that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the LORD.’”
Parallel translations
- WEB “This is what Yahweh of Armies says: These people say, ‘The time hasn’t yet come, the time for Yahweh’s house to be built.’”
- KJV 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.
- NKJV “Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, saying: ‘This people says, “The time has not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built.” ’ ”
- NASB “This is what the Lord of armies says: ‘This people says, “The time has not come, the time for the house of the Lord to be rebuilt.” ’ ”
- NLT “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: The people are saying, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.’”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The people excuse their inaction by claiming the time to rebuild the temple has not yet come. Their delay reveals misplaced priorities, not genuine obstacles.
Overview
Returned exiles had laid the temple's foundation years earlier but quit under opposition and discouragement (Ezra 4). 'Yahweh of Armies' stresses God's sovereign power over all hosts. Their excuse exposes a heart that values comfort over God's house and worship, the very issue Haggai is sent to confront.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Ezra 4:23When the text of the letter from King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their associates, they went immediately to the Jews in Jerusalem and forcibly stopped them.
- Neh 4:10Meanwhile, the people of Judah said: “The strength of the laborer fails, and there is so much rubble that we will never be able to rebuild the wall.”
- Eccl 9:10Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.
- Num 13:31But the men who had gone up with him replied, “We cannot go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are!”
- Song 5:2–3I sleep, but my heart is awake. A sound! My beloved is knocking: “Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one. My head is drenched with dew, my hair with the dampness of the night.”
- Eccl 11:4He who watches the wind will fail to sow, and he who observes the clouds will fail to reap.
- Prov 29:25The fear of man is a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is set securely on high.
- Prov 26:13–16The slacker says, “A lion is in the road! A fierce lion roams the public square!”
- Prov 22:13The slacker says, “There is a lion outside! I will be slain in the streets!”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Christ at the center
The promise that the latter glory of the temple will exceed the former, and that God will shake the nations and bring 'the desire of all nations,' is fulfilled when Christ enters his temple.
How Haggai 1:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.