Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Haggai 2:3 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 3. 3Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Voices the comparison between remembered former glory and the apparent insignificance of the present house.
Read It With
- Haggai 2:1–9
Read Haggai 2:1–9 together. Voices the comparison between remembered former glory and the apparent insignificance of the present house. The honest comparison, threefold courage, command to work, covenant-and-Spirit assurance, causal shaking promise, glory, resources, and peace answer one discouragement.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Voices the comparison between remembered former glory and the apparent insignificance of the present house. The first response has not removed discouragement. This oracle addresses comparison directly and joins present work to the exodus covenant, abiding Spirit, divine ownership of wealth, promised glory, and peace.
Read Haggai 2:3–5 together
Why these verses belong together: The former-glory comparison receives its answer in threefold courage, work, divine presence, covenant memory, abiding Spirit, and freedom from fear.
Verse 3. 3 Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?
Verse 4. 4 Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the LORD, and work: for I am with you, saith the LORD of hosts:
Verse 5. 5 According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not.
What Remains True
The LORD permits an honest comparison with former glory and answers disappointment with presence and vocation rather than denial.
How It Can Shape Life
- Name what has genuinely been lost before asking people to continue a smaller or less impressive work.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Haggai 2:1–9 — Be Strong and Work: Presence, Shaking, Glory, and PeaceSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The question permits surviving eyewitnesses but does not state their number or prove that every comparison concerned the same feature of glory.
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 2:1–9, 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 2:1–9
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, pp. 1785–1786, translation and notes on 2:1–9
Open source ↗