Haggai 2:5

2:5 ‘Do not fear, because I made a promise to your ancestors when they left Egypt, and my spirit ¹  even now testifies to you.’ ² 

Haggai 2:11

2:11 “The Lord who rules over all says, ‘Ask the priests about the law. ³ 

Haggai 2:21

2:21 Tell Zerubbabel governor of Judah: ‘I am ready ⁴  to shake the sky ⁵  and the earth.

[2:5]  ¹ sn My spirit. It is theologically anachronistic to understand “spirit” here in the NT sense as a reference to the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity; nevertheless during this postexilic period the conceptual groundwork was being laid for the doctrine of the Holy Spirit later revealed in the NT.

[2:5]  ² tc The MT of v. 5 reads “with the word which I cut with you when you went out from Egypt and my spirit [which] stands in your midst, do not fear.” BHS proposes emending “with the word” to זֹאת הַבְּרִית (zo’t habbÿrit, “this is the covenant”) at the beginning of the verse. The proposed emendation makes excellent sense and is expected with the verb כָּרַת (karat, “cut” or “make” a covenant), but it has no textual support. Most English versions (including the present translation) therefore follow the MT here.

[2:11]  ³ tn Heb “Ask the priests a torah, saying”; KJV “concerning the law”; NAB “for a decision”; NCV “for a teaching”; NRSV “for a ruling.”

[2:21]  ⁵ tn The participle here suggests an imminent undertaking of action (cf. NRSV, TEV, NLT “I am about to”). The overall language of the passage is eschatological, but eschatology finds its roots in the present.

[2:21]  ⁶ tn See the note on the word “sky” in 2:6. Most English translations render the Hebrew term as “heavens” here.