Hagai 2:3

2:3 ‘Who among you survivors saw the former splendor of this temple? ¹  How does it look to you now? Isn’t it nothing by comparison?

Hagai 2:5

2:5 ‘Do not fear, because I made a promise to your ancestors when they left Egypt, and my spirit ²  even now testifies to you.’ ³ 

Hagai 2:7

2:7 I will also shake up all the nations, and they ⁴  will offer their treasures; ⁵  then I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord who rules over all.

Hagai 2:9-10

2:9 ‘The future splendor of this temple will be greater than that of former times,’ ⁶  the Lord who rules over all declares, ‘and in this place I will give peace.’” ⁷ 

The Promised Blessing

2:10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month of Darius’ second year, ⁸  the Lord spoke again to the prophet Haggai: ⁹ 

Hagai 2:13

2:13 Then Haggai asked, “If a person who is ritually unclean because of touching a dead body ¹⁰  comes in contact with one of these items, will it become unclean?” The priests answered, “It will be unclean.”

Hagai 2:17

2:17 I struck all the products of your labor ¹¹  with blight, disease, and hail, and yet you brought nothing to me,’ ¹²  says the Lord.

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.’”

Hagai 2:22

2:22 I will overthrow royal thrones and shatter the might of earthly kingdoms. ¹³  I will overthrow chariots and those who ride them, and horses and their riders will fall as people kill one another. ¹⁴ 

[2:3]  ¹ tn Heb “this house in its earlier splendor”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “in its former glory.”

[2:3]  sn Solomon’s temple was demolished in 586 b.c., 66 years prior to Haggai’s time. There surely would have been some older people who remembered the former splendor of that magnificent structure and who lamented the contrast to the small, unimpressive temple they were building (see Ezra 3:8-13).

[2:5]  ² 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]  ³ 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.

[2:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “all the nations.”

[2:7]  ⁵ 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.

[2:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “greater will be the latter splendor of this house than the former”; NAB “greater will be the future glory.”

[2:9]  ⁷ tn In the Hebrew text there is an implicit play on words in the clause “in this place [i.e., Jerusalem] I will give peace”: in יְרוּשָׁלַיִם (yÿrushalayim) there will be שָׁלוֹם (shalom).

[2:10]  ⁸ sn The twenty-fourth day of the ninth month of Darius’ second year was Kislev 24 or December 18, 520 b.c.

[2:10]  ⁹ 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.

[2:13]  ¹⁰ 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.”

[2:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “you, all the work of your hands”; NRSV “you and all the products of your toil”; NIV “all the work of your hands.”

[2:17]  ¹² tn Heb “and there was not with you.” The context favors the idea that the harvests were so poor that the people took care of only themselves, leaving no offering for the Lord. Cf. KJV and many English versions “yet ye turned not to me,” understanding the phrase to refer to the people’s repentance rather than their failure to bring offerings.

[2:22]  ¹³ tn Heb “the kingdoms of the nations.” Cf. KJV “the kingdoms of the heathen”; NIV, NLT “foreign kingdoms.”

[2:22]  ¹⁴ 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.”