The Meaning of Ecclesiastes 11:10 Explained

Ecclesiastes 11:10

KJV: Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.

YLT: And turn aside anger from thy heart, And cause evil to pass from thy flesh, For the childhood and the age are vanity!

Darby: Then remove discontent from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh; for childhood and youth are vanity.

ASV: Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh; for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Therefore remove  sorrow  from thy heart,  and put away  evil  from thy flesh:  for childhood  and youth  [are] vanity. 

What does Ecclesiastes 11:10 Mean?

Context Summary

Ecclesiastes 11:1-10 - Live Not For Today Alone
The casting of bread upon the waters is an allusion to the oriental custom of casting rice-grains on the fields, when they lie submerged beneath the annual inundation of such a river as the Nile. To the inexperienced eye, this would seem the prodigality of waste, but the husbandman knows full well that he will meet his seed again with abundant returns. So it is in life, whether we befriend young boys and girls, or distribute tracts, or speak kind and loving words, or invest our money in philanthropic enterprise, we are casting our bread upon the waters to find it after many days in this world or the next.
But how wise the advice not to be always considering the winds and clouds, Ecclesiastes 11:3-4. There is considerable hazard in the life of the farmer. If he waits until all the conditions are favorable, he will never begin. So with our work for God. We must risk something. Often the word spoken at an apparently untoward moment will prove to be the word in season, while that spoken under the most favorable conditions will yield no return at all. God gives it a body as, and when, and how it pleaseth Him. [source]

Chapter Summary: Ecclesiastes 11

1  directions for charity
7  death in life and the day of judgment
9  in the days of youth

What do the individual words in Ecclesiastes 11:10 mean?

Therefore remove sorrow from your heart and put away evil from your flesh for childhood and youth [are] vanity
וְהָסֵ֥ר כַּ֙עַס֙ מִלִּבֶּ֔ךָ וְהַעֲבֵ֥ר רָעָ֖ה מִבְּשָׂרֶ֑ךָ כִּֽי־ הַיַּלְד֥וּת וְהַֽשַּׁחֲר֖וּת הָֽבֶל

וְהָסֵ֥ר  Therefore  remove 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Imperative, masculine singular
Root: סוּר 
Sense: to turn aside, depart.
כַּ֙עַס֙  sorrow 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: כַּעַס 
Sense: anger, vexation, provocation, grief.
מִלִּבֶּ֔ךָ  from  your  heart 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, masculine singular construct, second person masculine singular
Root: לֵב 
Sense: inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding.
וְהַעֲבֵ֥ר  and  put  away 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Imperative, masculine singular
Root: עָבַר 
Sense: to pass over or by or through, alienate, bring, carry, do away, take, take away, transgress.
רָעָ֖ה  evil 
Parse: Adjective, feminine singular
Root: רַע 
Sense: bad, evil.
מִבְּשָׂרֶ֑ךָ  from  your  flesh 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, masculine singular construct, second person masculine singular
Root: בָּשָׂר  
Sense: flesh.
הַיַּלְד֥וּת  childhood 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: יַלְדוּת  
Sense: childhood, youth.
וְהַֽשַּׁחֲר֖וּת  and  youth 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: שַׁחֲרוּת  
Sense: blackness.
הָֽבֶל  [are]  vanity 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: הֶבֶל  
Sense: vapour, breath.