I noticed that the Teacher uses the phrase "under the sun" more than 20 times in Ecclesiastes. I have always understood this to simply mean "on earth" as *The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament* (s.v. *tahat*) says:

> 
> The phrase "under the sun" wends its doleful way through the book of Eccl and has become common parlance in our own skeptical age, especially in the expression "There is nothing new under the sun" (Eccl 1:9 RSV). The phrase itself seems to signify simply "on this earth" (see especially Eccl 7:20, Eccl 8:16, Eccl 11:2) and perhaps underscores the frequently nonreligious emphasis of the author of Eccl who both describes the apparent futility of life and yet lives by faith in it (see further J. Gammie in JBL 93 (1974), p. 363).
> 
> 
> 

But I began to wonder today if there is more to it. I was listening to Ravi Zacharius' message "[What is Worthwhile Under the Sun](http://www.rzim.org/resources/listen/letmypeoplethink.aspx)" today. He said it was a Hebrew idiom meaning, figuratively, "life without God." I had never heard this and began to check into it.

What I found is that the phrase appears only once outside of Ecclesiastes.

> 
> 2 Samuel 12:12 'Indeed you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and **under the sun**.'" [NASU, emphasis added]
> 
> 
> 

Here it seems to mean "in the open" since it is placed in opposition to "secretly." But that interpretation doesn't work in Ecclesiastes.

Here are a few examples from Ecclesiastes. All quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, Updated 1995 (NASU).

> 
> Ecclesiastes 1:3 What advantage does man have in all his work Which he does **under the sun**?
> 
> 
> Ecclesiastes 1:14 I have seen all the works which have been done **under the sun,** and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind.
> 
> 
> Ecclesiastes 2:17 So I hated life, for the work which had been done **under the sun** was grievous to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind.
> 
> 
> Ecclesiastes 3:16 ¶ Furthermore, I have seen **under the sun** that in the place of justice there is wickedness and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.
> 
> 
> Ecclesiastes 8:9 All this I have seen and applied my mind to every deed that has been done **under the sun** wherein a man has exercised authority over another man to his hurt.
> 
> 
> Ecclesiastes 9:11 ¶ I again saw **under the sun** that the race is not to the swift and the battle is not to the warriors, and neither is bread to the wise nor wealth to the discerning nor favor to men of ability; for time and chance overtake them all.
> 
> 
> 

I found 29 uses of the term in Ecclesiastes. Obviously, this is an important theme to the Teacher. So is it simply "on earth" or is there a deeper meaning to it? Does it signify, like Ravi says, "a life without God"?