Haggai 1:10

10 For this thing heavens be forbidden, that they should not give dew on you; and the earth is forbidden, that it should not give his burgeoning. (And so because of this, the heavens be forbidden, so that they shall not give you any of their dew; and the earth is forbidden, so that it shall not give you any of its produce.)

Haggai 1:10 Meaning and Commentary

Haggai 1:10

Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew
Or, "therefore over", or "upon you" ^F1; where should be a stop; that is, because, of your neglect of the house of God; therefore upon you, and upon you only, and not upon other nations, the heaven is restrained from letting down the dew: or, "therefore I am against you" ^F2; for the above reason, and which the following things show; and sad it is to have God to be an enemy, and against a people! or, "for your sake"; so the Syriac version, to which sense is the Targum,

``therefore for your sins;''

and so Jarchi, "the heaven is stayed from dew"; none descends from it; the Lord, who has the ordering of it, will not suffer it: to have the dew fall upon the earth in the night season is a great blessing; it makes the earth fruitful, revives the corn, plants, and herbs, and causes them to flourish and increase; and to have it restrained is a judgment: and the earth is stayed [from] her fruit;
from bringing forth its increase, which is the consequence of the dew being withheld.

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 (Mkyle Nk-le) "propterea super vos", Varenius, Reinbeck, Burkius.
F2 "Idcirco contra vos", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Haggai 1:10 In-Context

8 Go ye up into the mountain, bear ye trees, and build ye an house; and it shall be acceptable to me, and I shall be glorified, saith the Lord. (Then, go ye up the mountain, carry ye back some wood, and build ye a House for me; and it shall be acceptable to me, and I shall be glorified, saith the Lord.)

9 Ye beheld to more, and lo! it is made less; and ye brought into the house, and I blew it out. For what cause, saith the Lord of hosts? for mine house is desert(ed), and ye hasten each man into his house. (For ye looked for more, and lo! it is made less; and ye brought the harvest back home, and I blew it out. For what reason, or why, saith the Lord of hosts? because my House lieth in ruins, while each person hasteneth into his own house.)

10 For this thing heavens be forbidden, that they should not give dew on you; and the earth is forbidden, that it should not give his burgeoning. (And so because of this, the heavens be forbidden, so that they shall not give you any of their dew; and the earth is forbidden, so that it shall not give you any of its produce.)

11 And I called dryness on earth, and on mountains, and on wheat, and on wine, and on oil, and whatever things the earth bringeth forth; and on men, and on beasts, and on all labour of hands. (And I have called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the wine, and upon the oil, and upon whatever things the earth bringeth forth; and upon the people, and upon the beasts, and upon all the products of their labour.)

12 And Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua, the great priest, the son of Josedech, and all remnants of the people, heard the voice of their God, and the words of Haggai, the prophet, as the Lord God of them sent him to them; and all the people dreaded of the face of the Lord. (And Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua, the son of Josedech, the High Priest, and all the remnants of the people, heard the voice of their God, and the words of the prophet Haggai, for the Lord their God had sent him to them; and all the people had fear before the Lord.)