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Haggai 1:11

in Haggai 1

I have summoned a drought on the fields and on the mountains, on the grain, new wine, and oil, and on whatever the ground yields, on man and beast, and on all the labor of your hands.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the grain, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labor of the hands.

KJV

And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.

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This verse in Haggai 1

Commentary

9 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Haggai · Written before 420.

(Verse 11.) And I called upon drought upon the earth, and upon the mountains, and upon the wheat, and upon the wine, and upon the oil, and upon whatever the earth brings forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon every labor of the hands. For drought, the Seventy translated as 'gladius', that is, sword: but I also found it written in Hebrew with three letters (), Heth, Res, Beth, which if we read as Hareb, it means sword; if Oreb, it means burning, which we have translated as drought, although it could be better translated as scorching wind.

This site's exposition

the heaven over you is stayed

on Haggai 1:10-11

The drought is total, heaven withholding dew and earth withholding fruit, and the Lord's own drought called down on the land, the mountains, the corn, the new wine, the oil, the ground's yield, men, cattle, and all the labor of the hands. Keil reads the sweep of the list, every category of agrarian life named in turn, as the covenant curses of Deuteronomy 28 arriving on schedule, the very mechanism the law had warned would follow neglect of the Lord's house and worship. The drought is not random hardship but a covenant lawsuit made visible in weather and harvest.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers2 voices

A commentator

Jerome

COMMENTARY ON HAGGAI 1:11 · Written before 420.

It is called and introduced living speech of God, and effective, and sharp above every two-edged sword (Heb. IV), so that the neglectful soul (which is interpreted as a dry land, and desires to dwell more in hollows than to build the house of God) may be struck by its blade, and whatever fruits it thinks it has, may be scattered. The sword is also brought against the mountains that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God, and against the wheat, and wine, and oil, with which they deceive the people who have been deceived by the assemblies of heretics...

A commentator

Theodore of Mopsuestia

COMMENTARY ON HAGGAI 1:9-11 · Written before 428.

proposed

He intends by this to remind them of what they have suffered by neglecting the temple. When you overlooked my house lying in ruins and took an interest in rebuilding your own houses, he is saying, then the rain stopped, the land did not yield …

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

This drought God called for, and it came at the call; as the winds and the waves, so the rays of the sun, obey him. It was universal, and the ill effects of it were general; it was a drought upon the mountains, which, lying high, were first affected with it. The mountains were their pasture-grounds, and used to be covered over with flocks, but now there was no grass for them.
And I called for a drought upon the land,.... Upon the whole land of Judea; as he withheld the dew and rain from falling on it to moisten it, refresh it, and make it fruitful; so he ordered a vehement heat to dry and parch it; and directed the rays of the sun to strike with great force upon it, and cause the fruits of it to wither; and which is done by a word of his; when he calls, every creature obeys.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

The good success of this sermon, appearing in the people's return and close application to that work, wherein the prophet, in God's name, animated and encouraged them, assuring them that God was with them,
2 more voices on this verse

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

And I called for a drought upon the land - God called to the people and they would not hear. It is His ever-repeated complaint to them. “I called unto you, and ye would not hear.” He called to His inanimate creatures to punish them, and “they” obeyed. So Elisha tells the woman, whose son he had restored to life, 2Ki 8:1. “The Lord hath called to the famine, and it shall also come to the land seven years.” And upon men, - in that the drought was oppressive to man.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

He "calls for" famine, &c., as instruments of His wrath (2Ki 8:1; The contrast is striking between the prompt obedience of these material agencies, and the slothful disobedience of living men, His people. drought--Hebrew, Choreb, like in sound to Chareeb, "waste" (Hag 1:4, 9), said of God's house; implying the correspondence between the sin and its punishment.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

because of you the heavens have kept back Because of your sins.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Haggai 1:10:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

24 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וָאֶקְרָ֨אand I have summoned

    vaekra'H7121 →

  • חֹ֜רֶבa drought

    chorevH2721 →

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • הָאָ֣רֶץthe land

    haaretzH776 →2504 times

  • וְעַל־and on

    veal-H5921 →5755 times

  • הֶהָרִ֗יםthe mountains

    heharimH2022 →

  • וְעַל־and on

    veal-H5921 →5755 times

  • הַדָּגָן֙the grain

    hadaganH1715 →

  • וְעַל־and on

    veal-H5921 →5755 times

  • הַתִּיר֣וֹשׁthe new wine

    hatirooshH8492 →

  • וְעַל־and on

    veal-H5921 →5755 times

  • הַיִּצְהָ֔רthe fresh oil

    haiyitzharH3323 →

  • וְעַ֛לand on

    vealH5921 →5755 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֥ר[that] which

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • תּוֹצִ֖יאit will bring forth

    totzi'H3318 →

  • הָאֲדָמָ֑הthe ground

    haadamahH127 →

  • וְעַל־and on

    veal-H5921 →5755 times

  • הָֽאָדָם֙<the> humankind

    haadamH120 →

  • וְעַל־and on

    veal-H5921 →5755 times

  • הַבְּהֵמָ֔הthe livestock

    habehemahH929 →

  • וְעַ֖לand on

    vealH5921 →5755 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • יְגִ֥יעַ[the] toil of

    yegia'H3018 →

  • כַּפָּֽיִם׃ סhands

    kapayimH3709 →

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

13 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Jeremiah 3:3Therefore the showers have been withheld, and no spring rains have fallen. Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to be ashamed.7 worksHaggai 2:17I struck you—all the work of your hands—with blight, mildew, and hail, but you did not turn to Me, declares the LORD.6 works2 Kings 8:1Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Arise, you and your household; go and live as a foreigner wherever you can. For the LORD has decreed a seven-year famine, and it has already come to the land.”5 worksDeuteronomy 28:22The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, and with blight and mildew; these will pursue you until you perish.4 works1 Kings 17:1Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was among the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As surely as the LORD lives—the God of Israel before whom I stand—there will be neither dew nor rain in these years except at my word!”3 worksAmos 9:6He builds His upper rooms in the heavens and founds His vault upon the earth. He summons the waters of the sea and pours them over the face of the earth. The LORD is His name.2 works
The other 7 cross-references, with their words ▾
Job 34:29But when He remains silent, who can condemn Him? When He hides His face, who can see Him? Yet He watches over both man and nation,2 worksLamentations 1:21People have heard my groaning, but there is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that You have caused it. May You bring the day You have announced, so that they may become like me.2 worksAmos 7:4This is what the Lord GOD showed me: The Lord GOD was calling for judgment by fire. It consumed the great deep and devoured the land.2 worksAmos 5:8He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns darkness into dawn and darkens day into night, who summons the waters of the sea and pours them over the face of the earth—the LORD is His name—2 worksIsaiah 19:15There is nothing Egypt can do—head or tail, palm or reed.2 worksJoel 1:10The field is ruined; the land mourns. For the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, and the oil fails.2 worksJeremiah 8:13I will take away their harvest, declares the LORD. There will be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the tree, and even the leaf will wither. Whatever I have given them will be lost to them.”1 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    1 Kings 17:1

    Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was among the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As surely as the LORD lives—the God of Israel before whom I stand—there will be neither dew nor rain in…

    it leads to

    • Luke 4:25–26

      But I tell you truthfully that there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and great famine swept over all…

    • James 5:17

      Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.

    • Luke 1:17

      And he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to…

    • 1 Kings 22:14

      But Micaiah said, “As surely as the LORD lives, I will speak whatever the LORD tells me.”

    • 2 Kings 3:14

      Then Elisha said, “As surely as the LORD of Hosts lives, before whom I stand, were it not for my regard for the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at…

  • Through

    Deuteronomy 28:22

    The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, and with blight and mildew; these will pursue you until you perish.

    it leads to

    • 1 Kings 8:37

      When famine or plague comes upon the land, or blight or mildew or locusts or grasshoppers, or when their enemy besieges them in their cities, whatever plague or sickness may come,

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    Amos 9:6

    He builds His upper rooms in the heavens and founds His vault upon the earth. He summons the waters of the sea and pours them over the face of the earth. The LORD is…

    it leads to

    • Psalms 104:3

      laying the beams of His chambers in the waters above, making the clouds His chariot, walking on the wings of the wind.

    • Amos 5:8

      He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns darkness into dawn and darkens day into night, who summons the waters of the sea and pours them over the face of the earth—the LORD…

Where this verse is studied

About Haggai

The Rebuilding of the Temple Is Begun, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Rebuilding of the Temple Is Begun, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Haggai: the study guide →Read Haggai 1 →
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Haggai; Jerome, COMMENTARY ON HAGGAI 1:11; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theodore of Mopsuestia, COMMENTARY ON HAGGAI 1:9-11.

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