Ecclesiastes 1:9

Ecclesiastes 1:9 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
• New International Version (NIV)What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
• English Standard Version (ESV)What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.
• New Living Translation (NLT)History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new.

Context of Ecclesiastes 1:9

7All the rivers run into the sea, Yet the sea is not full; To the place from which the rivers come, There they return again. 8All things are full of labor; Man cannot express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor the ear filled with hearing. That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun. 10Is there anything of which it may be said, “See, this is new”? It has already been in ancient times before us. 11There is no remembrance of former things, Nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come By those who will come after.

Ecclesiastes 1:9 word by word

מַה־שֶּֽׁהָיָה֙ ה֣וּא שֶׁיִּהְיֶ֔ה וּמַה־שֶׁנַּֽעֲשָׂ֔ה ה֖וּא שֶׁיֵּעָשֶׂ֑ה וְאֵ֥ין כָּל־חָדָ֖שׁ תַּ֥חַת הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• which shall be; and that which is doneעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
• no newחָדָשׁchâdâsh · newH2319
• under the sunשֶׁ֫מֶשׁshemesh · sunH8121

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 1:9

• Ecclesiastes 3:15That which is has already been, And what is to be has already been; And God requires an account of what is past.
• Ecclesiastes 7:10Do not say, “Why were the former days better than these?” For you do not inquire wisely concerning this.
• 2 Peter 2:1But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.
• Isaiah 43:19Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert.
• Jeremiah 31:22How long will you gad about, O you backsliding daughter? For the Lord has created a new thing in the earth— A woman shall encompass a man.”
• Revelation 21:1Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 1:9

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 9The thing that hath been - Every thing in the whole economy of nature has its revolutions; summer and winter, heat and cold, rain and drought, seedtime and autumn, with the whole system of corruption and generation, alternately succeed each other, so that whatever has been shall be again. There is really, physically, and philosophically, nothing absolutely new under the sun, in the course of sublunary things. The same is the case in all the revolutions of…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 9Hath been … is done - i. e., Hath happened in the course of nature … is done by man.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. 99. Rather, "no new thing at all"; as in Nu 11:6. This is not meant in a general sense; but there is no new source of happiness (the subject in question) which can be devised; the same round of petty pleasures, cares, business, study, wars, &c., being repeated over and over again [Holden].Read the comment

In the dictionaries

• Sun
• Vanity
• Astronomy
• Regeneration
• 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