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.
Parallel translations
- WEB That which has been is that which shall be; and that which has been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
- BSB What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
- NKJV 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.
- NASB What has been, it is what will be, And what has been done, it is what will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun.
- NLT History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
What has been will be again; there is nothing new under the sun. History repeats itself, offering no genuinely fresh remedy to life's emptiness.
Overview
The Preacher declares the sameness of human experience across time, dampening hopes that novelty can satisfy. 'Under the sun' marks this as a view of life confined to the fallen earthly order. Strikingly, the truly new thing comes not from under the sun but from heaven, in Christ who makes all things new (Revelation 21:5).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Eccl 3:15That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.
- Eccl 6:10That which hath been is named already, and it is known that it is man: neither may he contend with him that is mightier than he.
- Rev 21:1And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
- Eccl 2:12And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what can the man do that cometh after the king? even that which hath been already done.
- Eccl 7:10Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this.
- Jer 31:22How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.
- Isa 43:19Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
- Rev 21:5And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
- 2 Pet 2:1But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
Resources, by level
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The search that finds everything 'under the sun' to be vapor exposes the emptiness of life without God and drives us to the one who alone gives meaning, the resurrection that makes our labor not in vain.
How Ecclesiastes 1:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.