Haggai 2:19 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Haggai 2:19
Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you.
seed · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
barn
בַּמְּגוּרָ֔הba.me.gu.Rah
H4035
a fright · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
vine
הַגֶּ֨פֶןha.Ge.fen
H1612
a vine (as twining) · definite article + noun, common both genders singular absolute
tree
וְהַתְּאֵנָ֧הve.ha.te.'e.Nah
H8384
the fig (tree or fruit) · conjunction + definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
pomegranate
וְהָרִמּ֛וֹןve.ha.ri.Mon
H7416
a pomegranate · conjunction + definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
olive
הַזַּ֖יִתha.Za.yit
H2132
an olive (as yielding illuminating oil) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
tree
וְעֵ֥ץve.'Etz
H6086
a tree (from its firmness) · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct
forth
נָשָׂ֑אna.Sa'
H5375
to lift · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
day
הַיּ֥וֹםhai.Yom
H3117
a day (as the warm hours) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
bless
אֲבָרֵֽךְ'a.va.Rekh
H1288
to kneel · verb, piel imperfect, 1st person common singular
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
Malachi 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I…
Habakkuk 3:17-18 Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield…
Proverbs 3:9-10 Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:
Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Genesis 26:12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him.
Zechariah 8:11-15 But now I will not be unto the residue of this people as in the former days, saith the LORD of hosts.
Deuteronomy 15:10 Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God sha…
Psalms 84:12 O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Haggai 2:10-19
This sermon was preached two months after that in the former part of the chapter. The priests and Levites preached constantly, but the prophets preached occasionally; both were good and needful. We have need to be taught our duty in season and out of season. The people were now going on vigorously with the building of the temple, and in hopes shortly to have it ready for their use and to be employed in the services of it; and now God sends them a message by his prophet, which would be of use to them.
I. By way of conviction and caution. They were now engaged in a very good work, but they were concerned to see to it, not only that it was good for the matter of it, but that it was done in a ri…
Is the seed yet in the barn?--implying, It is not. It has been already sown this month, and there are no more signs of its bearing a good crop, much less of its being safely stored in the barn, than there were in the past season, when there was such a failure; yet I promise to you from this day (emphatically marking by the repetition the connection of the blessing with the day of their obedience) a blessing in an abundant harvest. So also the vine, &c., which heretofore have borne little or nothing, shall be blessed with productiveness. Thus it will be made evident that the blessing is due to Me, not to nature. We may trust God's promise to bless us, though we see no visible sign of its fulf…
Consider now from this day - I will now change my conduct towards you: from, this day that ye have begun heartily to rebuild my temple, and restore my worship, I will bless you. Whatever you sow, whatever you plant, shall be blessed; your land shall be fruitful, and ye shall have abundant crops of all sorts.
John Gill on Haggai 2:19
Is the seed yet in the barn?.... The seed for sowing the land, in order for the next harvest: this is by some answered in the affirmative, it was in the barn, it was not yet sown; this being the ninth month, the month Chisleu, which answers to part of our November; rather it should be in the negative, no, it was just sown; and therefore no conjecture could be made, whether it would be a good harvest, or not; yet the prophet, in the name of the Lord, promises them a good one so long before hand: for the month Chisleu, which was the ninth month, was the last for sowing, and even the first half of that; for so say (r) the Jews,
"half Tisri, all Marchesvan, and half Chisleu, is seed time;''
so…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 19, 20.) Set your hearts from this day forward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from the day on which the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid, set it on your hearts. Is the seed still in the barn? And yet the fig tree, the vine, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yielded fruit. From this day on I will bless you. LXX: Set your hearts from this day forward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from the day on which the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid, set it in your hearts: If more shall be known upon the earth, and if yet the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive trees do not bear fruit? So I will bless you from this day. I have told you what you have endured before you began to build my temple: now I will explain what prosperous things will come to you, because you have begun to build my temple. Therefore, on the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, when the foundations of the temple were laid, consider the abundance of things that will come. The ninth month is what we call November or December. For the Hebrews, Nisan is the first month, which is called the month of new things: at the time when they celebrate Passover, that is, at the beginning of spring, which often falls in March and sometimes begins in April. Therefore, if we understand Nisan to mean April, the ninth month according to the Hebrews will be December. Therefore, the tenth month (also known as December) is the time when seeds lie hidden in the earth and their future fertility cannot be predicted. Is the seed already in the bud, as is better expressed in Hebrew as 'in the pod', to signify the husk of grain? Have the vine, fig tree, pomegranate, and olive tree given forth their blossoms? So it is not to be understood from the flowers and fruits. Indeed not; for in the month of December, as we have said, there are no signs of future crops. Therefore, do not say that I deduce this by prudent reasoning and speculate about the future fertility of trees, herbs, and crops from the flowers; behold, there are no signs; and yet I tell you that because you have started building my temple, for the blessing of all crops' fertility. This is what we have said according to the Hebrew. Moreover, according to the Septuagint, there is a very different meaning, which we must first explain literally, so that later the order of tropology can be…
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
Barn — A storehouse (Deut. 28:8; Job 39:12; Hag. 2:19) for grain, which was usually under ground, although also sometimes above ground (Luke 12:18).
Barn · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Fig Tree, The · The Jews punished by: Failure of fruit on — The Jews punished by: Failure of fruit on
Liberality · 1:2-4; — 1:2-4;
Pomegranate Tree, The · God’s favour exhibited, in making fruitful — God’s favour exhibited, in making fruitful
Temple, The Second · The Jews encouraged to proceed in building — The Jews encouraged to proceed in building
Vine, The · Frequently made unfruitful as a punishment — Frequently made unfruitful as a punishment
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 2:15-19
15. And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the LORD:
15. Et nunc ponite quaeso (vel, agedum) super cor vestrum a die hac et supra, antequam poneretur lapis super lapidem in templo Iehovae:
16. Since those days were, when one came to an heap of twenty measures, there were but ten: when one came to the pressfat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty.
16. Ante haec quum veniret quis ad acervum viginti, fuit decem; quum veniret ad torcular ut hauriret quinquaginta e torculari, fuit summa viginti.
17. I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the lab…
After this appeal to lay to heart the past time during which the blessing had been withheld, Haggai called upon the people in Hag 2:18 and Hag 2:19 to fix their eyes upon the time which was commencing with that very day. Hag 2:18. "Direct your heart, then, from this day and onward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth (month); namely, from the day when the foundation of the temple of Jehovah was laid, direct your heart. Hag 2:19. Is the seed still in the granary? and even to the vine, and pomegranate, and olive-tree, it has not borne: from this day forward will I bless." The twenty-fourth day of the ninth month was the day on which Haggai uttered this word of God (Hag 2:10). Hence ומ…
I am giving you a promise now while the seed is still in the barn: The promise of a bountiful crop calls attention to God’s faithfulness to his covenant people. The Temple was not yet complete, but God was promising to extend its blessings at once. • But from this day onward I will bless you: God was gracious in responding immediately to his people’s efforts toward spiritual renewal and obedience (see Ps 111:4-5).
Rashi on Haggai 2:19
The seed is still in the granary You have not yet sown this year, and the trees have not yet ripened their fruits. From now on you shall sow at a time of blessing, for the building of the Temple will bring blessing into the work of your hands.
