Discovery BoxHaggai 1:8-11 
Context1:8 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. 1:9 ‘You expected a large harvest, but instead 4 there was little, and when you brought it home it disappeared right away. 5 Why?’ asks the Lord who rules over all. ‘Because my temple remains in ruins, thanks to each of you favoring his own house! 6 1:10 This is why the sky 7 has held back its dew and the earth its produce. 8 1:11 Moreover, I have called for a drought that will affect the fields, the hill country, the grain, new wine, fresh olive oil, and everything that grows from the ground; it also will harm people, animals, and everything they produce.’” 9
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 “look!” (הִנֵּה, hinneh). The term, an interjection, draws attention to the point being made.
5 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).
6 tn Heb “and each of you runs to his own house”; NIV “is busy with”; TEV “is busy working on”; NCV “work hard for.”
7 tn The Hebrew text has “over you” (so KJV), but this is redundant in contemporary English and has been left untranslated.
8 sn This linkage of human sin to natural disaster is reminiscent of the curse brought upon the earth by Adam’s disobedience (Gen 3:17-19; see Rom 8:20-22).
9 tn Heb “all the labor of hands” (similar KJV, NASB, NIV); cf. NAB “all that is produced by hand.”
