Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Haggai 2:14 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 14. 14Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the LORD; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Applies the two rulings to this people, nation, work of hands, and offerings while leaving the precise source of defilement compressed.
Read It With
- Haggai 2:10–14
Read Haggai 2:10–14 together. Applies the two rulings to this people, nation, work of hands, and offerings while leaving the precise source of defilement compressed. The date and priestly commission lead through two contrasting rulings to Haggai's compressed application to people, work, and offerings.
Read Haggai 2:10–14 together
Why these verses belong together: The dated commission, both priestly cases, their answers, and Haggai's application constitute one legal-prophetic argument.
Verse 10. 10 In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying,
Verse 11. 11 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying,
Verse 12. 12 If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No.
Verse 13. 13 Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.
Verse 14. 14 Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the LORD; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean.
Follow the Context
- The word is dated and Haggai is ordered to ask the priests for a ruling or instruction.
- Holy sacrificial meat carried in a garment does not make food touched by that garment holy.
- A person made unclean by a corpse does make the listed food unclean by contact.
- Haggai applies the asymmetry to 'this people' and 'this nation' before the LORD.
- Their work and what they offer there are included in the declaration of uncleanness.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“so is this people”
In plain language: Haggai applies the rulings to the community before the LORD.
People, work, and offerings are included, but the contaminating cause is not named in full.
Why it matters: It requires humility among the competing moral and cultic explanations.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
Haggai 2:14 does not name pagans, Samaritans, foreigners, or any ethnic neighbor as the source of the community's uncleanness.
What Remains True
Haggai declares the people, their work, and offerings unclean, but the verse does not name a foreign contaminator or fully explain the mapping.
How It Can Shape Life
- Examine integrity within worship while refusing to invent a despised group as the source of contamination.
Teach It Back
Explain Haggai 2:14's contribution to Haggai 2:10–14: Applies the two rulings to this people, nation, work of hands, and offerings while leaving the precise source of defilement compressed. Include the surrounding movement, one material uncertainty, and what this verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Haggai 2:10–14 — Priestly Rulings Expose the Community's DefilementSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
Moral analogy, temple-site impurity, altar/offerings impurity, and a cultic transition are major proposals; the verse does not fully adjudicate among them.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: Haggai 2:10–14, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Haggai
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Hebrew clauses, verbal forms, divine titles, repeated words, and the base text behind lexical and translation analysis.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2 (commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00), wlc/Hag.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 2:10–14
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Haggai with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Material date, Hebrew, translation, textual, ritual, historical, and interpretive notes for the unit, tested rather than adopted automatically.
Exact location: NET Bible Haggai PDF, p. 1786, translation and notes on 2:10–14
Open source ↗