Haggai 2:14
What does Haggai 2:14 mean?
A plain-English look at Haggai 2:14 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Haggai 2:14 means
Haggai applies the priests’ rulings: the people and the nation are unclean before Jehovah, and so is every work of their hands; even their offerings are unclean. Their neglect of God’s house had placed them in a defiled condition that tainted all else. Worship cannot be isolated from obedience. When the heart and priorities are wrong, cultic acts become corrupted rather than cleansing. God is not rejecting the temple; He is exposing the futility of trying to wrap unrepentant living in religious ritual. The remedy is not more offerings but restored obedience and dependence on God’s mercy, so that their work may again be received with favor.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000Then answered Haggai and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith Jehovah; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean.
KJV
King James Version · 1611Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the Lord; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901Then answered Haggai and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith Jehovah; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949Then Haggai said, So is this people and so is this nation before me, says the Lord; and so is every work of their hands; and the offering they give there is unclean.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862And Haggai answereth and saith, `So <FI>is<Fi> this people, and so <FI>is<Fi> this nation before Me--an affirmation of Jehovah--and so <FI>is<Fi> every work of their hands, and that which they bring near there--it is unclean.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752And Haggai said: If one that is unclean by occasion of a soul touch any of all these things, shall it be defiled? And the priests answered, and said: It shall be defiled.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890Then answered Haggai and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith Jehovah, and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean.
Context
With the legal groundwork laid in verses 12–13, this verdict lands with force. It explains why the people’s labor and worship had not attracted blessing. The conclusion sets up a call to reflect in verses 15–17 on the lean returns and afflictions they endured. That reflection is not to breed despair but to show the purpose of God’s discipline. Then the tone will shift in verses 18–19 toward hope: from the day of renewed obedience and foundation-laying, God promises to reverse their fortunes and bless them.
v.13Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by reason of a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.
v.14This passage
v.15And now, I pray you, consider from this day and backward, before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of Jehovah.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Titus 1:15
To the pure all things are pure: but to them that are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.
- Ezra 3:2
Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt-offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.
- Haggai 1:4
Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your ceiled houses, while this house lieth waste?
- Proverbs 21:4
A high look, and a proud heart, Eventhe lamp of the wicked, is sin.
- Proverbs 15:8
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to Jehovah; But the prayer of the upright is his delight.
- Jude 1:23
and some save, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
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