Haggai 1:9
in Haggai 1You expected much, but behold, it amounted to little. And what you brought home, I blew away. Why? declares the LORD of Hosts. Because My house still lies in ruins, while each of you is busy with his own house.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith Jehovah of hosts. Because of my house that lieth waste, while ye run every man to his own house.
KJV
Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.
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This verse in Haggai 1
Commentary
12 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Ye looked - , literally “a looking;” as though he said, it has all been one looking, “for much,” for increase, the result of all sowing, in the way of nature: “and behold it came to little,” i. e., less than was sown; as Isaiah denounced to them of old by God’s word, Isa 5:10. “the seed of a homer shall yield an ephah,” i. e., one tenth of what was sown. “And ye brought it home, and I blew upon it,” so as to disperse it, as, not the wheat, but the chaff is blown before the wind.
This site's exposition
Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways
on Haggai 1:7-9
Consider your ways repeats a second time, now paired with the remedy: go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house, and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord. Wood from the local hills answers the same request Cyrus's decree had already authorized (Ezra 3:7), so the obstacle was never supply but will. Verse 9 names the cause behind the drought of verses 6 and 10 directly: ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little, and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it, because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house, the Lord himself identifying the withheld blessing as discipline rather than accident.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
Now the God of all made these threats on account of the neglect of the divine house, though not for any need of it: the Maker of all things has no need even of heaven, creating everything out of lovingkindness alone. Rather, it was in …
(Verse 9.) You looked for more, and behold, there was less: and you brought it into the house, and I blew it away: You looked for many things, and they became few: and you brought them into the house, and I blew them away.
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 Awakening2 voices
They were sensible of the smart of the judgment, and every one complained of the unseasonable weather, the great losses they sustained in their corn and cattle, and the decay of trade; but they were not sensible of the cause of the judgment, and the ground of God's controversy with them.
Observe wherefore God thus contended with them, and stopped the current of the favours promised them at their return ( Joel ii. 24 ); they provoked him to do it: It is because of my house that is waste. This is the quarrel God has with them.
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Isa. v. 10 , The seed of a homer shall yield an ephah, a bushel's sowing shall yield a peck. Note, Our expectations from the creature are often most frustrated when they are most raised; and then, when we look for much, it comes to little, that our expectation may be from God only, in whom it will be outdone. We are here told how they came to be disappointed (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little,....
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,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Ye looked for much--literally, "looked" so as to turn your eyes "to much." The Hebrew infinitive here expresses continued looking. Ye hoped to have your store made "much" by neglecting the temple.
Ye looked for much - Ye made great pretensions at first; but they are come to nothing. Ye did a little in the beginning; but so scantily and unwillingly that I could not but reject it. Ye run every man unto his own house - To rebuild and adorn it; and God’s house is neglected!
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.
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
23 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| פָּנֹ֤ה | panoh | you turned to look | H6437 → | |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַרְבֵּה֙ | harbeh | much | H7235 → | |
| וְהִנֵּ֣ה | vehineh | and there! | H2009 → | |
| לִמְעָ֔ט | limat | <into> little | H4592 → | 101 times |
| וַהֲבֵאתֶ֥ם | vahavetem | and you brought [it] | H935 → | 2568 times |
| הַבַּ֖יִת | habayit | the house | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| וְנָפַ֣חְתִּי | venafachti | and I blew | H5301 → | |
| ב֑וֹ | vo | on it | ||
| יַ֣עַן | yaan | because of | H3282 → | |
| מֶ֗ה | meh | what? | H4100 → | |
| נְאֻם֙ | neum | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| צְבָא֔וֹת | tzevaot | of hosts | H6635 → | 485 times |
| יַ֗עַן | yaan | because of | H3282 → | |
| בֵּיתִי֙ | beiti | house my | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| ה֣וּא | hu' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| חָרֵ֔ב | charev | [is] desolate | H2720 → | |
| וְאַתֶּ֥ם | veatem | and you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| רָצִ֖ים | ratzim | [are] running | H7323 → | |
| אִ֥ישׁ | ʾish | each | H376 → | 1663 times |
| לְבֵיתֽוֹ׃ | leveito | to own house his | H1004 → | 2046 times |
פָּנֹ֤הyou turned to look
panohH6437 →
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַרְבֵּה֙much
harbehH7235 →
וְהִנֵּ֣הand there!
vehinehH2009 →
לִמְעָ֔ט<into> little
limatH4592 →101 times
וַהֲבֵאתֶ֥םand you brought [it]
vahavetemH935 →2568 times
הַבַּ֖יִתthe house
habayitH1004 →2046 times
וְנָפַ֣חְתִּיand I blew
venafachtiH5301 →
ב֑וֹon it
vo
יַ֣עַןbecause of
yaanH3282 →
מֶ֗הwhat?
mehH4100 →
נְאֻם֙[the] utterance of
neumH5002 →376 times
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
צְבָא֔וֹתof hosts
tzevaotH6635 →485 times
יַ֗עַןbecause of
yaanH3282 →
בֵּיתִי֙house my
beitiH1004 →2046 times
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
ה֣וּאit
hu'H1931 →1879 times
חָרֵ֔ב[is] desolate
charevH2720 →
וְאַתֶּ֥םand you
veatemH859 →1094 times
רָצִ֖ים[are] running
ratzimH7323 →
אִ֥ישׁeach
ʾishH376 →1663 times
לְבֵיתֽוֹ׃to own house his
leveitoH1004 →2046 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Revelation 3:19Those I love, I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent.
it leads to
- Proverbs 3:11–12
My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD, and do not loathe His rebuke;
- 1 Corinthians 11:32
But when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.
- Hebrews 12:5–11
And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not take lightly the discipline of the Lord, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you.
- Job 5:17
Blessed indeed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
- Revelation 2:5
Therefore, keep in mind how far you have fallen. Repent and perform the deeds you did at first. But if you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from…
- Proverbs 3:11–12
Through
Haggai 1:6You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but never get warm. You earn wages to put into…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 28:38–40
You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little, because the locusts will consume it.
- Hosea 4:10
They will eat but not be satisfied; they will be promiscuous but not multiply. For they have stopped obeying the LORD.
- Deuteronomy 28:38–40
Through
Haggai 1:4“Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?”
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 7:2
he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.”
- 2 Samuel 7:2
Where this verse is studied
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About Haggai
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Haggai; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theodore of Mopsuestia, COMMENTARY ON HAGGAI 1:9-11 and Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON HAGGAI 1:9-13.