History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
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 is has been long ago, and that which is to be has been long ago: and God seeks again that which is passed away.
- Eccl 6:10Whatever has been, its name was given long ago; and it is known what man is; neither can he contend with him who is mightier than he.
- Rev 21:1I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more.
- Eccl 2:12I turned myself to consider wisdom, madness, and folly: for what can the king’s successor do? Just that which has been done long ago.
- Eccl 7:10Don’t say, “Why were the former days better than these?” For you do not ask wisely about this.
- Jer 31:22How long will you go here and there, you backsliding daughter? for Yahweh has created a new thing in the earth: a woman shall encompass a man.”
- Isa 43:19Behold, I will do a new thing. It springs out now. Don’t you know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
- Rev 21:5He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” He said, “Write, for these words of God are faithful and true.”
- 2 Pet 2:1But false prophets also arose among the people, as false teachers will also be among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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.