Haggai 2:18-20
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
18 Reflect from this day forward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month.[a] From the day on which the temple of the Lord was founded, reflect!
19 Is there still seed in the storehouse?
Have the vine, the fig, the pomegranate,
and the olive tree still not borne fruit?
From this day, I will bless you.[b]
Future Hope.[c] 20 The word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month:[d]
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- 2:18 Twenty-fourth day of the ninth month: December 18, 520 B.C., the date of the refounding of the Temple (vv. 10, 20), the central date in Haggai.
- 2:19 I will bless you: from the day of the refounding of the Temple, agricultural plenty and fertility are assured. This link between temple and prosperity is part of the ancient Near Eastern temple ideology that underlies Haggai and Zec 1–8.
- 2:20–23 This final oracle of hope is uttered on the day of the refounding of the Temple. Unlike the other oracles it is addressed to Zerubbabel alone, who, as a Davidic descendant, will have a servant role in God’s future Israelite kingdom to be established when God intervenes to overthrow the nations.
- 2:20 Twenty-fourth day of the month: December 18, 520 B.C. (as in v. 18).
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