FocusThe neglected house
Connection to the wholeThis opening unit introduces the chapter’s movement. The first message confronts the community's priorities and records its response to the call to work on the temple.
interpretation Haggai 1:6
KJVYe have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
Read it in context
A Call to Rebuild the Temple
Start reading at Haggai 1:1 (Haggai 1:1 to Haggai 1:11).
An editorial reading unit, not a claim that the surrounding context stops here. Book background below applies to the shared passage; individual verses may need more specific explanation.
This opening unit introduces the chapter’s movement. The first message confronts the community's priorities and records its response to the call to work on the temple.
- 1:1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying,
- 1:2 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD's house should be built.
- 1:3 Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying,
- 1:4 Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?
- 1:5 Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
- 1:6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
- 1:7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
- 1:8 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.
- 1:9 Ye looked for much, and lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.
- 1:10 Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.
- 1:11 And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.
Who
- Who wrote the book? Haggai is the named prophet through whom the dated messages were delivered; the collection presents his ministry in third-person narrative. Biblical references: Haggai 1:1. stated in the text
- Who was present or being addressed in this passage? In the surrounding chapter context (Haggai 1:1–1:15): Haggai addresses Zerubbabel the governor, Joshua the high priest, and the returned community concerning the neglected house of the LORD. stated in the text
- Who was the book written to? The returned Judean community, especially Zerubbabel the governor, Joshua the high priest, and the people rebuilding the temple. Biblical references: Haggai 1:1; Haggai 1:12. stated in the text
What
- What is the topic of this reading unit? A Call to Rebuild the Temple. Read Haggai 1:1 through Haggai 1:11 as a connected unit. interpretation
- How does it contribute to the book? This opening unit introduces the chapter’s movement. The first message confronts the community's priorities and records its response to the call to work on the temple. interpretation
When
- When are the events or message set? The messages are dated to the second year of Darius, with months and days supplied. Those are dates of prophetic messages, not a modern publication date. book background
Where
- What is the book’s geographic setting? The returned community and the rebuilding of the LORD's house in Jerusalem form the immediate setting. book background
- Where does the context start? This passage sits in A Call to Rebuild the Temple (Haggai 1:1 to Haggai 1:11). Start reading at Haggai 1:1. An editorial reading unit, not a claim that the surrounding context stops here. Book background below applies to the shared passage; individual verses may need more specific explanation.
How
- How does this book connect with Jesus Christ? Hebrews draws on Haggai's language of shaking heaven and earth. That explicit quotation supplies a connection while leaving other details of the temple setting to be read in their own context. See Haggai 2:6, Hebrews 12:26, Hebrews 12:27. interpretation
- How should this book guide our response? Examine priorities and respond faithfully to the work actually entrusted to you. Do not turn a message to this rebuilding community into an automatic guarantee of wealth for a modern project. interpretation
Cited: Haggai 1:1, Haggai 1:11, Haggai 2:6, Hebrews 12:26, Hebrews 12:27
Who wrote it, and how we know
Haggai
Named in Scripture
What Scripture saysThe book records the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, dated precisely.
Haggai 1:1
Early traditionTradition names Haggai.
Related passages
- have Hag 1:9 Hag 2:16 Lev 26:20 Deut 28:38-40 2 Sam 21:1 Ps 107:34 Isa 5:10 Jer 14:4
- eat Lev 26:26 1 Kgs 17:12 Job 20:22 Jer 44:18 Ezek 4:16-17
- with holes Job 20:28 Zech 5:4
Cross references from CrossReferences-org (CC BY 4.0).
Macro-Structure
See how this passage fits the chapter and the book.
Macro-Structure of Haggai 1
Haggai dates his messages to Darius' second year and names Zerubbabel and Joshua. Its appeals address the returned community's neglect of the LORD's house in that setting. Local headings and stanza divisions are editorial reading aids adapted from public-domain BSB headings; verse boundaries and Scripture links use the KJV. Connections describe the surrounding book movement.
Haggai 1:1 Haggai 1:4 Haggai 2:1
The People Obey
Haggai 1:12–15FocusThe neglected house
Connection to the wholeThis unit closes the chapter’s selected reading divisions. The first message confronts the community's priorities and records its response to the call to work on the temple.
interpretation Suggested literary divisions. Headings summarize the passage; they are not part of the biblical text.
Macro-Structure of Haggai
Haggai dates his messages to Darius' second year and names Zerubbabel and Joshua. Its appeals address the returned community's neglect of the LORD's house in that setting.
Haggai 1:1 Haggai 1:4 Haggai 2:1
FocusThe neglected house
Connection to the wholeThe first message confronts the community's priorities and records its response to the call to work on the temple.
interpretation Encouragement concerning the house
Haggai 2:1–9FocusPresent weakness and promised glory
Connection to the wholeThe next message encourages the workers by setting their present task beside the LORD's promised purpose.
interpretation A lesson about holiness and uncleanness
Haggai 2:10–19FocusThe people's condition and the promise of blessing
Connection to the wholeQuestions to the priests introduce a diagnosis of the people's condition and a renewed word about blessing.
interpretation A word to Zerubbabel
Haggai 2:20–23FocusUpheaval and the signet
Connection to the wholeThe final message addresses Zerubbabel with a promise set amid the overturning of kingdoms.
interpretation Suggested literary divisions. Headings summarize the passage; they are not part of the biblical text.