Haggai 1:4

4 Whether it is time to you, that ye dwell in houses coupled with timber, and this house be desert(ed), either forsaken? (Is it right for you to live in houses built with timber, while this House, my Temple, is deserted, or abandoned/while this House of mine lieth in ruins?)

Haggai 1:4 Meaning and Commentary

Haggai 1:4

[Is it] time for you, O ye, to dwell in your panelled houses,
&c.] 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?" ^F15 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 superstructure not carried on, and much less built up to be fit for service; and therefore might be said with propriety to lie waste and desolate, being unfinished, unfit for use, and no regard had unto it. David was of another mind, ( 2 Samuel 7:2 ) and truly religious persons will be more concerned for the house of God than for their own houses.

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 (brx hzh tybhw) "et domus ista deserta manebit?" Drusius; "quum domus haec vasta est?" Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "dum domus haec desolata est?" Cocceius.

Haggai 1:4 In-Context

2 The Lord of hosts saith these things, and speaketh, This people saith, Yet cometh not the time of the house of the Lord to be builded. (The Lord of hosts speaketh these things, and saith, This people saith, The time hath not yet come for the House of the Lord, or the Temple, to be rebuilt.)

3 And the word of the Lord was made in the hand of Haggai, the prophet, and said, (And the word of the Lord was made by the prophet Haggai, who said,)

4 Whether it is time to you, that ye dwell in houses coupled with timber, and this house be desert(ed), either forsaken? (Is it right for you to live in houses built with timber, while this House, my Temple, is deserted, or abandoned/while this House of mine lieth in ruins?)

5 And now the Lord God of hosts saith these things, Put ye your hearts on your ways. (And now the Lord God of hosts saith these things, Think ye upon the ways of your lives.)

6 Ye have sown much, and brought in little; ye have eaten, and ye be not [ful]filled; ye have drunk, and ye be not full of drink; ye covered you, and ye be not made hot; and he that gathered hires sent those into a sack holed, either broken. (Ye have sown much, and brought in little; ye have eaten, and ye be not satisfied; ye have drunk, and ye be not full of drink; ye have clothed yourselves, and ye be not made hot; and he who gathered wages, or money, put them into a sack, or into a bag, with holes.)