Ecclesiastes 1:9 What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.

◄ Ecclesiastes 1:9 ►

Parallel Verses

New International Version
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.

English Standard Version
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 American Standard Bible
That which has been is that which will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun.

King James Bible
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.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun.

International Standard Version
Whatever has happened, will happen again; whatever has been done, will be done again. There is nothing new on earth.

American Standard Version
That which hath been is that which shall be; and that which hath been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

Douay-Rheims Bible
What is it that hath been? the same thing that shall be. What is it that hath been done? the same that shall be done.

Darby Bible Translation
That which hath been is that which shall be; and that which hath been done is that which will be done: and there is nothing new under the sun.

Young's Literal Translation
What is that which hath been? it is that which is, and what is that which hath been done? it is that which is done, and there is not an entirely new thing under the sun.

Cross References

Ecclesiastes 1:10
Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it has been already of old time, which was before us.

Ecclesiastes 2:12
And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what can the man do that comes after the king? even that which has been already done.

Ecclesiastes 3:15
That which has been is now; and that which is to be has already been; and God requires that which is past.

Ecclesiastes 6:10
That which has been is named already, and it is known that it is man: neither may he contend with him that is mightier than he.

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Commentaries

Matthew Henry's Commentary

1:9-11 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!

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

9. 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].