Haggai 1:8

1:8 Go up to the hill country and bring back timber to build 1  the temple. 2  Then I will be pleased and honored,’ 3  says the Lord.

Haggai 1:13

1:13 Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, spoke the Lord’s word to the people: 4  “I am with you!” says the Lord.

Haggai 2:14

2:14 Then Haggai responded, “‘The people of this nation are unclean in my sight,’ 5  says the Lord. ‘And so is all their effort; everything they offer is also unclean. 6 

1 tn Heb “and build the house” (so NIV, NRSV), with “house” referring specifically to the temple here.

2 sn The temple was built primarily of stone, so the timber here refers to interior paneling (see v. 4) and perhaps to scaffolding (see Ezra 5:8; 6:4).

3 tn The Hebrew verb אֶכָּבְדָ (’ekkavda) appears to be a defectively written cohortative (“that I may be glorified”). The cohortatives (note that the preceding אֶרְצֶה, ’ertseh, “I will be pleased,” may also be taken as cohortative) indicate purpose/result (cf. NIV, NRSV “so that”; CEV “so”) following the imperatives of v. 8a (“go up,” “bring back,” “build”).

4 tn Heb “Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, said by the message of the Lord to the people.” The Hebrew is highly repetitive; in keeping with contemporary English style this has been simplified in the translation.

5 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.”

6 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.