Ecclesiastes 1:10

Ecclesiastes 1:10 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.
• New International Version (NIV)Is there anything of which one can say, “Look! This is something new”? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Is there a thing of which it is said, "See, this is new"? It has been already in the ages before us.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Is there anything of which it may be said, “See, this is new”? It has already been in ancient times before us.

Context of Ecclesiastes 1:10

8All things are wearisome and all words are frail; Man cannot express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor is the ear filled with hearing. 9That which has been is that which will be [again], And that which has been done is that which will be done again. So there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which it can be said, “See this, it is new”? It has already existed for [the vast] ages [of time recorded or unrecorded] Which were before us. 11There is no remembrance of earlier things, Nor also of the later things that are to come; There will be for them no remembrance By generations who will come after them. 12I, the Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.

Ecclesiastes 1:10 word by word

יֵ֥שׁ דָּבָ֛ר שֶׁיֹּאמַ֥ר רְאֵה־זֶ֖ה חָדָ֣שׁ ה֑וּא כְּבָר֙ הָיָ֣ה לְעֹֽלָמִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר הָיָ֖ה מִלְּפָנֵֽנוּ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Is thereיֵשׁyêsh · thereH3426
• thingדָּבָרdâbâr · word: thingH1697
• whereof it may be saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• Seeרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: behold!H7200
• newחָדָשׁchâdâsh · newH2319
• it hath been alreadyכְּבָרkebâr · alreadyH3528
• of old timeעוֹלָם‛ôlâm ‛ôlâm · forever: antiquityH5769
• which was beforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 1:10

• Matthew 5:12Be glad and exceedingly joyful, for your reward in heaven is great [absolutely inexhaustible]; for in this same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
• Matthew 23:30and you say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have joined them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’
• Luke 17:26And just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the time of [the second coming of] the Son of Man:
• Acts 7:51“You stiff-necked and stubborn people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are always actively resisting the Holy Spirit. You are doing just as your fathers did.
• 1 Thessalonians 2:14For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, because you too suffered the same [kind of] persecution from your own countrymen, as they did from the Jews,
• 2 Timothy 3:8Just as Jannes and Jambres [the court magicians of Egypt] opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, unqualified and worthless [as teachers] in regard to the faith.

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 1:10

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 10Is there any thing, etc. - The original is beautiful. "Is there any thing which will say, See this! it is new?" Men may say this of their discoveries, etc.; but universal nature says, It is not new. It has been, and it will be.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 9-11Verses 9-11 Men's hearts and their corruptions are the same now as in former times; their desires, and pursuits, and complaints, still the same. This should take us from expecting happiness in the creature, and quicken us to seek eternal blessings. How many things and persons in Solomon's day were thought very great, yet there is no remembrance of them now!Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2-11The Teacher starts by noting that every natural and historical activity has a repetitive cycle of coming and going, existing and not existing. This can cause some to feel that everything is meaningless. The Teacher quickly shifts from one topic to another and ends this section with the topic he began with, using a literary style that reflects the cycles he describes in nature and human history.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1010. old time--Hebrew, "ages." which was--The Hebrew plural cannot be joined to the verb singular. Therefore translate: "It hath been in the ages before; certainly it hath been before us" [Holden]. Or, as Maurer: "That which has been (done) before us (in our presence, 1Ch 16:33), has been (done) already in the old times."Read the comment

In the dictionaries

• Sun
• Vanity
• Synagogue, the Great

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings