Hagai 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?’” ¹  The priests answered, “It will not.”

Hagai 2:14

2:14 Then Haggai responded, “‘The people of this nation are unclean in my sight,’ ²  says the Lord. ‘And so is all their effort; everything they offer is also unclean. ³ 

[2:12]  ¹ 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).

[2:14]  ² 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.”

[2:14]  ³ 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.