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

8Everything continues in the same way. There is nothing important to talk about. Nothing that we see is enough to make us happy. There are always more things that we want to hear. 9Things that are happening now will continue to happen in the future. What people have done before, other people will do again. There is nothing truly new anywhere on the earth. People may say, ‘Look! Here is something new!’ But really it happened long ago, before we were born. 11People do not remember things that happened in the past. In the future, people will not remember what has happened either. 12I, the Teacher, ruled Israel as king 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 5:12God is preparing many good things for you in heaven. So you should be very happy when people do these bad things to any of you. People did these same things to God's prophets who lived long ago.’
• Matthew 23:30You say, “Our ancestors killed God's prophets long ago. If we had lived at that time, we would not have helped our ancestors to do that.”
• Luke 17:26Remember what happened when Noah was alive. It will be like that at the time when the Son of Man returns to the earth.
• Acts 7:51Then Stephen said, ‘You people do not want to obey God! You do not want to listen to God's true message. You are the same as your ancestors. Like them, you always fight against what the Holy Spirit says.
• 1 Thessalonians 2:14Our Christian friends, you have received the same kind of trouble that the people in the churches of Judea received. People in your own country have caused you to have trouble and pain. The same thing happened to the people in Judea who believed in Christ Jesus. They received trouble from their own Jewish people.
• 2 Timothy 3:8These are people who speak against God's true message, in the same way that Jannes and Jambres spoke against Moses. Their minds have become confused. The way that they serve God is false.

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