What does Ecclesiastes chapter 1 vs 9 mean when it says That which hath been is that which shall be and that which hath been done is that which shall be done and there is no new thing under the sun?

Answer 1

King Solomon is searching/questioning for the meaning of life, here he is saying how what has been done or what we do, has always and will always be done. That people don't change and that things that we make or do we may think as new but have already been done before. Solomon is saying that the material things in life the things that we may sometimes think are really important, actually aren't. He is saying that those things are meaningless and that our lives don't have meaning WITHOUT God. Because God I'd the meaning of life, He gives us meaning and purpose. We did this in Chapel, but you might like to ask your minister. :)

Answer2: Generations of people continually come and go, the sun keeps rising and setting, winds ever circle about and rivers constantly empty into the sea but never fill it.

The consideration of all these natural cycles appeared to Solomon as "wearisome." It is, of course, true that the immensity and complexity of these cycles are such that a man could exhaust his entire life and never be able to comprehend the full sum of these.

Solomon is here dealing with the futility that imperfect humans face. So we can also appreciate how wearying it can be to man to contemplate the relentless repetition of these never-ending cycles and then compare this with his own short life-span. For the one lacking divine wisdom, his temporariness and his inability to gain permanence produce a sense of futility and often cause him to search vainly for something different, new-only to find that, in the final analysis, it is the 'same old story.' This too is wearisome.

Knowing this can help us to avoid wasting much time, effort and money trying to find fulfillment and happiness through sensual gratification. The quest for new things and experiences may bring a measure of enjoyment, but it never fully satisfies

Solomon was correct in saying: "There is nothing new under the sun." For there is nothing new about the materials, the energy sources, and the natural laws that form the basis for earth's physical system of things. These have long been part of God's creation. There is nothing new in the rising and setting of the sun, in the weather patterns, and in the natural cycle for watering and renewing the earth. And as for the life-style of imperfect mortal man, there is nothing really new, despite changing fashions. Even in affluent societies, life for many becomes repetitious, and at length "wearisome." In some 70 or 80 years, sin-stained man 'walks to his long-lasting house'-the grave. As Solomon states it: "That which has come to be, that is what will come to be; and that which has been done, that is what will be done; and so there is nothing new under the sun.