Haggai 2:2-4 New English Translation
2 “Ask the following questions to[a] Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak,[b] and the remnant of the people: 3 ‘Who among you survivors saw the former splendor of this temple?[c] How does it look to you now? Isn’t it nothing by comparison?’ 4 Even so, take heart, Zerubbabel,” decrees the Lord. “Take heart, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. And take heart all you citizens of the land,”[d] decrees the Lord, “and begin to work. For I am with you,” decrees the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
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- Haggai 2:2 tn Heb “say to”; NAB “Tell this to.”
- Haggai 2:2 tn Many English versions have “Joshua (the) son of Jehozadak the high priest,” but this is subject to misunderstanding. See the note on the name “Jehozadak” at the end of v. 1.
- Haggai 2:3 tn Heb “this house in its earlier splendor”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “in its former glory.”sn Solomon’s temple was demolished in 586 b.c., 66 years prior to Haggai’s time. There surely would have been some older people who remembered the former splendor of that magnificent structure and who lamented the contrast to the small, unimpressive temple they were building (see Ezra 3:8-13).
- Haggai 2:4 tn Heb “the people of the land” (עַם הָאָרֶץ, ʿam haʾarets); this is a technical term referring to free citizens as opposed to slaves.
New English Translation (NET)
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