Haggai 2:17

17 I struck you-all the work of your hands-with blight, mildew,^[a] and hail,^[b] but you didn't turn to Me"-the Lord's declaration.

Haggai 2:17 Meaning and Commentary

Haggai 2:17

I smote you with blasting
That is, their fields and vineyards, with burning winds, which consumed them; with blights by east winds: this shows the reason of their disappointment, and that it was from the Lord, and for their sins, by way of chastisement and correction: and with mildew;
a kind of clammy dew, which corrupts and destroys the fruits of the earth; and is a kind of jaundice to them, as the word signifies; see ( Amos 4:9 ) : and with hail;
which battered down the corn and the vines, and broke them to pieces; see ( Exodus 9:25 ) : in all the labours of your hands;
in the corn they sowed, and in the vines they planted: yet ye [turned] not to me, saith the Lord;
did not consider their evil ways as the cause of all this; nor repent of them, and turn from them to the Lord; to his worship, as the Targum; or to the building of his house, the thing chiefly complained of. Afflictions, unless sanctified, have no effect upon men to turn them from their sins to the Lord.

Haggai 2:17 In-Context

15 "Now, reflect back from this day: Before one stone was placed on another in the Lord's temple,

16 what state were you in? When someone came to a [grain] heap of 20 measures, it [only] amounted to 10; when one came to the winepress to dip 50 measures from the vat, it [only] amounted to 20.

17 I struck you-all the work of your hands-with blight, mildew, and hail, but you didn't turn to Me"-the Lord's declaration.

18 "Consider carefully from this day forward; from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from the day the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid; consider it carefully.

19 Is there still seed left in the granary? The vine, the fig, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yet produced. But from this day on I will bless you."

Footnotes

• [a]. Dt 28:22; 1 Kg 8:37; Am 4:9
• [b]. Ps 105:32-33