Haggai 2:19

Hag 2:19 Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless [you].

Ver. 19. Is the seed yet in the barn?] Jerome rendereth it, in germine, in the sprouting, or spirting, as they call it, and so far enough from the harvest; and yet farther, if yet in the barn, and not put into the ground. Nevertheless, for your diligence in building God’s house, I assure you, in the word of truth, that you shall have a very great increase, a plentiful harvest.

From this day will I bless you] And it is the blessing of God that maketh rich, as is to be seen in the examples of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. Others, whose godliness was their gain, whose piety was profitable to all things, as having the promises of both lives, 1Ti 4:8. Now all that are of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham, Gal 3:9, are heirs of the world with him, Rom 4:13, and so have right to all things in Christ, the heir of all things, 1Co 3:22 Heb 1:2; though these things on earth be detained from them for the present by those men of God’s hand, Psa 17:14, as Canaan was from Israel by the cursed Amorites, till their sins were full; yet they shall shortly have power over the nations, and (which is better) Christ will give them the morning star, Rev 2:28; Rev 22:16, that is, himself, and with himself a cornucopia of spiritual blessings, Eph 1:3. The Lord that made heaven and earth will bless them out of Zion, that is, with better blessings than heaven or earth afforded. We read not here of any other blessings but increase of corn, wine, oil, &c., because this people was wholly almost affixed to earthly things. The prophet could not speak wisdom among those that were perfect, 1Co 2:6. But better things were implied and assured to the godly, as appeareth by the ensuing oracle.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hag_2:19

From this day will I bless you.

The birthday of blessing

The cause of much ill success in life is often to be found in the want of zeal for Gods house. The temple was a type of that Church of which every individual believer is a living stone. From the day when the foundation of that temple is laid, the promise of the text is ours. When is the foundation day from which the blessing dates? In one sense it is from everlasting, for Gods people are, in purpose, part of the building from before all time. But the day of conversion is the day on which is laid--as far as our experience is concerned--the foundation of our salvation.

I. A specified day. This blessed day goes by different names in Scripture. A day of espousals: the day in which Jesus, our heavenly Bridegroom, wins the heart of His bride. A day of power. It is a mighty act to convert a sinner, infinitely beyond the power of man, and glorifying even to the omnipotence of God. The day of salvation. This name describes itself.

1. This day often has a cloudy dawning. The day of grace begins before there is actual light. Just before the light breaks in, the power of darkness makes its most desperate resistance.

2. The day has often a secret dawning. There are those who cannot say exactly when or how they were converted. Foolishly they fear they can never have been converted at all, as they are unable to say it was then, and it was there.

3. Sometimes this day has an early, and sometimes a long-delayed dawn. God has no fixed age at which to convert.

4. This day, like all others, has a silent dawn. It is seen, but not heard.

5. The dawning of this day, like the dawning of all other days, is irresistible. If it is the work of God, it must stand.

6. The dawn is but the commencement of the day. The morning is the noon in childhood; the noon is but the dawn fully developed.

II. A declared blessing. It includes all spiritual blessings; pardon, peace, etc. It rests on all our temporal affairs. It extends to all future things. (Archibald G. Brown.)

Promises to bless encouragements to work

1. Concerning the great Promiser, the following considerations are interesting.

(1) He is Jehovah.

(2) The Promiser is the God of the people to whom the promises are made.

(3) The Promiser is strong and faithful round about.

(4) The Promiser is Lord of elements and seasons.

2. Concerning the good things which the Lord our God promises. Comprehended in the term, bless. Includes--

(1) The removal of material evils.

(2) Means of fertility and plenty.

(3) A blessing with the means.

(4) A blessing upon the possession and use of those good things which the Lord produces by the means.

3. The people whom the Lord promiseth to bless.

(1) They were His own people.

(2) A people for whom the Promiser had lately done great things.

(3) A people who had been negligent and slothful in the work which the authority of the Promiser required, and gratitude to their Redeemer bound them to perform.

(4) A people whose negligence had been chastised.

(5) A people who were now learning to do well.

4.The day on which the Lord promiseth to bless His people.

(1) A specified day.

(2) The day on which they turned to the Lord, and began to build.

(3) The day on which the promise began to be performed.

Learn--

1. For the good things of this life the people of God have His covenant and promises.

2. Operations of material power are operations of God.

3. The zeal of the Lord of hosts hath done ,great things for the house of His name.

4. Building the house of the Lord is connected with blessing. (A. Shanks.)

The benediction of Haggai

These are the words of Haggai, whom the Lord raised up in his old age for the purpose of calling His people from the sin of religious indifference to the earnest performance of duty. As Gods prophet, it was his duty to expostulate, to trace the connection between sinful neglect and its effects, to picture in dark but true colours the woes of the people, but also to pronounce the promise of benediction and peace.

I. The promise asserts that in God and from God is the blessedness of his people.

1. There is nothing we can satisfactorily substitute for the blessing of God.

2. If we have it we need fear no evil from any other source.

II. The promise directly refers to temporal blessing, but includes spiritual. The picture presented is descriptive of the peoples estate. We ought to connect the goodness and love of God with all the material blessedness of life, as well as with the higher spiritual side of it. There is no department of life from which God need be shut out. But the promise certainly includes the higher blessings belonging to spiritual life and development.

III. The promise is given as the result of obedience, the sincerity of which practical proof has been supplied. We must not try to drive a bargain with God. The service our Lord wants is the service of faith and love. Let that be rendered and the blessing may tarry, but come it will, and just because it has tarried it may be all the richer and better.

IV. The promise is fixed and continuous. From this day. That is definite enough. The benediction had been stored up--now it was to fall like the refreshing ram over all the land. And the blessing is to be continuous. To-day, and every succeeding day, I will bless you. The premiss is most reliable. From the words of the promise we look to Him who made it. He is able to fulfil it. (Adam Scott.)

The day of dedication to God is the day of blessing

I. The promise--blessing. This blessing of the Lord conveys a promise that He would not only withdraw the evils under which they suffered, and send fertility and plenty, but also pour down on them the Spirit of His grace. Esau was blessed with outward prosperity. Jacob had the full blessing, spiritual and temporal. He whom God blesses is blessed here and hereafter in body and in soul.

II. The time of it--from this day; that is, from the day the foundation of the temple was laid. On this the prophet lays great stress. Who has not noticed a turn of providence in favour of those who have returned into the way of duty; and that, from that very day, God has blessed them? Indeed, this is aa unchangeable law in Gods government of the world.

III. The reason of this promise of the Lord. It seems that the people busied themselves with their own temporal affairs, purposing to build the temple when they could better afford it. God frustrated their selfish policy, by sending blasting and mildew in their fields, and causing their money to waste away insensibly, as though it had been put into a bag with holes. But when they reversed their mode of proceeding, from that very day God blessed them. God ordinarily proceeds to deal with men as they deal with Him. They who freely offer to Him their goods to carry on His work are blessed by Him with increase.

IV. This temple at Jerusalem was typical of the Church of Christ, of which He is the foundation and the superstructure. In this spiritual house we are all more immediately interested than in the building of the material temple. As Christians, we are all members of this spiritual building. Are we building on Christ, the only foundation? (Alfred Jones, T. A.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2:19 I am giving you a promise now while the seed is still in the barn: The promise of a bountiful crop calls attention to God’s faithfulness to his covenant people. The Temple was not yet complete, but God was promising to extend its blessings at once. • But from this day onward I will bless you: God was gracious in responding immediately to his people’s efforts toward spiritual renewal and obedience (see Ps 111:4-5).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

From the time they began to build the Temple, he promiseth that God would bless them: and albeit as yet the fruit was not come forth, yet in the gathering they should have plenty.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Is the seed yet in the barn?--implying, It is not. It has been already sown this month, and there are no more signs of its bearing a good crop, much less of its being safely stored in the barn, than there were in the past season, when there was such a failure; yet I promise to you from this day (emphatically marking by the repetition the connection of the blessing with the day of their obedience) a blessing in an abundant harvest. So also the vine, &c., which heretofore have borne little or nothing, shall be blessed with productiveness. Thus it will be made evident that the blessing is due to Me, not to nature. We may trust God's promise to bless us, though we see no visible sign of its fulfilment (Hab 2:3).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(19) Is the seed yet in the barn?—i.e., There is no grain as yet in the barn, the harvest having been blighted in the last season. The term rendered in the Authorised Version “seed” does not imply grain for sowing, but grain for provision. The fruit harvest was as defective as that of cereals, having been cut off by the hail. (See Hag_2:17.) The prospect was thus one of deepest gloom. But human helplessness is God’s opportunity. He pledges His word even at this crisis by the mouth of Haggai, “From this day I will bless.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

19. Is the seed yet in the barn?] i.e. Is it any longer in the barn? Is it not all exhausted and used up? The meagre yield of the blighted corn was soon consumed and the granary left empty. Some have thought that by “the seed” is here meant what would be required to sow the land for another year, and that the dearth and distress are heightened by the fact that there is not even corn enough left to sow. But as the word is frequently used, not of seed corn, but of produce (e.g. 1Sa_8:15; Isa_23:3; Job_39:12), and as the remainder of the verse refers to produce, it is better taken in that sense here.

yea, as yet] There is no reason to depart from the usual meaning of the Hebrew word here rendered “as yet,” viz. “unto,” or “as regards,” “And unto or as regards (extending our notice from the corn to) the vine, etc. it (i.e. each one of these trees) hath not brought forth (fruit).” It would then best accord with the English idiom to leave the word untranslated, as in R. V. The rendering of A. V. is however thought by some to be supported by Job_1:18; 1Sa_14:19.

from this day will I bless you] It might be asked, why not from the day three months earlier than this (ch. Hag_1:14-15), when they first resumed the building of the temple? It has been suggested in explanation that up to this time, though they had indeed begun again to build, they had been slack and remiss in their efforts, but that from this day, instigated by this fresh appeal of Haggai, they had taken a new departure of zeal and earnestness, and that consequently from this day the blessing was to begin. But there is no proof whatever that this was so, and it is therefore better to suppose that up to this day the effects of the failure of the last harvest were still apparent, and no outward change had yet taken place in their prospects. “He would then say, that even in these last months, since they had begun the work, there were as yet no signs for the better. There was yet no seed in the barn, the harvest having been blighted, and the fruit-trees stripped by the hail before the close of the sixth month, when they resumed the work. Yet though there were as yet no signs of change, no earnest that the promise should be fulfilled, God pledges His word, from this day I will bless you.” Pusey.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And again the word of the Lord came unto Haggai,.... Or a "second" (s) time, even on the same day as the former:

in the four and twentieth day of the month; of the ninth month Chisleu, Hag 2:10,

saying; as follows:

(s) "secundo", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius; "secunda vice", Burkius.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Your seed for the next harvest is yet in your barns, unsown, and no one can make any conjecture yet, whether next year’s increase shall be great and blessed, or whether it shall be blasted and little; I do not speak, saith Haggai, on conjecture, but in the name of the Lord foretell and promise you, that it shall be a plentiful harvest to you. Nor have your fruit trees yet put forth, no sign yet appears what vintage you shall have, what store of wine, oil, figs, and pomegranates, which are your choice and rich fruits; but in the word of God I tell you, you shall be blessed in them all, and have a large produce, a joyful vintage.

From this day: see Hag 2:10,15.

I will bless you, in all your labour; as before you were blasted in all because you neglected, so now you shall be blessed in all because you diligently build, the temple of the Lord.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Is the seed yet in the barn? Is there any of your poor crop still left in your granaries? Is it not already expended? "The seed" is here the produce of the seed, the grain (1Sa_8:15; Job_39:12) The corn crop is mentioned first, then the fruit harvest. The Vulgate has, Numquid jam semen in germine est? Has the seed begun to grow? Is there any sign of abundance? Yet the harvest shall be prolific. But there is no doubt that megurah means "barn," not "sprout." LXX, Eij ejpignwsqhsetai ejpi thv alw, "If it shall be known upon the threshing floor." Jerome must have read ghv for thv, as he renders, "Si ultra cognoscetur super terram area." He expounds it thus: So abundant shall be the produce that the threshing floor shall not recognize its own corn. or that the threshers shall be forced to join floor to floor to make room for all the grain, "et arearnm separatio nesciatur in terra" Yea, as yet; kai eij eti (Septuagint); et adhuc (Vulgate); as Jud_1:3:26; Job_1:18. Otherstranslate, "as regards." Though there was no sign of leaf or fruit on the trees, nothing by which one could judge of the future produce, yet the prophet predicts an abundant crop, dating from the people"s obedience. (Lev_26:3, etc.; Deu_28:2, etc.) From this day will I bless you. "This day" is the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month (ver. 10). From now the improvement in the season should begin and make itself evident. "Bless" is a term often used for sending fruitful seasons. (Deu_28:8; Mal_3:10)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Is the seed - Your seed for the next harvest is yet in your barns. Hath not brought forth - No sign yet appears what vintage you shall have, what store of wine, oil, figs, and pomegranates. Yet in the word of God I tell you, you shall be blest in them all, and have a large produce.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The seed is still in the granary You have not yet sown this year, and the trees have not yet ripened their fruits. From now on you shall sow at a time of blessing, for the building of the Temple will bring blessing into the work of your hands.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.