Haggai 1:4

Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
time	הַעֵ֤ת ha.'Et	H6256	time · interrogative particle + noun, common both genders singular absolute
dwell	לָשֶׁ֖בֶת la.She.vet	H3427	properly · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
cieled	סְפוּנִ֑ים se.fu.Nim	H5603	to hide by covering · verb, qal passive participle, masculine plural absolute
houses	בְּבָתֵּיכֶ֣ם be.va.tei.Khem	H1004	a house (in the greatest variation of applications · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
house	וְהַבַּ֥יִת ve.ha.Ba.yit	H1004	a house (in the greatest variation of applications · conjunction + definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
waste	חָרֵֽב cha.Rev	H2720	parched or ruined · adjective, masculine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

2 Samuel 7:2 That the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains.
Psalms 132:3-5 Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed;
Philippians 2:21 For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.
Haggai 1:9 Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mi…
Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Jeremiah 52:13 And burned the house of the LORD, and the king’s house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great men, burned he with…
Lamentations 4:1 How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street.
Daniel 9:17-18 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is deso…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Haggai 1:1-11

It was the complaint of the Jews in Babylon that they saw not their signs, and there was no more prophet (Psa 74:9), which was a just judgment upon them for mocking and misusing the prophets. We read of no prophets they had in their return, as they had in their coming out of Egypt, Hos 12:13. God stirred them up immediately by his Spirit to exert themselves in that escape (Ezr 1:5); for, though God makes use of prophets, he needs them not, he can do his work without them. But the lamp of Old Testament prophecy shall yet make some bright and glorious efforts before it expire; and Haggai is the first that appears under the character of a special messenger from heaven, when the word of the Lord…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Haggai 1:4

Is it time--It is not time (Hag 1:2), ye say, to build Jehovah's house; yet how is it that ye make it a fit time not only to build, but to "dwell" at ease in your own houses? you, O ye--rather, for "you, you"; the repetition marking the shameful contrast between their concern for themselves, and their unconcern for God [MAURER]. Compare a similar repetition in Sa1 25:24; Zac 7:5. ceiled--rather, "wainscoted," or "paneled," referring to the walls as well as the ceilings; furnished not only with comfort but luxury, in sad contrast to God's house not merely unadorned, but the very walls not raised above the foundations. How different David's feelings (Sa2 7:2)!

Adam Clarke on Haggai 1:4

Is it time for you - If the time be not come to rebuild the temple, it cannot be come for you to build yourselves comfortable houses: but ye are rebuilding your houses; why then do ye not rebuild the house of the Lord? The foundation of the temple had been laid fourteen years before, and some considerable progress made in the building; and it had been lying waste in that unfinished state to the present time.

John Gill on Haggai 1:4

Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your panelled houses,.... They could not only find time, leisure, and convenience to build houses to dwell in; but to wainscot them, and line them with boards of cedar, as the Targum; as bad as the times were complained of; and could sit in them, indulging themselves in luxury, ease, and sloth; and why then was it not a fit and convenient time as well to build the house of the Lord in? and this house lie waste? or, "and shall this house lie waste?" or, "when this house lies waste?" (o) not indeed in its rubbish and ruins, as it was demolished by the Chaldeans, and left; but with a bare foundation, laid some years ago; and ever since neglected; the super…

The Church Fathers

(Verse 4.) And now thus says the Lord of hosts: Set your hearts upon your ways. Let there not be a time for speaking one thing and doing another: turn my commandments immediately into action. For the Lord is all-powerful who commands, and truly the authority of the all-powerful God is not light. Until now, your hearts have been enslaved to vices, without order, without a teacher, pursuing your desires wherever they led. But now the Lord commands you to prioritize charity within yourselves and to set your hearts upon your ways, so that you do nothing without judgment and consideration. Let the lamp of the law always go before your feet, and say: Lamp to my feet is Your law and light to my paths (Ps. 118:105). Indeed, it is thus: Because you say, it is not the time to build the house of the Lord, and you yourselves dwell in houses that are sinking into the depths, while my house is deserted: consider, at the command of the Lord, and bring to mind what you have done, and what you have suffered.
— Jerome, Commentary on Haggai

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Ceiling — The covering (1 Kings 7:3, 7) of the inside roof and walls of a house with planks of wood (2 Chr. 3:5; Jer. 22:14). Ceilings were sometimes adorned with various ornaments in stucco, gold, silver,…
House — Till their sojourn in Egypt the Hebrews dwelt in tents. They then for the first time inhabited cities (Gen. 47:3; Ex. 12:7; Heb. 11:9). From the earliest times the Assyrians and the Canaanites were…
Houses · Apartments of, were often: Ceiled and painted — Apartments of, were often: Ceiled and painted
Lukewarmness · FIGURATIVE — FIGURATIVE
Parsimony (Stinginess) · .Toward the temple — .Toward the temple
Selfishness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Temple, The Second · The Jews reproved for not building — The Jews reproved for not building

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Haggai 1:4

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Haggai 1:1-11

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Haggai 1:4

Adam Clarke on Haggai 1:4

John Gill on Haggai 1:4

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Haggai 1:4

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Haggai 1:1-11

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Haggai 1:4

Adam Clarke on Haggai 1:4

John Gill on Haggai 1:4

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Haggai 1:2-4

Keil & Delitzsch on Haggai 1:3-4

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Haggai 1:4

Rashi on Haggai 1:4