I struck you and all the products of your toil with blight and with mildew and with hail, yet you did not turn to me, declares the LORD.
English Standard Version (ESV)
What's easy to miss here is the intensity of God's description of their lack of response. The Hebrew here isn't just saying they "didn't turn," but emphasizes that there wasn't even one person who turned to Him. God is highlighting that His judgment, manifested in crop failures, was met with complete indifference and a refusal to acknowledge His hand at work.
I struck you and all the products of your toil with blight and with mildew and with hail, yet you did not turn to me, declares the LORD.
English Standard Version (ESV)
The prophet Haggai has just addressed the people, pointing out how their current hardships and lack of prosperity are a direct result of their neglect and their focus on rebuilding their own homes before God's temple. In this verse, God elaborates on these hardships, reminding them that He has sent specific agricultural calamities like blight, mildew, and hail to afflict their crops and the fruits of their labor. Despite these clear signs of God's displeasure and His attempts to get their attention through these punishments, the people still had not turned back to Him or repented.
Why would God strike the very things Israel worked so hard for?
God's discipline isn't random; it's specific and targeted to reveal what we truly value. In Haggai 2:17, God mentions specific agricultural afflictions: blasting, mildew, and hail. These weren't just unfortunate weather events; they were divine judgments aimed at the products of their labor – their crops, their vines, their harvest.
Think about it: God had just exhorted them to focus on rebuilding His Temple. Their response was to continue prioritizing their own homes and comforts. So, God hit them where it hurt – their livelihoods. The 'blasting' (scorching winds) and 'mildew' (damaging dampness) would ruin their grain, while 'hail' could devastate their vineyards. This wasn't about punishing them arbitrarily, but about making them see that their hard work wasn't bringing the prosperity they desired because they were neglecting God's priorities.
Despite clear signs of God's displeasure, Israel remained unmoved. What does this tell us about stubborn hearts?
The most striking part of Haggai 2:17 isn't just God's discipline, but Israel's utter lack of response: 'yet you did not turn to me'. This wasn't a small oversight; it was a complete failure to turn back to God. The original Hebrew phrasing is incredibly strong, suggesting that not even one person turned back.
Imagine working hard, seeing your crops wither, your vineyards destroyed, and feeling the pinch of scarcity. Normally, this would prompt questions: 'Why is this happening? Is God angry?' But Israel, blinded by their focus on their own immediate needs and comforts, failed to connect the dots. They felt the hardship but didn't acknowledge the Hand that allowed it or the reason behind it. Their 'turning not' signifies a profound spiritual insensitivity and a stubborn refusal to acknowledge God's authority and His call to rebuild His house.
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Understand the original words
šiddāpôn · Hebrew Noun
A condition of crop disease, frequently cited in the Old Testament as a manifestation of divine judgment for disobedience to God's covenant.
yērāqôn · Hebrew Noun
A fungal or parasitic growth on plants, used symbolically and literally in the prophets to describe the curse of unproductive labor due to covenant unfaithfulness.
bārād · Hebrew Noun
A form of divine judgment or discipline used to destroy crops and property, highlighting God’s sovereignty over the natural elements.
šûb · Hebrew Verb
The act of repentance or returning to God; it signifies a decisive change in orientation from sin back to the covenant God.
YHWH · Hebrew Proper Noun
The personal, covenantal name of God revealed to Israel; it signifies His eternal existence, faithfulness, and self-revelation.
This verse speaks to the people of Judah in the post-exilic period, after the Temple had been rebuilt but before it had been fully restored to its former glory. Despite God's past chastisements through natural disasters like blight, mildew, and hail – a common theme in Scripture when people stray from obedience – they had failed to 'turn' back to Him, indicating a spiritual apathy that the prophets Haggai and Zechariah were sent to confront.
c. 586 BC
Destruction of Jerusalem and Temple
The Babylonians conquer Judah, destroy Jerusalem and Solomon's Temple, and carry many people into exile. This marks the end of the First Temple period.
539 BC
Cyrus's Decree for Return
Cyrus the Great of Persia conquers Babylon and issues a decree allowing exiled peoples, including the Jews, to return to their homelands and rebuild their temples.
516 BC
Completion of the Second Temple
After significant delays and opposition, the returned exiles complete the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. However, the people's spiritual fervor wanes.
c. 458 BC
Ezra's Commission
Ezra the scribe arrives in Jerusalem with a commission from the Persian king to reform the religious and social life of the community, but progress is slow.
c. 445 BC
Nehemiah's Rebuilding of Jerusalem's Walls
Nehemiah, cupbearer to the Persian king, receives permission to return to Jerusalem and rebuild its walls, facing considerable opposition.
520 BC— this verse
Haggai's Prophetic Ministry
Haggai, along with Zechariah, begins prophesying to the returned exiles in Jerusalem, urging them to prioritize the rebuilding of the Temple. This verse is part of that message.
This passage describes the curses for disobedience, including diseases like blight and mildew that would affect crops, directly paralleling the punishments God mentions in Haggai.
Amos 4:9Amos also describes God striking His people with blight and mildew, and adds the crucial element, 'yet you have not returned to me,' mirroring Haggai's lament about the people's unresponsiveness.
Psalm 78:47This psalm recounts God's judgment on Egypt and Israel, mentioning that He destroyed their vines with hail, connecting the specific calamity of hail to divine discipline on His people.
Jeremiah 5:3This verse describes God's frustration with His people who have offended Him, noting that He struck them, but they showed no remorse and hardened their faces, echoing the core theme of Haggai 2:17 about suffering divine correction without repentance.
barnesHaggai 2:17: "I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labours of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, saith the LORD."
I smote you with blasting and mildew, - two diseases of grain, which Moses had foretold Deuteronomy 28:27 . as chastisements on disobedience and God's infliction, of which Amos had spoken in these self-same words. Amos 4:9 . Haggai adds the hail, as destructive of the vines. Psalm 78:47 . Yet (And) ye turned you not to Me literally "there were none" -…
calvinHaggai 2:15-19: "And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the LORD:"
Percussi vos orientali vento (vel, urente) et rubigene, et grandine in omni opere manuum vestrarum (alii vertunt, et omne opus, sed male, et potius hic debet resolvi quemadmodum dictum est, in omni ergo opere) et vos non ad me, dicit lehova.
Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the…
What's easy to miss here is the intensity of God's description of their lack of response. The Hebrew here isn't just saying they "didn't turn," but emphasizes that there wasn't even one person who turned to Him. God is highlighting that His judgment, manifested in crop failures, was met with complete indifference and a refusal to acknowledge His hand at work.
The prophet Haggai has just addressed the people, pointing out how their current hardships and lack of prosperity are a direct result of their neglect and their focus on rebuilding their own homes before God's temple. In this verse, God elaborates on these hardships, reminding them that He has sent specific agricultural calamities like blight, mildew, and hail to afflict their crops and the fruits of their labor. Despite these clear signs of God's displeasure and His attempts to get their attention through these punishments, the people still had not turned back to Him or repented.
The prophet Haggai has just addressed the people, pointing out how their current hardships and lack of prosperity are a direct result of their neglect and their focus on rebuilding their own homes before God's temple. In this verse, God elaborates on these hardships, reminding them that He has sent specific agricultural calamities like blight, mildew, and hail to afflict their crops and the fruits of their labor. Despite these clear signs of God's displeasure and His attempts to get their attention through these punishments, the people still had not turned back to Him or repented.
"I struck you and all the products of your toil with blight and with mildew and with hail, yet you did not turn to me, declares the LORD." — What's easy to miss here is the intensity of God's description of their lack of response. The Hebrew here isn't just saying they "didn't turn," but emphasizes that there wasn't even one person wh…
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Last reviewed October 2026