Hagai 1:7

The Instruction of the People

1:7 “Moreover, the Lord who rules over all says: ‘Pay close attention to these things also. ¹ 

Hagai 2:18

2:18 ‘Think carefully about the past: ²  from today, the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, ³  to the day work on the temple of the Lord was resumed, ⁴  think about it. ⁵ 

Hagai 2:15

2:15 Now therefore reflect carefully on the recent past, ⁶  before one stone was laid on another in the Lord’s temple. ⁷ 

Hagai 1:5

1:5 Here then is what the Lord who rules over all says: ‘Think carefully about what you are doing. ⁸ 

Hagai 1:4

1:4 “Is it right for you to live in richly paneled houses ⁹  while my temple is in ruins? ¹⁰ 

Hagai 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.’”

[1:7]  ¹ tn Heb “Set your heart upon your ways”; see v. 5.

[2:18]  ² tn Heb “set your heart.” A similar expression occurs in v. 15.

[2:18]  ³ 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.

[2:18]  ⁴ 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.

[2:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “set your heart.” A similar expression occurs in v. 15 and at the beginning of this verse.

[2:15]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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.”

[1:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “Set your heart upon your ways” (see 2:15, 18); traditionally “Consider your ways” (so KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB).

[1:4]  ⁹ 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.

[1:4]  ¹⁰ 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.”