What does “there is nothing new under the sun” mean?

Rabbi Landau explains King Solomon’s words, “Ein kol chadash tachas hashamesh,” as a description of how progress works: everything new is built on what came before. The person who invents something “goes through the whole struggle, has to hit every wall and has to figure out everything, just to get to that point.”

Whoever comes next does not have to repeat that struggle. He starts where the first one stopped. Rabbi Landau gives the example of the car: the one who invented it built on the inventor of the engine, and Rolls-Royce, who did not invent the car, made it perfect.

He pairs this with another verse of King Solomon, “Tov acharis davar mereishiso,” the end of a thing can be greater than its beginning. The one who completes and refines can reach higher than the one who began. So the verse is not a statement of despair; it is permission to build on others’ foundations.

Going deeper: Rabbi Landau's teaching, level by level

Surface claim

Nothing comes from nowhere; each achievement stands on someone else's work.

What may be behind it

In A Soul at Peace, Rabbi Landau writes that King Solomon is not giving up hope but describing how the world moves forward, like a building rising on top of a building.

Deepest human truth

The end of a thing can be greater than its beginning. The one who completes can stand higher than the one who started.

More questions from this teaching

• Do you need an original idea to be successful?