Hagai 2:13-14

2:13 Then Haggai asked, “If a person who is ritually unclean because of touching a dead body ¹  comes in contact with one of these items, will it become unclean?” The priests answered, “It will be unclean.”

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 

Hagai 1:14

1:14 So the Lord energized and encouraged ⁴  Zerubbabel ⁵  son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak, ⁶  and the whole remnant of the people. ⁷  They came and worked on the temple of their God, the Lord who rules over all.

Hagai 2:7

2:7 I will also shake up all the nations, and they ⁸  will offer their treasures; ⁹  then I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord who rules over all.

Hagai 1:2

The Indifference of the People

1:2 The Lord who rules over all ¹⁰  says this: “These people have said, ‘The time for rebuilding the Lord’s temple has not yet come.’” ¹¹ 

Hagai 2:15

2:15 Now therefore reflect carefully on the recent past, ¹²  before one stone was laid on another in the Lord’s temple. ¹³ 

Hagai 2:22

2:22 I will overthrow royal thrones and shatter the might of earthly kingdoms. ¹⁴  I will overthrow chariots and those who ride them, and horses and their riders will fall as people kill one another. ¹⁵ 

Hagai 1:9

1:9 ‘You expected a large harvest, but instead ¹⁶  there was little, and when you brought it home it disappeared right away. ¹⁷  Why?’ asks the Lord who rules over all. ‘Because my temple remains in ruins, thanks to each of you favoring his own house! ¹⁸ 

Hagai 2:4

2:4 Even so, take heart, Zerubbabel,’ says the Lord. ‘Take heart, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and ¹⁹  all you citizens of the land,’ ²⁰  says the Lord, ‘and begin to work. For I am with you,’ says the Lord who rules over all.

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?’” ²¹  The priests answered, “It will not.”

[2:13]  ¹ 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.”

[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.

[1:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “stirred up” (as in many English versions). Only one verb appears in the Hebrew text, but the translation “energized and encouraged” brings out its sense in this context. Cf. TEV “inspired”; NLT “sparked the enthusiasm of”; CEV “made everyone eager to work.”

[1:14]  sn It was God who initiated the rebuilding by providing the people with motivation and ability.

[1:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “the spirit of Zerubbabel” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[1:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest” (as in many English versions), but this is subject to misunderstanding. See the note on the name “Jehozadak” at the end of v. 1.

[1:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “and the spirit of 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 the note on the phrase “the whole remnant of the people” in v. 12.

[2:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “all the nations.”

[2:7]  ⁹ tn Though the subject here is singular (חֶמְדַּה, khemdah; “desire”), the preceding plural predicate mandates a collective subject, “desired (things)” or, better, an emendation to a plural form, חֲמֻדֹת (khamudot, “desirable [things],” hence “treasures”). Cf. ASV “the precious things”; NASB “the wealth”; NRSV “the treasure.” In the OT context this has no direct reference to the coming of the Messiah.

[1:2]  ¹⁰ 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.

[1:2]  ¹¹ 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.

[2:15]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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.”

[2:22]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the kingdoms of the nations.” Cf. KJV “the kingdoms of the heathen”; NIV, NLT “foreign kingdoms.”

[2:22]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and horses and their riders will go down, a man with a sword his brother”; KJV “every one by the sword of his brother.”

[1:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “look!” (הִנֵּה, hinneh). The term, an interjection, draws attention to the point being made.

[1:9]  ¹⁷ 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).

[1:9]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and each of you runs to his own house”; NIV “is busy with”; TEV “is busy working on”; NCV “work hard for.”

[2:4]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and take heart.” Although emphatic, the repetition of the verb is redundant in contemporary English style and has been left untranslated.

[2:4]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the people of the land” (עַם הָאָרֶץ, ’am ha’arets); this is a technical term referring to free citizens as opposed to slaves.

[2:12]  ²¹ 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).