Verse 1:
שלח לחמך על פני המים כי ברב הימים תמצאנו
Send/set your bread upon the surface of the waters for in many days you shall discover it.
Verse 2:
תן חלק ל שבע וגם ל שמונה כי לא תדע מה יהיה רעה על הארץ
Give some to seven and also to eight as/that you would not know what evil befalls the land.
??? What is that ???
There is no meaning. I have heard some people attempting to relate this to investing in the stock market or financial fluidity. Which is a stretch.
Secondly, why can't verse 1 be translated as,
Send/set your conflicts upon the surface of the waters ....
?
Isn't it interesting that לחם tells us to fight for our bread?
I think there is an ambiguity in verse 2 - just look at the sentence grammatically without depending on what which notable theologian or rabbi said. Could it be ...
- give some to 7/8 since you would not know what befalls the land
- give some to 7/8 because you would not know what befalls the land
- give some to 7/8 so that you would not know what befalls the land
?
So, could someone kindly explain and enlighten me on these two verses and as well as grammatically (not theologically) debunk my suggested translations?