To Solomon, the circle of life was a burden, a seemingly meaningless cycle over which neither he nor anyone else had any control. Day after day, week after week, month after month, season after season, year after year, century after century with no apparent explanation or purpose. As Solomon pondered the circle of life “under the sun” i.e., life from a purely human perspective, quite apart from God, he put on three different hats in Ecclesiastes 1:4-18, and came to three equally bleak conclusions:

1. Approaching life as a scientist, he concluded that nothing changes (1:4-7)
2. Approaching life as a historian, he determined that nothing is new (1:8-11)
3. Approaching life as a philosopher, he deduced that nothing is understood (1:12-18)