In verse 4 the fact that there was constant flow and movement in the created world was matched by another fact, namely, that the world was permanent. This second theme of a permanent and stable universe is expanded here in verses 9-10. In this way Qoheleth reminds his readers of these two basic facts about the world that are the background to what he has to say. It is important to bear them both in mind for later interpretation and translation (for example, in 1.15; 3.15; 6.10).
Verse 9 divides into three parts. The first two parts are parallel: they both contain a verbal phrase that looks back to the past, and one that looks to the future. The third part of the verse is a conclusion based on the previous two.
What has been: the verse opens with a pronoun, “whatever,” which means “everything.” The verb “be” expresses existence, so we can render this as “whatever has existed.” Hebrew verbs do not stress the time of an action. Rather they indicate what kind of action takes place—a completed one, or an incomplete one. In this case “has been” indicates present existence, something that came to be during the past and now remains. Translators will know what emphases the verbs in their own languages give, and they should consider this when translating “be” in this clause. Will be indicates what will continue to exist or what always will be. For translation: “Whatever has existed will continue to exist,” or “Everything that has existed will continue to exist.”
Some languages may require the addition of an adverb of time for clarity, even though there is no such adverb in the Hebrew. We may need to translate as “What existed before [or, yesterday] will always exist [or, will exist tomorrow].”
The verb “do” in the phrase what has been done is almost certainly connected with the work of creation (see Gen 1.7, 16, 25). This reminds the reader that the world God made is orderly, because it is he who made it. The focus for the verse is upon what God has done and will do, not on what people do, although the phrase is used in that latter sense elsewhere (1.14; 2.11). If we must identify who does the action, we can name God: “Whatever God has done, he will continue to do.” But if not, we are better off leaving the text as it stands.
There is nothing new under the sun expresses the conclusion Qoheleth draws from the facts given above. What God has done is complete, and the fact that he sustains what he has made means that there can be nothing new. New has the sense of something “novel,” “not known before.” Under the sun speaks of the world on which the sun shines, the place where human beings live (see comments on verse 3). So Qoheleth is saying that, in this world in which we live, the world that God made, there is nothing new. Of course this is not intended as a scientific theory, nor should we give the impression that this means nothing can ever be invented or discovered. This is a poem in which the created world that God has made forms the background for the theme of constant circular motion. We should not ask the poem to say more than the poet intends. Here, then, the focus is clear—in this natural world there is nothing new, only repetition and circular motion.
Two possible models for translation are:
• What existed in the past will exist in the future. What was done in the past is what will be done in the future. There is nothing new here on earth.
• Everything that used to be will continue to be.
What God has done, he will continue to do.
There is nothing new in this world.
Qoheleth quotes this poem so that readers will know that what he investigated and experienced, and the conclusions he reached, are reliable. They are reliable because no new things can suddenly appear that can prove him wrong or undermine this work.
Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Zogbo, Lynell. A Handbook on the Book of Ecclesiates. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .