Haggai 2:2

2:2 “Ask the following questions to ¹  Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak, ²  and the remnant of the people:

Haggai 2:10

The Promised Blessing

2:10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month of Darius’ second year, ³  the Lord spoke again to the prophet Haggai: ⁴ 

Haggai 2:15

2:15 Now therefore reflect carefully on the recent past, ⁵  before one stone was laid on another in the Lord’s temple. ⁶ 

[2:2]  ¹ tn Heb “say to”; NAB “Tell this to.”

[2:2]  ² 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.

[2:10]  ³ sn The twenty-fourth day of the ninth month of Darius’ second year was Kislev 24 or December 18, 520 b.c.

[2:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “the word of the Lord came to Haggai the prophet, saying.” This Hebrew expression is slightly different from the one in 1:1, 3; 2:1.

[2:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “and now set your heart from this day and upward.” The juxtaposition of מָעְלָה (ma’lah, “upward”) with the following מִטֶּרֶם (mitterem, “before”) demands a look to the past. Cf. ASV “consider from this day and backward.”

[2:15]  ⁶ sn Before one stone was laid on another in the Lord’s temple is best taken as referring to the laying of the present temple’s foundation, sixteen years earlier (536 b.c.; see Ezra 3:8). Cf. NCV “before you started laying stones”; TEV “before you started to rebuild”; NLT “before you began to lay (started laying CEV) the foundation.”