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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.
Verse Takeaways
1
Life's Repetitive Cycle
Commentators explain that this verse describes the endless, cyclical nature of both the natural world and human history. The sun's rising, the wind's circuits, and even human actions and moral failings repeat over and over. As one scholar notes, what is done in one age is simply done over again in the next, leading to a sense of futility in earthly pursuits alone.
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Book Overview
Ecclesiastes
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5
18th Century
Presbyterian
Has been ... is done – i.e., Has happened in the course of nature ... is done by man.
19th Century
Anglican
Man is perpetually toiling, yet from all his toil, no lasting result remains. The natural world exhibits a spectacle of unceasing activity, with no…
17th Century
Reformed Baptist
The thing that has been, it [is that] which shall be
The thing that has been seen and heard is no other than what …
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People's hearts and their corruptions are the same now as in the past; their desires, and pursuits, and complaints, still the same. This should lea…