10 Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.
10 Is there anything of which one can say, "Look! This is something new"? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time.
10 Is there a thing of which it is said, "See, this is new"? It has been already in the ages before us.
10 Does someone call out, "Hey, this is new"? Don't get excited - it's the same old story.
10 Is there anything of which it may be said, "See, this is new"? It has already been in ancient times before us.
10 Sometimes people say, "Here is something new!" But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ecclesiastes 1:10
Commentary on Ecclesiastes 1:9-11
(Read Ecclesiastes 1:9-11)
Men's hearts and their corruptions are the same now as in former times; their desires, and pursuits, and complaints, still the same. This should take us from expecting happiness in the creature, and quicken us to seek eternal blessings. How many things and persons in Solomon's day were thought very great, yet there is no remembrance of them now!