Haggai 2:18-19
2:18 ‘Think carefully about the past: 1 from today, the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, 2 to the day work on the temple of the Lord was resumed, 3 think about it. 4
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.’”
1 tn Heb “set your heart.” A similar expression occurs in v. 15.
2 sn The twenty-fourth day of the ninth month was Kislev 24 or December 18, 520. See v. 10. Here the reference is to “today,” the day the oracle is being delivered.
3 sn The day work…was resumed. This does not refer to the initial founding of the Jerusalem temple in 536 b.c. but to the renewal of construction three months earlier (see 1:15). This is clear from the situation described in v. 19 which accords with the food scarcities of that time already detailed in Hag 1:10-11.
4 tn Heb “set your heart.” A similar expression occurs in v. 15 and at the beginning of this verse.