Ecclesiastes 1:10

Is there any thing? The author counters an implied objection to his statements in v. 9 with a challenge to name anything “new.”

It hath been already. What seems new has its roots in the past. The context makes evident that Solomon’s remarks in vs. 9, 10 apply to the various phenomena of nature, the cycle of human life included.

Of old time. Literally, “of the ages.” The word ‘olam, translated “old time,” is the same one given as “for ever” in v. 4 (see on Ex. 12:14; 21:6). The word rendered “time” is plural, but the verb is singular, the noun being treated as collective.