Haggai 2:6-9

Haggai 2:6-9 expand the promise of Haggai 2:4-5. Jehovah will manifest his presence and power by a great shaking of nature and of the nations of the earth (6, 7a); as a result the nations will recognize his supremacy and bring costly presents to his temple (7b, 8). Then the magnificence of the new temple will surpass that of the old, and Jehovah will add to its splendor by making it his dwelling place, from which he will dispense permanent peace and prosperity to the community (9). Similar thoughts are expressed in the first three visions of Zechariah (Zechariah 1:7 to Zechariah 2:13).

6-8. Yet once, it is a little while The Hebrew is peculiar, and various interpretations have been suggested. If the text is correct, which is doubted by some, the meaning seems to be that once more Jehovah will shake heaven and earth (for former shakings, compare Exodus 19:16-18; Judges 5:4-5; Micah 1:3-4; Nahum 1:2-6); and that this new (and final) shaking will take place in a short time.

Shake The convulsions spoken of here are those connected by other prophets with the day of Jehovah, which is undoubtedly the crisis in the mind of Haggai. All nature is to be convulsed by the terrible manifestation of Jehovah (see on Joel 2:10-11; Joel 2:30-31).

All nations The prophet expects political upheavals in which the nations hostile to the remnant will be overthrown, and this overthrow will pave the way for the establishment of the kingdom of God in all its glory. Political disturbances had begun throughout the Persian empire before 520, and both Haggai and Zechariah expected that these troubles would spread until the empire would go to pieces. With the oppressor gone, they expected the glories of the Messianic age to be ushered in (see on Zechariah 1:11, and Introduction, p. 550). In this respect the utterances of these postexilic prophets resemble those of the prophets before the exile, who expected the Messianic era to begin immediately after the overthrow of Assyria (for example, Isaiah 10:32 to Isaiah 11:5; Micah 4:11 to Micah 5:4; Nahum 1:15 to Nahum 2:2).

The desire of all nations shall come R.V., “the precious things of all nations shall come.” The latter is a correct reproduction of the sense. Desire is equivalent to object of desire or that which is desired, which is not the Messiah, nor the choice and noble spirits among the nations, but their valuable possessions (LXX. has plural), including among other things the silver and gold mentioned in Haggai 2:8. These precious things will be brought into the temple (compare Isaiah 60:5) by those among the nations who survive the shaking and who become convinced through the terrible manifestation of Jehovah that he alone is God (compare Zechariah 14:16).

With glory Not the glory of the divine presence or glory due to heavenly gifts, but glory or splendor due to the bringing of rich presents by the heathen, to supplement the limited resources of the builders.

Silver… gold is mine Therefore it is only proper that they should bring treasures to him.

9. At present the outlook may be discouraging, the new temple may seem “as nothing” when compared with the former (Haggai 2:3), but in the end it will be glorious, even more so than the temple of Solomon.

This latter house The temple now in process of building.

The former The temple of Solomon. Thus translated 9a means that the glory of the present temple will in the end surpass that of Solomon’s temple. The thought remains the same if the translation of R.V. (compare LXX.) is accepted, “The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former.”

Latter glory The glory promised in Haggai 2:7.

This house See on Haggai 2:3.

The former The glory present in the temple of Solomon.

In this place In Jerusalem as well as in the temple.

Will I give peace To this LXX. adds, “and peace of soul to renew the entire foundation, to rebuild this temple.” If this addition is a part of the original prophecy, which is not probable, the peace must be that which will be enjoyed in Jerusalem while the nations are being shaken; otherwise, the peace promised is that to be enjoyed subsequent to the shaking of the nations and the glorification of the temple, the peace of the Messianic age, which Jehovah will dispense from his new dwelling place (compare Isaiah 2:2-4; Isaiah 9:1-7).