Haggai 2:3

2:3 ‘Who among you survivors saw the former splendor of this temple? ¹  How does it look to you now? Isn’t it nothing by comparison?

Haggai 1:9-10

1:9 ‘You expected a large harvest, but instead ²  there was little, and when you brought it home it disappeared right away. ³  Why?’ asks the Lord who rules over all. ‘Because my temple remains in ruins, thanks to each of you favoring his own house! ⁴  1:10 This is why the sky ⁵  has held back its dew and the earth its produce. ⁶ 

Haggai 2:13

2:13 Then Haggai asked, “If a person who is ritually unclean because of touching a dead body ⁷  comes in contact with one of these items, will it become unclean?” The priests answered, “It will be unclean.”

Haggai 1:4

1:4 “Is it right for you to live in richly paneled houses ⁸  while my temple is in ruins? ⁹ 

Haggai 1:8

1:8 Go up to the hill country and bring back timber to build ¹⁰  the temple. ¹¹  Then I will be pleased and honored,’ ¹²  says the Lord.

Haggai 2:12

2:12 If someone carries holy meat in a fold of his garment and that fold touches bread, a boiled dish, wine, olive oil, or any other food, will that item become holy?’” ¹³  The priests answered, “It will not.”

Haggai 2:14

2:14 Then Haggai responded, “‘The people of this nation are unclean in my sight,’ ¹⁴  says the Lord. ‘And so is all their effort; everything they offer is also unclean. ¹⁵ 

Haggai 2:18

2:18 ‘Think carefully about the past: ¹⁶  from today, the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, ¹⁷  to the day work on the temple of the Lord was resumed, ¹⁸  think about it. ¹⁹ 

Haggai 1:6

1:6 You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but are never filled. You drink, but are still thirsty. You put on clothes, but are not warm. Those who earn wages end up with holes in their money bags.’” ²⁰ 

Haggai 2:6

2:6 Moreover, the Lord who rules over all says: ‘In just a little while ²¹  I will once again shake the sky ²²  and the earth, the sea and the dry ground.

Haggai 2:9

2:9 ‘The future splendor of this temple will be greater than that of former times,’ ²³  the Lord who rules over all declares, ‘and in this place I will give peace.’” ²⁴ 

Haggai 2:19

2:19 The seed is still in the storehouse, isn’t it? And the vine, fig tree, pomegranate, and olive tree have not produced. Nevertheless, from today on I will bless you.’”

Haggai 1:2

The Indifference of the People

1:2 The Lord who rules over all ²⁵  says this: “These people have said, ‘The time for rebuilding the Lord’s temple has not yet come.’” ²⁶ 

Haggai 1:11

1:11 Moreover, I have called for a drought that will affect the fields, the hill country, the grain, new wine, fresh olive oil, and everything that grows from the ground; it also will harm people, animals, and everything they produce.’” ²⁷ 

Haggai 2:16

2:16 From that time ²⁸  when one came expecting a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten; when one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty measures from it, there were only twenty.

Haggai 1:12

The Response of the People

1:12 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak, ²⁹  along with the whole remnant of the people, ³⁰  obeyed ³¹  the Lord their God. They responded favorably to the message of the prophet Haggai, who spoke just as the Lord their God had instructed him, ³²  and the people began to respect the Lord. ³³ 

¹ tn Heb “this house in its earlier splendor”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “in its former glory.”

² tn Heb “look!” (הִנֵּה, hinneh). The term, an interjection, draws attention to the point being made.

³ tn Heb “I blew it away” (so NRSV, TEV, NLT). The imagery here suggests that human achievements are so fragile and temporal that a mere breath from God can destroy them (see Ezek 22:20, 21; and Isa 40:7 with נָשַׁב, nashav).

⁴ tn Heb “and each of you runs to his own house”; NIV “is busy with”; TEV “is busy working on”; NCV “work hard for.”

³ tn The Hebrew text has “over you” (so KJV), but this is redundant in contemporary English and has been left untranslated.

⁴ sn This linkage of human sin to natural disaster is reminiscent of the curse brought upon the earth by Adam’s disobedience (Gen 3:17-19; see Rom 8:20-22).

⁴ tn Heb “unclean of a person,” a euphemism for “unclean because of a dead person”; see Lev 21:11; Num 6:6. Cf. NAB “unclean from contact with a corpse.”

⁵ sn Richly paneled houses. Paneling is otherwise known in the OT only in connection with the temple (1 Kgs 6:9) and the royal palace (2 Kgs 7:3, 7). It implies decoration and luxury (cf. NCV “fancy houses”; TEV “well-built houses”; NLT “luxurious houses”). The impropriety of the people living in such lavish accommodations while the temple lay unfinished is striking.

⁶ tn Heb “Is it time for you, [yes] you, to live in paneled houses, while this house is in ruins”; NASB “lies desolate”; NIV “remains a ruin.”

⁶ tn Heb “and build the house” (so NIV, NRSV), with “house” referring specifically to the temple here.

⁷ sn The temple was built primarily of stone, so the timber here refers to interior paneling (see v. 4) and perhaps to scaffolding (see Ezra 5:8; 6:4).

⁸ tn The Hebrew verb אֶכָּבְדָ (’ekkavda) appears to be a defectively written cohortative (“that I may be glorified”). The cohortatives (note that the preceding אֶרְצֶה, ’ertseh, “I will be pleased,” may also be taken as cohortative) indicate purpose/result (cf. NIV, NRSV “so that”; CEV “so”) following the imperatives of v. 8a (“go up,” “bring back,” “build”).

⁷ sn This is probably not an appeal to the Torah (i.e., the Pentateuch) as such but to a priestly ruling (known in postbiblical Judaism as a pÿsaq din). There is, however, a Mosaic law that provides the basis for the priestly ruling (Lev 6:27).

⁸ tn Heb “so this people, and so this nation before me.” In this context “people” and “nation” refer to the same set of individuals; the repetition is emphatic. Cf. CEV “this entire nation.”

⁹ sn The point here is that the Jews cannot be made holy by unholy fellowship with their pagan neighbors; instead, they and their worship will become corrupted by such associations.

⁹ tn Heb “set your heart.” A similar expression occurs in v. 15.

¹⁰ sn The twenty-fourth day of the ninth month was Kislev 24 or December 18, 520. See v. 10. Here the reference is to “today,” the day the oracle is being delivered.

¹¹ sn The day work…was resumed. This does not refer to the initial founding of the Jerusalem temple in 536 b.c. but to the renewal of construction three months earlier (see 1:15). This is clear from the situation described in v. 19 which accords with the food scarcities of that time already detailed in Hag 1:10-11.

¹² tn Heb “set your heart.” A similar expression occurs in v. 15 and at the beginning of this verse.

¹⁰ tn Some translate “pockets” (so NLT) but the Hebrew word צְרוֹר (tsÿror) refers to a bag, pouch, or purse of money (BDB 865 s.v. צְרוֹר; HALOT 1054 s.v. צְרוֹר 1). Because coinage had been invented by the Persians and was thus in use in Haggai’s day, this likely is a money bag or purse rather than pouches or pockets in the clothing. Since in contemporary English “purse” (so NASB, NIV, NCV) could be understood as a handbag, the present translation uses “money bags.”

¹¹ tc The difficult MT reading עוֹד אַחַת מְעַט הִיא (’od ’akhat mÿ’at hi’, “yet once, it is little”; cf. NAB “One moment yet, a little while”) appears as “yet once” in the LXX, omitting the last two Hebrew words. However, the point being made is that the anticipated action is imminent; thus the repetition provides emphasis.

¹² tn Or “the heavens.” The same Hebrew word, שָׁמַיִם (shamayim), may be translated “sky” or “heavens” depending on the context. Although many English versions translate the term as “heavens” here, the other three elements present in this context (earth, sea, dry ground) suggest “sky” is in view.

¹² tn Heb “greater will be the latter splendor of this house than the former”; NAB “greater will be the future glory.”

¹³ tn In the Hebrew text there is an implicit play on words in the clause “in this place [i.e., Jerusalem] I will give peace”: in יְרוּשָׁלַיִם (yÿrushalayim) there will be שָׁלוֹם (shalom).

¹³ sn The epithet Lord who rules over all occurs frequently as a divine title throughout Haggai (see 1:5, 7, 9, 14; 2:4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 23). This name (יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת, yÿhvah tsÿva’ot), traditionally translated “Lord of hosts” (so KJV, NAB, NASB; cf. NIV, NLT “Lord Almighty”; NCV, CEV “Lord All-Powerful”), emphasizes the majestic sovereignty of the Lord, an especially important concept in the postexilic world of great human empires and rulers. For a thorough study of the divine title, see T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 123-57.

¹⁴ tn Heb “the time has not come, the time for the house of the Lord to be built” (similar KJV). A number of English versions refer to “rebuilding” (so NAB, NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT) since the reconstruction of Solomon’s temple is actually in view.

¹⁴ tn Heb “all the labor of hands” (similar KJV, NASB, NIV); cf. NAB “all that is produced by hand.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “from their being,” idiomatic for “from the time they were then,” or “since the time.” Cf. KJV “Since those days were.”

¹⁶ tn Many English versions have “Joshua [the] son of Jehozadak, the high priest,” but this is subject to misunderstanding. See the note on the name “Jehozadak” at the end of v. 1.

¹⁷ tn Heb “all the remnant of the people.” The Hebrew phrase שְׁאֵרִית הָעָם (shÿ’erit ha’am) in this postexilic context is used as a technical term to refer to the returned remnant (see Ezra 9:14; Isa 10:20-22; 11:11, 16; Jer 23:3; 31:7; and many other passages). Cf. TEV “all the people who had returned from the exile in Babylonia.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “heard the voice of”; NAB “listened to the voice of.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “and according to the words of Haggai the prophet just as the Lord their God sent him.” Some English versions (e.g., NAB, NIV, NCV) take the last clause as causal: “because the Lord their God had sent him.”

²⁰ tn Heb “and the people feared from before the Lord”; NASB “showed reverence for the Lord.”