Ecclesiastes 1:9
Verse
Context
Everything Is Futile
8All things are wearisome, more than one can describe; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing. 9What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. 10Is there a case where one can say, “Look, this is new”? It has already existed in the ages before us.
Sermons







Summary
Commentary
- Keil-Delitzsch
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
- Matthew Henry
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary
"That which hath been is that which shall be, and that which is done is that which shall be done; and there is nothing new under the sun." - The older form of the language uses only אשׁר instead of מה־שּׁ, in the sense of id quod, and in the sense of quid-quid, אשׁר כל (Ecc 6:10; Ecc 7:24); but mǎh is also used by it with the extinct force of an interrogative, in the sense of quodcunque, Job 13:13, aliquid (quidquam), Gen 39:8; Pro 9:13; and mi or mi asher, in the sense of quisquis, Exo 24:14; Exo 32:33. In שׁ הוא (cf. Gen 42:14) are combined the meanings id (est) quod and idem (est) quod; hu is often the expression of the equality of two things, Job 3:19, or of self-sameness, Psa 102:28. The double clause, quod fuit ... quod factum est, comprehends that which is done in the world of nature and of men-the natural and the historical. The bold clause, neque est quidquam novi sub sole, challenges contradiction; the author feels this, as the next verse shows.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Rather, "no new thing at all"; as in Num 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].
John Gill Bible Commentary
The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be,.... The thing that has been seen and heard is no other than what shall be seen and heard again; so that what is now seen and heard is only what has been seen and heard before; it is but the same thing over again; and that is the reason why the eye and ear are never satisfied; the same objects, as the visible heavens and earth, and all therein, which have been from the beginning, these are they which shall be, and there is nothing else to be seen and heard, and enjoyed; and that which is done, is that which shall be done; what is done in the present age, nay, in this year, month, or day, shall be done over again in the next; and there is no new thing under the sun; which is to be understood of things natural, as the works of creation, which were finished from the beginning of the world, and continue as they were ever since, Heb 4:3; the various seasons of day and night, of summer and winter, of spring and autumn, of heat and cold, of seed time and harvest, come in course, as they always did; these ordinances never fail, Gen 8:22. The things before mentioned, the constant succession of men on earth, who are born into the world and die out of it, just as they always did; the sun rises and sets at its appointed time, as it did almost six thousand years ago; the winds whirl about all the points of the compass now as formerly; the rivers have the same course and recourse, and the sea its ebbing and flowing, they ever had; the same arts and sciences, trades and manufactures, obtained formerly as now, though in some circumstances there may be an improvement, and in others they grow worse; see Gen 4:2, Exo 31:3; and even such things as are thought of new invention, it may be only owing to the ignorance of former times, history failing to give us an account of them; thus the art of printing, the making of gunpowder, and the use of guns and bombs, and of the lodestone and mariner's compass, were thought to be of no long standing; and yet, according to the Chinese histories, that people were in possession of these things hundreds of years before; the circulation of the blood, supposed to be first found out by a countryman of ours in the last century, was known by Solomon, and is thought to be designed by him in Ecc 12:6; and the like may be observed of other things. The emperor Mark Antonine (f) has the very phrase , "nothing new": so Seneca (g), "nothing new I see, nothing new I do.'' This will likewise hold good in moral things; the same vices and virtues are now as ever, and ever were as they are; men in every age were born in sin, and were transgressors from the womb; from their infancy corrupt, and in all the stages of life; there were the same luxury and intemperance, and unnatural lusts, rapine and violence, in the days of Noah and Lot, as now; in Sodom and Gomorrah, and in the old world, as in the present age; and there were some few then, as now, that were men of sobriety, honesty, truth, and righteousness. There is nothing to be excepted but preternatural things, miraculous events, which may be called new, unheard of, and wonderful ones; such as the earth's opening and swallowing men alive at once; the standing still of the sun and moon for a considerable time; the miracles wrought by the prophets of the Old and the apostles of the New Testament, and especially by Christ; and particularly the incarnation of Christ, or his birth of a virgin, that new thing made in the earth; these and such like things are made by the power of, he divine Being, who dwells above the sun, and is not bound by the laws of nature. Spiritual things may also be excepted, which are the effects of divine favour, or the produce of efficacious grace; and yet these things, though in some sense new, are also old; or there have been the same things for substance in former ages, and from the beginning, as now; such as the new covenant of grace; the new and living way to God; new creatures in Christ; a new name; the New Testament, and the doctrines of it; new ordinances, and the new commandment of love; and yet these, in some sense, are all old things, and indeed are the same in substance: there is nothing new but what is above the sun, and to be enjoyed in the realms of bliss to all eternity; and there are some things new (h), new wine in Christ's Father's kingdom, new glories, joys, and pleasures, that will never end. (f) De Orig. Error. l. 2. c. 6. (g) "laboriosae", Pagninus, Vatablus, Mercerus, Gejerus, Schmidt. (h) Vid. R. Alshech in loc.
Matthew Henry Bible Commentary
Two things we are apt to take a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction in, and value ourselves upon, with reference to our business and enjoyments in the world, as if they helped to save them from vanity. Solomon shows us our mistake in both. 1. The novelty of the invention, that it is such as was never known before. How grateful is it to think that none ever made such advances in knowledge, and such discoveries by it, as we, that none ever made such improvements of an estate or trade, and had the art of enjoying the gains of it, as we have. Their contrivances and compositions are all despised and run down, and we boast of new fashions, new hypotheses, new methods, new expressions, which jostle out the old, and put them down. But this is all a mistake: The thing that is, and shall be, is the same with that which has been, and that which shall be done will be but the same with that which is done, for there is no new thing under the sun, Ecc 1:9. It is repeated (Ecc 1:10) by way of question, is there any thing of which it may be said, with wonder, See, this is new; there never was the like? It is an appeal to observing men, and a challenge to those that cry up modern learning above that of the ancients. Let them name any thing which they take to be new, and though perhaps we cannot make it to appear, for want of the records of former times, yet we have reason to conclude that it has been already of old time, which was before us. What is there in the kingdom of nature of which we may say, This is new? The works were finished from the foundation of the world (Heb 4:3); things which appear new to us, as they do to children, are not so in themselves. The heavens were of old; the earth abides for ever; the powers of nature and the links of natural causes are still the same that ever they were. In the kingdom of Providence, though the course and method of it have not such known and certain rules as that of nature, nor does it go always in the same track, yet, in the general, it is still the same thing over and over again. Men's hearts, and the corruptions of them, are still the same; their desires, and pursuits, and complaints, are still the same; and what God does in his dealings with men is according to the scripture, according to the manner, so that it is all repetition. What is surprising to us needs not be so, for there has been the like, the like strange advancements and disappointments, the like strange revolutions and sudden turns, sudden turns of affairs; the miseries of human life have always been much the same, and mankind tread a perpetual round, and, as the sun and wind, are but where they were. Now the design of this is, (1.) To show the folly of the children of men in affecting things that are new, in imagining that they have discovered such things, and in pleasing and priding themselves in them. We are apt to nauseate old things, and to grow weary of what we have been long used to, as Israel of the manna, and covet, with the Athenians, still to tell and hear of some new thing, and admire this and the other as new, whereas it is all what has been. Tatianus the Assyrian, showing the Grecians how all the arts which they valued themselves upon owed their original to those nations which they counted barbarous, thus reasons with them: "For shame, do not call those things eurēseis - inventions, which are but mimēseis - imitations." (2.) To take us off from expecting happiness or satisfaction in the creature. Why should we look for it there, where never any yet have found it? What reason have we to think that the world should be any kinder to us than it has been to those that have gone before us, since there is nothing in it that is new, and our predecessors have made as much of it as could be made? Your fathers did eat manna, and yet they are dead. See Joh 8:8, Joh 8:9; Joh 6:49. (3.) To quicken us to secure spiritual and eternal blessings. If we would be entertained with new things, we must acquaint ourselves with the things of God, get a new nature; then old things pass away, and all things become new, Co2 5:17. The gospel puts a new song into our mouths. In heaven all is new (Rev 21:5), all new at first, wholly unlike the present state of things, a new world indeed (Luk 20:35), and all new to eternity, always fresh, always flourishing. This consideration should make us willing to die, That in this world there is nothing but the same over and over again, and we can expect nothing from it more or better than we have had. 2. The memorableness of the achievement, that it is such as will be known and talked of hereafter. Many think they have found satisfaction enough in this, that their names shall be perpetuated, that posterity will celebrate the actions they have performed, the honours they have won, and the estates they have raised, that their houses shall continue for ever (Psa 49:11); but herein they deceive themselves. How many former things and persons were there, which in their day looked very great and made a mighty figure, and yet there is no remembrance of them; they are buried in oblivion. Here and there one person or action that was remarkable met with a kind historian, and had the good hap to be recorded, when at the same time there were others, no less remarkable, that were dropped: and therefore we may conclude that neither shall there be any remembrance of things to come, but that which we hope to be remembered by will be either lost or slighted.
Ecclesiastes 1:9
Everything Is Futile
8All things are wearisome, more than one can describe; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing. 9What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. 10Is there a case where one can say, “Look, this is new”? It has already existed in the ages before us.
- Scripture
- Sermons
- Commentary
The Early and Latter Rain
By B.H. Clendennen4.7K49:00Spiritual AwakeningECC 1:9JOL 2:23ACT 2:19JAS 5:7REV 3:14In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of discernment and not being deceived by glamorous image advertising. He believes that we are living in a time where image advertising is prevalent and can easily distract us from the truth. The preacher also discusses the significance of biblical prophecies and how they point to the coming of the Lord and the final move of God. He urges the audience to focus on the message of God rather than the messenger, emphasizing that Jesus may not be appealing to this generation but his message is crucial for salvation.
The History of Free Masonry - Part 1
By John Daniel2.9K58:47Free MasonryECC 1:9JER 50:1REV 17:5REV 18:4In this sermon, Dr. Stan discusses the battle for the survival of Western civilization and emphasizes the importance of reality over illusion or delusion. He introduces his guest, John Daniel, who has written a book called "Scarlet and the Beast" which explores the spiritual battle described in Revelation 17 and 18. John traces the movement of Mystery Babylon and the One World Empire throughout history, highlighting the role of secret societies and mystery religions. He emphasizes the need to understand the past in order to comprehend the present and warns against repeating history's mistakes.
What Is Your Life - Part 3
By Leonard Ravenhill1.6K09:44PSA 146:3ECC 1:9JER 17:9JHN 14:61JN 2:15This sermon delves into the themes of materialism, the inevitability of progress, and the sufficiency of man, reflecting on historical events like World War I and II, the devastation caused by atomic warfare, and the failure of human ideologies to bring lasting peace and prosperity. It emphasizes the futility of relying solely on human efforts and intellect, pointing to the emptiness within man that can only be filled by a relationship with Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life.
Prayer and Revival
By Evan Schaible1.1K14:13PrayerEXO 33:7ECC 1:9MAT 6:33LUK 11:9JHN 4:23ACT 10:34REV 3:20In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of separating ourselves from the noise and distractions of the world in order to truly know God. He uses the example of Jesus, who spent whole nights in prayer and communion with God. The speaker also highlights the need to wait on God and seek His presence, even though this experience can be overwhelming and challenging for different individuals. He emphasizes that God is not partial and will reveal Himself to those who are willing to sacrifice and wait. The sermon concludes with the reminder that true revival comes from a deep relationship with God, not from earthly efforts.
Revival - Urbana Conference 1961
By Festo Kivengere87851:05RevivalGEN 32:28DEU 10:12ECC 1:9MAT 6:332CO 12:9In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of being practical and simple in our faith, as that is what God desires. He uses the story of Jacob to illustrate this point, highlighting how Jacob struggled and worked hard for 20 years before receiving God's blessings. The preacher encourages the audience to not waste time pretending to be someone they are not, but to confront their inner struggles and critical voices. He also emphasizes the power of revival, citing examples from the Bible where Jesus' gaze brought hope and transformation to individuals like Peter.
Whatever It Takes
By Jim Cymbala78814:34ObedienceECC 1:9ISA 55:8MAT 6:33MAT 16:24MRK 8:34ROM 7:15GAL 2:20In this sermon, the speaker reflects on his personal journey from the business world to the ministry and the battle he faced in accepting God's calling. He emphasizes that our ways and thoughts are not the same as God's, and that true Christianity requires denying oneself, taking up the cross, and following Jesus. The speaker admits to his own selfishness and the need to break free from self-centered desires. He highlights the importance of surrendering to God and following His will, rather than pursuing personal happiness or pleasing oneself. The sermon encourages listeners to embrace the truth of the Gospel and reject any new or false teachings.
Humanism-the Fifth Woe
By Martyn-Lloyd Jones1Pride of IntellectHumanismECC 1:9ISA 5:21ROM 1:21Martyn-Lloyd Jones addresses the concept of humanism as the fifth woe pronounced by Isaiah, emphasizing that the Bible remains relevant and contemporary, revealing the timeless nature of human sin and folly. He critiques the pride of intellect that characterizes humanism, arguing that reliance on human wisdom leads to moral decline and rebellion against God. The preacher highlights that true wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord and that human beings must recognize their limitations and need for divine guidance. He warns against the illusion of modernity and the false confidence in human understanding, ultimately calling for humility and faith in Christ as the true source of wisdom and salvation.
Changing Times and Unchanging Thirst
By A.W. Tozer0Human NatureThe Birth of ChristPSA 42:1ECC 1:9JHN 4:14HEB 13:8A.W. Tozer reflects on the paradox of changing times and the unchanging nature of humanity, emphasizing that despite the advancements in civilization, the core of human nature remains constant. He illustrates this point by contrasting the humble circumstances of Jesus' birth with the modern world, highlighting that while technology and society evolve, the fundamental human thirst for meaning and connection persists. Tozer suggests that this unchanging thirst is most evident during Christmas, a time that reminds us of our enduring needs and the simplicity of Christ's arrival.
China's Confession ---- Episode 2
By Zhiming Yuan0GEN 3:4GEN 4:8PSA 146:3PRO 16:18ECC 1:9JER 17:9ROM 3:23Zhiming Yuan reflects on the history of China, tracing the downfall of mankind from the loss of godliness and the deception by the great dragon to the rise and fall of emperors who claimed divinity, leading to cycles of devastation, violence, and rebellion. The sermon highlights the tragic consequences of sinful man trying to be holy and godless individuals considering themselves as gods, resulting in power struggles, oppression, bloodshed, and treachery throughout Chinese history.
The Present Age: Its Beginning, Progress and End
By Arno Clemens Gaebelein0ECC 1:9MAT 24:142TI 4:3REV 22:20Arno Clemens Gaebelein preaches on the Book of Ecclesiastes, highlighting the cyclical nature of life and God's dealings with man and the earth. He emphasizes the past, present, and future states of creation, peace, and man's relationship with God. Gaebelein discusses the beginning, progress, and end of the current age, focusing on Christ's ministry, the Holy Spirit's work, the preaching of the Gospel, the rejection of Truth, the state of the world, Satan's influence, and the situation of the Jewish people. He concludes with the anticipation of Christ's return and the establishment of His Kingdom.
- Keil-Delitzsch
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
- Matthew Henry
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary
"That which hath been is that which shall be, and that which is done is that which shall be done; and there is nothing new under the sun." - The older form of the language uses only אשׁר instead of מה־שּׁ, in the sense of id quod, and in the sense of quid-quid, אשׁר כל (Ecc 6:10; Ecc 7:24); but mǎh is also used by it with the extinct force of an interrogative, in the sense of quodcunque, Job 13:13, aliquid (quidquam), Gen 39:8; Pro 9:13; and mi or mi asher, in the sense of quisquis, Exo 24:14; Exo 32:33. In שׁ הוא (cf. Gen 42:14) are combined the meanings id (est) quod and idem (est) quod; hu is often the expression of the equality of two things, Job 3:19, or of self-sameness, Psa 102:28. The double clause, quod fuit ... quod factum est, comprehends that which is done in the world of nature and of men-the natural and the historical. The bold clause, neque est quidquam novi sub sole, challenges contradiction; the author feels this, as the next verse shows.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Rather, "no new thing at all"; as in Num 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].
John Gill Bible Commentary
The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be,.... The thing that has been seen and heard is no other than what shall be seen and heard again; so that what is now seen and heard is only what has been seen and heard before; it is but the same thing over again; and that is the reason why the eye and ear are never satisfied; the same objects, as the visible heavens and earth, and all therein, which have been from the beginning, these are they which shall be, and there is nothing else to be seen and heard, and enjoyed; and that which is done, is that which shall be done; what is done in the present age, nay, in this year, month, or day, shall be done over again in the next; and there is no new thing under the sun; which is to be understood of things natural, as the works of creation, which were finished from the beginning of the world, and continue as they were ever since, Heb 4:3; the various seasons of day and night, of summer and winter, of spring and autumn, of heat and cold, of seed time and harvest, come in course, as they always did; these ordinances never fail, Gen 8:22. The things before mentioned, the constant succession of men on earth, who are born into the world and die out of it, just as they always did; the sun rises and sets at its appointed time, as it did almost six thousand years ago; the winds whirl about all the points of the compass now as formerly; the rivers have the same course and recourse, and the sea its ebbing and flowing, they ever had; the same arts and sciences, trades and manufactures, obtained formerly as now, though in some circumstances there may be an improvement, and in others they grow worse; see Gen 4:2, Exo 31:3; and even such things as are thought of new invention, it may be only owing to the ignorance of former times, history failing to give us an account of them; thus the art of printing, the making of gunpowder, and the use of guns and bombs, and of the lodestone and mariner's compass, were thought to be of no long standing; and yet, according to the Chinese histories, that people were in possession of these things hundreds of years before; the circulation of the blood, supposed to be first found out by a countryman of ours in the last century, was known by Solomon, and is thought to be designed by him in Ecc 12:6; and the like may be observed of other things. The emperor Mark Antonine (f) has the very phrase , "nothing new": so Seneca (g), "nothing new I see, nothing new I do.'' This will likewise hold good in moral things; the same vices and virtues are now as ever, and ever were as they are; men in every age were born in sin, and were transgressors from the womb; from their infancy corrupt, and in all the stages of life; there were the same luxury and intemperance, and unnatural lusts, rapine and violence, in the days of Noah and Lot, as now; in Sodom and Gomorrah, and in the old world, as in the present age; and there were some few then, as now, that were men of sobriety, honesty, truth, and righteousness. There is nothing to be excepted but preternatural things, miraculous events, which may be called new, unheard of, and wonderful ones; such as the earth's opening and swallowing men alive at once; the standing still of the sun and moon for a considerable time; the miracles wrought by the prophets of the Old and the apostles of the New Testament, and especially by Christ; and particularly the incarnation of Christ, or his birth of a virgin, that new thing made in the earth; these and such like things are made by the power of, he divine Being, who dwells above the sun, and is not bound by the laws of nature. Spiritual things may also be excepted, which are the effects of divine favour, or the produce of efficacious grace; and yet these things, though in some sense new, are also old; or there have been the same things for substance in former ages, and from the beginning, as now; such as the new covenant of grace; the new and living way to God; new creatures in Christ; a new name; the New Testament, and the doctrines of it; new ordinances, and the new commandment of love; and yet these, in some sense, are all old things, and indeed are the same in substance: there is nothing new but what is above the sun, and to be enjoyed in the realms of bliss to all eternity; and there are some things new (h), new wine in Christ's Father's kingdom, new glories, joys, and pleasures, that will never end. (f) De Orig. Error. l. 2. c. 6. (g) "laboriosae", Pagninus, Vatablus, Mercerus, Gejerus, Schmidt. (h) Vid. R. Alshech in loc.
Matthew Henry Bible Commentary
Two things we are apt to take a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction in, and value ourselves upon, with reference to our business and enjoyments in the world, as if they helped to save them from vanity. Solomon shows us our mistake in both. 1. The novelty of the invention, that it is such as was never known before. How grateful is it to think that none ever made such advances in knowledge, and such discoveries by it, as we, that none ever made such improvements of an estate or trade, and had the art of enjoying the gains of it, as we have. Their contrivances and compositions are all despised and run down, and we boast of new fashions, new hypotheses, new methods, new expressions, which jostle out the old, and put them down. But this is all a mistake: The thing that is, and shall be, is the same with that which has been, and that which shall be done will be but the same with that which is done, for there is no new thing under the sun, Ecc 1:9. It is repeated (Ecc 1:10) by way of question, is there any thing of which it may be said, with wonder, See, this is new; there never was the like? It is an appeal to observing men, and a challenge to those that cry up modern learning above that of the ancients. Let them name any thing which they take to be new, and though perhaps we cannot make it to appear, for want of the records of former times, yet we have reason to conclude that it has been already of old time, which was before us. What is there in the kingdom of nature of which we may say, This is new? The works were finished from the foundation of the world (Heb 4:3); things which appear new to us, as they do to children, are not so in themselves. The heavens were of old; the earth abides for ever; the powers of nature and the links of natural causes are still the same that ever they were. In the kingdom of Providence, though the course and method of it have not such known and certain rules as that of nature, nor does it go always in the same track, yet, in the general, it is still the same thing over and over again. Men's hearts, and the corruptions of them, are still the same; their desires, and pursuits, and complaints, are still the same; and what God does in his dealings with men is according to the scripture, according to the manner, so that it is all repetition. What is surprising to us needs not be so, for there has been the like, the like strange advancements and disappointments, the like strange revolutions and sudden turns, sudden turns of affairs; the miseries of human life have always been much the same, and mankind tread a perpetual round, and, as the sun and wind, are but where they were. Now the design of this is, (1.) To show the folly of the children of men in affecting things that are new, in imagining that they have discovered such things, and in pleasing and priding themselves in them. We are apt to nauseate old things, and to grow weary of what we have been long used to, as Israel of the manna, and covet, with the Athenians, still to tell and hear of some new thing, and admire this and the other as new, whereas it is all what has been. Tatianus the Assyrian, showing the Grecians how all the arts which they valued themselves upon owed their original to those nations which they counted barbarous, thus reasons with them: "For shame, do not call those things eurēseis - inventions, which are but mimēseis - imitations." (2.) To take us off from expecting happiness or satisfaction in the creature. Why should we look for it there, where never any yet have found it? What reason have we to think that the world should be any kinder to us than it has been to those that have gone before us, since there is nothing in it that is new, and our predecessors have made as much of it as could be made? Your fathers did eat manna, and yet they are dead. See Joh 8:8, Joh 8:9; Joh 6:49. (3.) To quicken us to secure spiritual and eternal blessings. If we would be entertained with new things, we must acquaint ourselves with the things of God, get a new nature; then old things pass away, and all things become new, Co2 5:17. The gospel puts a new song into our mouths. In heaven all is new (Rev 21:5), all new at first, wholly unlike the present state of things, a new world indeed (Luk 20:35), and all new to eternity, always fresh, always flourishing. This consideration should make us willing to die, That in this world there is nothing but the same over and over again, and we can expect nothing from it more or better than we have had. 2. The memorableness of the achievement, that it is such as will be known and talked of hereafter. Many think they have found satisfaction enough in this, that their names shall be perpetuated, that posterity will celebrate the actions they have performed, the honours they have won, and the estates they have raised, that their houses shall continue for ever (Psa 49:11); but herein they deceive themselves. How many former things and persons were there, which in their day looked very great and made a mighty figure, and yet there is no remembrance of them; they are buried in oblivion. Here and there one person or action that was remarkable met with a kind historian, and had the good hap to be recorded, when at the same time there were others, no less remarkable, that were dropped: and therefore we may conclude that neither shall there be any remembrance of things to come, but that which we hope to be remembered by will be either lost or slighted.