There is no new thing under the sun

Posted by ESC October 11, 2000In reply to Nothing much new under the sun posted by Oxhead on October 11, 2000

does anyone know the origin of this phrase?

It's Biblical. O.T., probably Ecclesiastics

"That thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done; and there is no new thing under the sun." Eccles. 1:9 King James Version.

"...The proverb appears in the Old Testament, and was first used in English by Chaucer in the 'Knight's Tale' . It is first attested in the United States in the 'Works of Anne Bradstreet' . The proverb was used by Thomas Jefferson in 1801..."

Replies

PS ESC 10/11/00