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11. No remembrance. What may seem to be new appears so only because men have forgotten the past. Similarly, some things of this generation will be forgotten by the next. This may well apply also to human fame. The prominent person of today, seemingly so much needed, is displaced and forgotten tomorrow. “What profit hath a man?” (v. 3).

Former things. “Things” is a supplied word. Inasmuch as the Hebrew adjective “former” is masculine plural, it should probably be understood to refer to persons. Thus not only every “thing” (v. 10) but also all persons pass into oblivion.

Things that are to come. Again “things” is a supplied word, and the Hebrew adjective translated “that are to come” is masculine plural. Generations of men is probably the thought here. The celebrity of this generation is forgotten by the coming generation. Solomon concludes the prologue to his book with a comment on the transitory quality of fame. This is stressed by the word “after,” literally, “in the hereafter.”