the earth” (Deut. 32:2), about which it is said: “Let the earth hear the words of my mouth.” Regarding the further: “and if a tree falls to the south or to the north, then in the place where it fell, there it will be,” let us imagine that place from Habakkuk about which it is written: “God will come from Teman,” which other translators conveyed with the words: “God will come from the south.” And as far as I know, the south is always taken in a good direction, which is why the Song of Songs says: “Arise,” that is, retreat, go “to the north, and come to the south” (Song. 4:16). So, a tree that falls in this life and, according to the law of death, is cut down, this tree either sinned while it stood, and therefore will subsequently be laid on the north side, or, if it bore fruits worthy of the south, it will lie on the south side. And there is no tree that does not lie either north or south. The same thing is meant by what is written in Isaiah: “Bring the river to the north, and Liba, do not forbid” (Is. 43:6). The west and east winds are never commanded to lead, because those that could be brought to the east and west must be in other countries (i.e., north and south). So, the north wind leads its inhabitants to the west, and the African (southern) wind leads its inhabitants to the east. For they cannot provide any benefit if they remain in the same places. Eccl.11:4. He who watches the wind must not sow; and whoever looks at the clouds will not reap. He who watches the wind will not sow, and he who watches the clouds will not reap. He who looks to whom he does good and does not give to everyone who asks him often bypasses someone worthy of alms (Luke 6:30). In other words: whoever preaches the word of God only at a time when the people willingly listen and when the preacher enjoys a favorable opinion is a careless sower and a lazy farmer. For even among the most favorable circumstances, unfavorable ones arise without our knowledge. But the word of God must be preached in its own way in a timely and untimely manner (2 Tim. 4:2), and during faith one should not look at the storm of nasty clouds, which is spoken of in Proverbs: “Just as heavy rain is of no benefit, so those who have abandoned the law praise wickedness” (Prov. 28:3–4). So, we must sow even during storms, despite the clouds and not fearing the winds, and we must not say: this time is convenient, but this is not convenient, when we do not know what the path is and what the will of the all-arranging Spirit is. Eccl.11:5. Just as you do not know the ways of the wind and how the bones are formed in the womb of a pregnant woman, so you cannot know the work of God, who does everything. Just as you do not know the way of the spirit, and like the bones in a pregnant woman’s womb, so you do not know the works of God, who does everything. Just as you do not know the path of the spirit and soul entering a child, and you do not know the different states of the bones and veins in the womb of a pregnant woman, you do not know how from an insignificant particle the human body is formed into various forms and members, how from the same seed one becomes soft muscles, another hardens into bones, another turns into beating veins, and another is connected into nerves: so you cannot know the works of God, Who is the creator of everything. This teaches that one should not be afraid of unfavorable circumstances and that it is unreasonable to talk about the winds and clouds that we spoke about above; - unreasonable, because the sower must walk at his own pace and pace, and leave the result to the will of the Lord. For “neither willing nor existing, but a gracious God” (Rom. 9:16). Eccl.11:6–8. In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening do not let your hand rest, because you do not know whether one or the other will be more successful, or whether both will be equally good. Sweet is the light, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. If a person lives for many years, then let him have fun throughout all of them, and let him remember the dark days, of which there will be many: all that will happen is vanity! In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening do not lower your hand; because you do not know whether this or that will please you, even if both were equally good. And the light is sweet, and it is good for the eyes to see the sun: for even if a person lives for many years, then let him have fun throughout all of them, let him remember the days of darkness, because there will be many of them. All that will happen is vanity. Don’t decide who to do good to; but even when you do good, never stop in your good deed. Let the evening find the morning truth, and let the evening mercy be replenished at the rising of the sun. For it is not known which work is more pleasing to God and from which the fruit of righteousness is prepared for you, although it may happen that not one, but both, pleases God. Otherwise: both in youth and in old age you should have the same feat. Don’t say: I worked as long as I could; should rest in old age. For you do not know whether in your youth or in your long mature age you will please God. And abstinence in youth is of no benefit if old age is spent in excess. For no matter what day a righteous person sins, his former virtues will not be able to save him from death. If, in accordance with both interpretations, you constantly do good and have the same feat at every age, then you will see God the Father - the sweetest light, you will see Christ - the sun of righteousness. Further, if you live for many years, have all the blessings, or do good deeds, if you constantly remember about death and the onset of darkness constantly appears before your eyes, then you will achieve contempt for the present as fleeting, fragile and perishable. Symmachus translated the end of this thought as follows: “if a person lives for many years and has fun throughout all of them, then he must remember the days of darkness; for they will be many, and during the course of all of them it will come that he will not exist.” Otherwise: in another place in Scripture, God makes a promise saying: “I will give you the early and the latter rain” (Deut. 11:14), that is, the Old Testament and the New. Therefore, now we receive instructions to read the Old Testament in such a way as not to demean the Gospels, to look for spiritual meaning in the Old Testament so as not to think that the evangelists and apostles say only what the letter gives. For we do not know in which covenant more knowledge and grace are given to us from God, and blessed is he who unites both covenants into one and makes them as one body. Whoever achieves this will see the light, will see Christ - the sun of righteousness, and if he lives for many years, then having knowledge of the Scriptures, he will spend his life in the highest joy and pleasure and will be especially encouraged to this work by the remembrance of the future judgment, because an endless time of darkness will come, and eternal torment is prepared for those who did not sow morning and evening, did not unite both (covenants) and did not see the light, nor the Sun, from which the light itself comes.