Haggai 2:10-14
English Standard Version
Blessings for a Defiled People
10 (A)On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, (B)in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, 11 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: (C)Ask the priests about the law: 12 ‘If someone carries (D)holy meat in the fold of his garment and touches with his fold bread or stew or wine or oil or any kind of food, does it become holy?’” The priests answered and said, (E)“No.” 13 Then Haggai said, (F)“If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body (G)touches any of these, does it become unclean?” The priests answered and said, “It does become unclean.” 14 Then Haggai answered and said, (H)“So is it with this people, and with this nation before me, declares the Lord, and so with every work of their hands. And what they offer there is unclean.
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Haggai 2:10-14
New English Translation
The Promised Blessing
10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month of Darius’ second year,[a] the Lord’s message came to the prophet Haggai:[b] 11 “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has said, ‘Ask the priests about the law.[c] 12 If someone carries holy meat in a fold of his garment and that fold touches bread, a boiled dish, wine, olive oil, or any other food, will that item become holy?’”[d] The priests answered, “It will not.” 13 Then Haggai asked, “If a person who is ritually unclean because of touching a dead body[e] comes in contact with one of these items, will it become unclean?” The priests answered, “It will be unclean.”
14 Then Haggai responded, “‘The people of this nation are unclean in my sight,’[f] decrees the Lord. ‘And so is all their effort; everything they offer is also unclean.[g]
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- Haggai 2:10 sn The twenty-fourth day of the ninth month of Darius’ second year was Kislev 24 or December 18, 520 b.c.
- Haggai 2:10 sn This Hebrew expression is slightly different from the one in 1:1, 3; 2:1.
- Haggai 2:11 tn Heb “Ask the priests a torah, saying”; KJV “concerning the law”; NAB “for a decision”; NCV “for a teaching”; NRSV “for a ruling.”
- Haggai 2:12 sn This is probably not an appeal to the Torah (i.e., the Pentateuch) as such but to a priestly ruling (known in postbiblical Judaism as a pesaq din). There is, however, a Mosaic law that provides the basis for the priestly ruling (Lev 6:27).
- Haggai 2:13 tn Heb “unclean of a person,” a euphemism for “unclean because of a dead person”; see Lev 21:11; Num 6:6. Cf. NAB “unclean from contact with a corpse.”
- Haggai 2:14 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.”
- Haggai 2:14 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.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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