Haggai 1:6 Komentář

In this chapter, after the preamble of the prophecy, we have, I. A reproof of the people of the Jews for their dilatoriness and slothfulness in building the temple, which had provoked God to contend with them by the judgment of famine and scarcity, with an exhortation to them to resume that good work and to prosecute it in good earnest (Hag 1:1-11). II. 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 (Hag 1:12-15).

This chapter contains the first sermon of the Prophet Haggai to the people of the Jews, directed to Zerubbabel the governor, and Joshua the high priest; the date of which is fixed, Hag 1:1. It begins with a charge against that people; saying the time to build the house of the Lord was not come, Hag 1:2 which is refuted by the prophet; arguing, that, if the time to panel their dwelling houses was come, then much more the time to build the Lord's house, Hag 1:3. They are urged to consider how unsuccessful they had been in their civil employments and labours, which was owing to their neglect of building the temple; wherefore, if they consulted their own good, and the glory of God, the best way was to set about it in all haste, and with diligence, Hag 1:5 yea, even the famine, which they had been afflicted with for some time, and which affected both man and beast, sprung from the same cause, Hag 1:10. This discourse had such an effect upon the governor, high priest, and people, that they immediately rose up, and went about the work they were exhorted to; upon which the prophet, by a special message from the Lord, promises his presence with them, Hag 1:12.

Ye have sown much, and bring in little,.... Contrary to what is usually done; the seed that is sown is but little, in, comparison of what springs up, is reaped, and gathered into the barn; which commonly affords seed again to the sower, and bread to the eater; but here much land was tilled, and a great deal of seed was sown in it; but a thin crop was produced, little was gathered into the barn; a blessing being withheld from the earth, and from their labours, because of their sins, which they would do well to think of, and the cause of it: ye eat, but ye have not enough; what the earth did yield, and which they gathered in, they made food of, and ate of it; yet it was not sufficient to satisfy their hunger; or it was not blessed for their nourishment; or they had a canine appetite in judgment given them, so that they were never satisfied: or, it was "not for fulness" (q); they were not filled with it to satisfaction, but still craved more; and yet, it may be, durst not eat more, if they had it, lest they should want the next day: ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; or, "not to inebriation" (r); it was not sufficient to quench their thirst, much less to make them merry and; cheerful: the vines produced such a small quantity of grapes, and those so little wine, that they had not enough to drink, at least could not drink freely, but sparingly, lest it should be all spent before another vintage came: ye clothe you, but there is none warm; or, "but" it is "not for heat to him" (s); to anyone; so rigorous the season, so extreme the cold, that his clothes will not keep him warm, even though the climate was, naturally and usually hot: and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes; or, "pierced through" (t); if a man is hired as a labourer, and gets much wages, and brings it home, and lays it up; or if he trades and merchandises, and has great gains by it, and thinks to amass great riches; yet, what through losses, and the dreariness of provisions, and the many ways he has for the spending of his money, it is as if he put it into a bag full of holes, and it ran through as fast as put into it; signifying hereby that all his pains and labour were in vain. (q) "ad satietatem", Calvin, De Dieu; "ad saturitatem", Munster. (r) "ad ebrietatem", Tigurine version, Vatablus, Calvin, De Dieu. (s) "et non est ad calorem ei", De Dieu; "sed nemo ita ut sit calor ipsi", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "ut calefiat ei", Burkius. (t) "pertusum", V. L. Munster, Tigurine version, Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "perforatum", Munster, Varenius.

Generally speaking, riches that are not under complete control are the citadels of evil. If the ordinary people look on them covetously, they will never enter the kingdom of heaven, because they are letting themselves become contaminated by the things of this world and are living above themselves in self-indulgence. Those concerned for their salvation should take this as their first principle, that, although the whole of creation is ours to use, the universe is made for the sake of self-sufficiency, which anyone can acquire by a few things. They who rejoice in the holdings in their storehouses are foolish in their greed. “He that earned wages,” Scripture reminds us, “put them into a bag with holes.” Such is the man who gathers and stores up his harvest, for by not sharing his wealth with anyone he becomes worse off.

(Verse 5, 6) You have sown much and brought in little: you eat but are not satisfied: you drink but are not filled with drink: you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm: and he that earned wages, earned them to put into a bag with holes. All the labor that you have built up your houses and neglected the house of God, has not had a consequence. For you have sown much and gathered little: you cannot say it is a result of famine, because the farmer has ceased to work the land. You also ate (lest perhaps someone would say that fasting was voluntary for you), and you were not satisfied, because you had gathered small fruits into barns. You drank wine from vineyards, but not only to make your heart rejoice, and it could be said of you: And wine cheers the heart of man (Ps. 104, 15). You had a cloak, but it did not repel the cold, nor preserve warmth. Whoever among you has gathered wages, either through trade or hired labor, has wasted labor in vain without reward. For just as if someone were to pour money into a bag with holes, it would flow out. Likewise, those who have returned from Babylon and have not yet built the house of God, but who are engaged in its construction every day, say: The time has not yet come to build the Lord's house; neither are they captives nor have they been fully granted freedom; but rather, as if they were placed in a narrow space, they have sown much and brought in little; they have eaten, but have not been satisfied; they have drunk, but have not been intoxicated; they have covered themselves, but have not been warmed; they have earned wages, only to put them into a bag with holes and lose them. If ever you see someone doing some righteous deeds amidst many sinful works, God is not so unjust as to forget the few good deeds because of the many evils; but He will only reap what he has sown on good soil, and gather it into His barns. But the one who is a complete apostate will not eat at all, but will perish from hunger. Moreover, the one who sows much and reaps little, eats little and not to satisfaction, as the Lord threatens in the curses of Leviticus: 'You shall eat, but not be satisfied' (Lev. 26:26). But whoever is holy, will eat until satisfied, and will be filled with what is written: The righteous eats to satisfy their soul (Prov. 13:25). Similarly, whoever does not drink completely will perish from thirst, as stated in Judith (if anyone wants to receive the book of the woman): And the little ones perished from thirst (Judith 8). But whoever drinks too little, does indeed drink, but not to the point of intoxication. Furthermore, who can say to the Lord: How glorious is your intoxicating cup (Psalm 22:6)! And Noah got drunk (Gen. IX): and although he was placed in Egypt, yet he gets intoxicated with wine at the banquet with Joseph and his brothers (Ibid., XLIII): he, because of the greatness of his joy and daily happiness with the apostles, will be called full of new wine (Act. II). However, how this exposition is not contrary to that in which the sons of Jonadab, the sons of Rechab, do not drink wine, and are praised by the Lord, in Jeremiah (Chapter XXXV), could be more competently discussed. After this, it is said to those who neglected to build the temple of the Lord: You have labored, and have not been warmed. This is understood from the one hundred and third psalm, in which it is said about God: The deep as a garment is his robe. Although according to the Hebrew truth it refers to the lands that are surrounded by the ocean, nevertheless, according to the translators of the Septuagint who said: 'τὸ περιβόλαιον αὐτοῦ', in the masculine gender, and not 'αὐτῆς', in the feminine gender, we are compelled to understand that it refers to God, because his wisdom is unfathomable, and the Lord makes darkness his hiding place (Psalms 17), and his sacraments are not revealed to the unworthy. And so the righteous rejoices, and says: In my heart I have hidden your words, so that I may not sin against you (Psalm 128:11). This cloak, woven from the diverse meanings and words of wisdom, does not allow the fervent spirit to cool, nor the heat of love to grow cold when the North wind blows. However, the one in the middle, who indeed has the cloak, but does not fully cover himself with it: just as he brings in little into the barn, and eats and drinks, but not to satisfaction or excess, so he covers himself with the cloak of his senses and works, but does not warm up. But he who, because of extreme poverty of the soul, does not have a cloak: does not have it, because, with multiplied iniquity, charity has grown cold in him (Matthew 24). Hence, concerning such a person, who possesses a cloak from another, it is commanded in the law: You shall give him a garment before the setting of the sun, for he is poor and has hope in him (Deuteronomy 24:15). But this also happens to those who dwelt in the valleys or in covered houses, and they said: The time has not yet come to build the house of the Lord, that they may gather wages into a perforated bag (Isaiah 40:10 and 62:11). If anyone does good works from us, and worthy of reward (which the Lord is about to give back to us, about whom it is said: Behold the Lord, and his reward is in his hands, to render to each person according to his works (Matt. XVI, 27). And another of the Apostles: If anyone's work remains, which he has built upon, he will receive a reward (I Cor. III, 13), here he gathers the rewards to be preserved and endured, always joining virtues with virtues, he heaps up money in an unbroken bag. But those who sin after good works, not once or twice, but frequently, obscure and defile their past charity with subsequent vices, and they gather money into the bottomless purse. All of these things happened to those who said, 'The time has not yet come to build the house of the Lord,' and while they resided in the valleys, they allowed the house of the Lord to remain deserted.

Thus the priestly ministry is a trade. Hence the prophet says to the children of Israel, “Your innkeepers mix water with their wine.” For holy Isaiah is not speaking about the innkeepers who, in the course of their publican ministrations, deceptively mix pure wine with a measure of water. It could hardly be a matter of concern to the blessed man, as if he were a civil judge, that people would dilute tavern vessels to make a less inebriating drink. He is speaking rather about the innkeepers who reside not over taverns but churches. They offer thirsty people a goblet not of wanton desire but of virtue. They do not minister the cup of drunkenness but the Savior’s cup. Those innkeepers he censures and rebukes, and he complains that they mix water with wine. This he blames in them—that although they are set over divine functions, they have become followers after human things, as the prophet himself says: “Each of you follows his own house.” For if any priest has abandoned the priestly office and delights in worldly pleasures, he mixes water with wine; that is to say, he mingles vile and cold things with holy and warm things.

And yet, for the most part, such people carefully weigh what is the amount that they give but neglect to consider how much they seize. They count it as a sort of requital but refuse to consider their sins. Let them, therefore, hear what is written: “He that has earned wages put them into a bag with holes.” When a bag has holes, the money is indeed seen when it is put in, but it is not seen when it is being lost. They, then, who keep an eye on how much they give, but not on how much they steal, put their wages into a bag with holes because, while piling up [riches], they look to them in the hope that they will be secure but lose them when they are not looking.

Ye have sown much - God will not bless you in any labor of your hands, unless you rebuild his temple and restore his worship. This verse contains a series of proverbs, no less than five in the compass of a few lines.

HAGGAI CALLS THE PEOPLE TO CONSIDER THEIR WAYS IN NEGLECTING TO BUILD GOD'S HOUSE: THE EVIL OF THIS NEGLECT TO THEMSELVES: THE HONOR TO GOD OF ATTENDING TO IT: THE PEOPLE'S PENITENT OBEDIENCE UNDER ZERUBBABEL FOLLOWED BY GOD'S GRACIOUS ASSURANCE. (Hag 1:1-15) second year of Darius--Hystaspes, the king of Medo-Persia, the second of the world empires, Babylon having been overthrown by the Persian Cyrus. The Jews having no king of their own, dated by the reign of the world kings to whom they were subject. Darius was a common name of the Persian kings, as Pharaoh of those of Egypt, and CÃ&brvbrsar of those of Rome. The name in the cuneiform inscriptions at Persepolis is written Daryawus, from the root Darh, "to preserve," the Conservator [LASSEN]. HERODOTUS [6.98] explains it Coercer. Often opposite attributes are assigned to the same god; in which light the Persians viewed their king. Ezr 4:24 harmonizes with Haggai in making this year the date of the resumption of the building. sixth month--of the Hebrew year, not of Darius' reign (compare Zac 1:7; Zac 7:1, Zac 7:3; Zac 8:19). Two months later ("the eighth month," Zac 1:1) Zechariah began to prophesy, seconding Haggai. the Lord--Hebrew, JEHOVAH: God's covenant title, implying His unchangeableness, the guarantee of His faithfulness in keeping His promises to His people. by Haggai--Hebrew, "in the hand of Haggai"; God being the real speaker, His prophet but the instrument (compare Act 7:35; Gal 3:19). Zerubbabel--called also Shesh-bazzar in Ezr 1:8; Ezr 5:14, Ezr 5:16, where the same work is attributed to Shesh-bazzar that in Ezr 3:8 is attributed to Zerubbabel. Shesh-bazzar is probably his Chaldean name; as Belteshazzar was that of Daniel. Zerubbabel, his Hebrew name, means "one born in Babylon." son of Shealtiel--or Salathiel. But Ch1 3:17, Ch1 3:19 makes Pedaiah his father. Probably he was adopted by his uncle Salathiel, or Shealtiel, at the death of his father (compare Mat 1:12; Luk 3:27). governor of Judah--to which office Cyrus had appointed him. The Hebrew Pechah is akin to the original of the modern Turkish Pasha; one ruling a region of the Persian empire of less extent than that under a satrap. Joshua--called Jeshua (Ezr 2:2); so the son of Nun in Neh 8:17. Josedech--or Jehozadak (Ch1 6:15), one of those carried captive by Nebuchadnezzar. Haggai addresses the civil and the religious representatives of the people, so as to have them as his associates in giving God's commands; thus priest, prophet, and ruler jointly testify in God's name.

Nothing has prospered with you while you neglected your duty to God. The punishment corresponds to the sin. They thought to escape poverty by not building, but keeping their money to themselves; God brought it on them for not building (Pro 13:7; Pro 11:24; Mat 6:33). Instead of cheating God, they had been only cheating themselves. ye clothe . . . but . . . none warm--through insufficiency of clothing; as ye are unable through poverty from failure of your crops to purchase sufficient clothing. The verbs are infinitive, implying a continued state: "Ye have sown, and been bringing in but little; ye have been eating, but not to being satisfied; ye have been drinking, but not to being filled; ye have been putting on clothes, but not to being warmed" [MOORE]. Careful consideration of God's dealings with us will indicate God's will regarding us. The events of life are the hieroglyphics in which God records His feelings towards us, the key to which is found in the Bible [MOORE]. wages . . . put . . . into a bag with holes--proverbial for labor and money spent profitlessly (Zac 8:10; compare Isa 55:2; Jer 2:13). Contrast, spiritually, the "bags that wax not old, the treasure in heaven that faileth not" (Luk 12:33). Through the high cost of necessaries, those who wrought for a day's wages parted with them at once, as if they had put them into a bag with holes.