Haggai 2:11
in Haggai 2“This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Ask the priests for a ruling.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying,
KJV
Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying,
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This verse in Haggai 2
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Ask now the priests concerning the law - The priests answer rightly, that, by the law, insulated unholiness spread further than insulated holiness. The flesh of the sacrifice hallowed whatever it should touch, but not further; but the human being, who was defiled by touching a dead body, defiled all he might touch Num 19:22. Haggai does not apply the first part; namely, that the worship on the altar which they reared, while they neglected the building of the temple, did not hallow. The possession of a truly tiring does not counterbalance disobedience.
This site's exposition
In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month
on Haggai 2:10-14
A third oracle, three months later, comes as a case put to the priests as the law's own experts: does holy flesh carried in a garment's skirt make bread or wine holy by touching it, and the priests answer no, holiness does not transfer by contact through an intermediary. Does a person unclean by touching a corpse make food unclean by touching it, and the priests answer yes, uncleanness does transfer that way. Haggai draws the ruling onto the nation itself, so is this people, and so is this nation before me, and so is every work of their hands, and that which they offer there is unclean: the people's own defilement, the bench reads, had been spreading to their offerings all along, even the offerings brought toward the unfinished house, and no amount of resumed labor could cleanse by contact what needed its own repentance.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 11 and following). On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius ((Vulg. adds King)), the word of the Lord came to the prophet Haggai, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts; ask the priests concerning the law, saying: If a man carries holy flesh in the fold of his garment, and touches bread, or stew, or wine, or oil, or any kind of food, shall it become holy?
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Perhaps Haggai was therefore ordered to consult the priests, that out of their own mouths he might judge both them and the people committed to their charge, and convict them of worse than ceremonial pollution. Now the rules of the law, in the cases propounded, are, (1.) That he that has holy flesh in his clothes cannot by the touch of his clothes communicate holiness (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Thus saith the Lord of hosts,....
In the third he assures Zerubbabel that, as a reward of his pious zeal and activity herein, he should be a favourite of Heaven, and one of the ancestors of Messiah the Prince, whose kingdom should be set up on the ruins of all opposing powers,
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Now ask the priests the Torah Perhaps in exile they forgot the laws of sanctified things, and of impurity and purity.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
contaminated flesh flesh of contamination of a carcass as a creeping thing.
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. 5 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
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כֹּ֥ה | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֖ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| צְבָא֑וֹת | tzevaot | of hosts | H6635 → | 485 times |
| שְׁאַל־ | sheal- | ask | H7592 → | |
| נָ֧א | na' | please | H4994 → | 404 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַכֹּהֲנִ֛ים | hakohanim | the priests | H3548 → | 750 times |
| תּוֹרָ֖ה | torah | instruction | H8451 → | |
| לֵאמֹֽר׃ | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
כֹּ֥הthus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַ֖רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
צְבָא֑וֹתof hosts
tzevaotH6635 →485 times
שְׁאַל־ask
sheal-H7592 →
נָ֧אplease
na'H4994 →404 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַכֹּהֲנִ֛יםthe priests
hakohanimH3548 →750 times
תּוֹרָ֖הinstruction
torahH8451 →
לֵאמֹֽר׃<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 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
Malachi 2:7For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the LORD of Hosts.
it leads to
- Leviticus 10:11
so that you may teach the Israelites all the statutes that the LORD has given them through Moses.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Timothy 2:24–25
And a servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome, but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, and forbearing.
- Deuteronomy 21:5
And the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for the LORD your God has chosen them to serve Him and pronounce blessings in His name and to give a ruling in every…
- Leviticus 10:11
Through
Titus 1:9He must hold firmly to the faithful word as it was taught, so that he can encourage others by sound teaching and refute those who contradict it.
it leads to
- 2 Thessalonians 2:15
Therefore, brothers, stand firm and cling to the traditions we taught you, whether by speech or by letter.
- 2 Timothy 1:13
Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching you have heard from me, with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
- 1 Timothy 6:3
If anyone teaches another doctrine and disagrees with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and with godly teaching,
- 1 Timothy 1:10
for the sexually immoral, for homosexuals, for slave traders and liars and perjurers, and for anyone else who is averse to sound teaching
- Revelation 3:11
I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:15
Where this verse is studied
About Haggai
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jerome, Commentary on Haggai; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.