Haggai 2:17
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)
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The verse highlights that God’s afflictions – like blight, mildew, and hail – were not random misfortunes but direct consequences of the people's disobedience, impacting "all the products of your toil." What's particularly striking is the phrase "yet you did not turn to me," which, in its most literal sense, implies an almost complete absence of any turning back to God, despite these repeated, tangible signs of His displeasure.
God's prophet Haggai is rebuking the people of Israel for their neglect of rebuilding the Temple, focusing instead on their own homes. He reminds them of the agricultural disasters—blight, mildew, and hail—that have plagued their crops and yielded little fruit, despite their hard labor. These calamities are presented not as random misfortunes, but as direct judgments from the Lord due to their disobedience.
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.
This verse comes from a period when the returned exiles had rebuilt the Temple but were experiencing hardship and famine. The prophet Haggai reminds them that these difficulties were God's judgment for their neglect of the Temple and their focus on personal gain, drawing parallels to earlier warnings given by Moses and Amos.
c. 587/586 BC
Destruction of Jerusalem and Temple
The Babylonians, under Nebuchadnezzar II, conquer Judah, destroy Jerusalem and its Temple, and exile a significant portion of the population.
539 BC
Cyrus the Great conquers Babylon
The Persian Empire, under Cyrus, overthrows the Babylonian Empire, leading to a new political landscape for exiles in Mesopotamia.
538 BC
Cyrus's Decree allowing return
Cyrus issues a decree permitting the Jewish exiles to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their Temple, marking the beginning of the Second Temple period.
c. 515 BC
Completion of the Second Temple
After decades of intermittent work and opposition, the Second Temple is finally completed and dedicated, though it is less grand than Solomon's original Temple.
This passage lists 'blasting and mildew' as divine curses for disobedience, directly echoing the specific afflictions mentioned in Haggai 2:17.
Amos 4:9Amos also spoke of God striking his people with 'blasting and mildew' yet they did not return to Him, creating a strong parallel in both the cause and the people's unresponsiveness.
Psalm 78:47This psalm recounts God destroying Israel's crops with hail as a form of judgment, similar to the specific mention of hail in Haggai 2:17 affecting their labors.
Jeremiah 5:3This verse describes God's people being struck and having their crops ruined, yet they showed no shame or repentance, mirroring the stubbornness Haggai addresses.
Romans 2:4This verse speaks to the kindness of God leading to repentance, highlighting the stark contrast with Haggai's message where God's corrective judgments were met with continued defiance, not 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…
The verse highlights that God’s afflictions – like blight, mildew, and hail – were not random misfortunes but direct consequences of the people's disobedience, impacting "all the products of your toil." What's particularly striking is the phrase "yet you did not turn to me," which, in its most literal sense, implies an almost complete absence of any turning back to God, despite these repeated, tangible signs of His displeasure.
God's prophet Haggai is rebuking the people of Israel for their neglect of rebuilding the Temple, focusing instead on their own homes. He reminds them of the agricultural disasters—blight, mildew, and hail—that have plagued their crops and yielded little fruit, despite their hard labor. These calamities are presented not as random misfortunes, but as direct judgments from the Lord due to their disobedience.
God's prophet Haggai is rebuking the people of Israel for their neglect of rebuilding the Temple, focusing instead on their own homes. He reminds them of the agricultural disasters—blight, mildew, and hail—that have plagued their crops and yielded little fruit, despite their hard labor. These calamities are presented not as random misfortunes, but as direct judgments from the Lord due to their disobedience.
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YHWH · Hebrew Proper Noun
The personal, covenantal name of God revealed to Israel; it signifies His eternal existence, faithfulness, and self-revelation.
c. 520 BC— this verse
Ministry of Haggai and Zechariah
The prophets Haggai and Zechariah begin their ministries, urging the returned exiles to prioritize the rebuilding of the Temple, which had been neglected for years.
"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." — The verse highlights that God’s afflictions – like blight, mildew, and hail – were not random misfortunes but direct consequences of the people's disobedience, impacting "all the products of your toi…
