There Can Be Something New!

Ecclesiastes 1:1-11 (Tanakh)

1 The words of Koheleth^a son of David, king in Jerusalem.

² Utter futility!—said Koheleth—

Utter futility! All is futile!

³ What real value is there for a man

In all the gains^b he makes beneath the sun?

⁴ One generation goes, another comes,

But the earth remains the same forever.

⁵ The sun rises, and the sun sets—

And glides^c back to where it rises.

⁶ Southward blowing,

Turning northward,

Ever turning blows the wind;

On its rounds the wind returns.

⁷ All streams flow into the sea,

Yet the sea is never full;

To the place [from] which they flow

The streams flow back again.^d

⁸ All such things are wearisome:

No man can ever state them;

The eye never has enough of seeing,

Nor the ear enough of hearing.

⁹ Only that shall happen

Which has happened,

Only that occur

Which has occurred;

There is nothing new

Beneath the sun!

¹⁰ Sometimes there is a phenomenon of which they say, “Look, this one is new!”—it occurred long since, in ages that went by before us. ¹¹ The earlier ones are not remembered; so too those that will occur later ^e- will no more be remembered than^-e those that will occur at the very end.

⁹ What value, then, can the man of affairs get from what he earns? ¹⁰ I have observed the business that God gave man to be concerned with: ¹¹ He brings everything to pass precisely at its time; He also puts eternity in their mind,^d but without man ever guessing, from first to last, all the things that God brings to pass. ¹² Thus I realized that the only worthwhile thing there is for them is to enjoy themselves and do what is good^e in their lifetime; ¹³ also, that whenever a man does eat and drink and get enjoyment out of all his wealth, it is a gift of God.

¹⁴ I realized, too, that whatever God has brought to pass will recur evermore:

¹⁷So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! ¹⁸All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself,^d not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. ²⁰So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. ²¹For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

¹⁴May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which^c the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. ¹⁵For^d neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything!^[2]

^a Probably “the Assembler,” i.e., of hearers or of sayings; cf. 12.9–11.

^b So Rashbam Heb. ˓amal usually has this sense in Ecclesiastes; cf. Ps. 105.44.

^c So Targum cf. Bereshith Rabbah on Gen. 1.17.

^d According to popular belief, through tunnels; so Targum and Rashi

^e- Lit. “will not be remembered like...” For ˓im meaning “like,” cf. 2.16; 7.11; Job 9.26.

^-e Lit. “will not be remembered like...” For ˓im meaning “like,” cf. 2.16; 7.11; Job 9.26.

^a I.e., all human experiences are preordained by God; see v. 11.

^b- Lit. “giving birth.”

^-b Lit. “giving birth.”

^c- Emendation yields “wrecking ... repairing”; cf. 1 Kings 18.30.

^-c Emendation yields “wrecking ... repairing”; cf. 1 Kings 18.30.

^d I.e., He preoccupies man with the attempt to discover the times of future events; cf. 8.17.

^e I.e., what the author has already concluded (2.24 ) is good.

^f Meaning of parts of verse uncertain.

^[1] Jewish Publication Society. 1997, c1985. Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures: A new translation of the Holy Scriptures according to the traditional Hebrew text. Jewish Publication Society: Philadelphia

^d Or God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself

^c Or through whom

^d Other ancient authorities add in Christ Jesus

^[2] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. 1996, c1989. Thomas Nelson: Nashville