Bible Strands
Haggai 1:4
“Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The LORD speaks through the prophet Haggai to the returned exiles at the moment temple reconstruction has stalled. The address confronts the people directly as they prioritize personal comfort over sacred duty.
The words — סְפוּנִים (se.fu.Nim) literally means “covered” or paneled, contrasting with חָרֵב (cha.Rev), which means “desolate” or in ruins. These lexical choices establish the physical disparity between the people’s upgraded homes and the abandoned sanctuary.
The thread — The contrast between personal dwelling and sacred neglect parallels David’s observation in 2 Samuel 7:2 regarding cedar houses and the ark’s tent. It also resonates with the scriptural warning against prioritizing self-interest over divine priorities in Philippians 2:21.
Why it lands — The text demands an immediate reordering of priorities, requiring the reader to cease comfortable habitation while God’s house remains in ruins. It calls for concrete action rather than passive observation.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 7:2 he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.”
- Psalms 132:3 “I will not enter my house or get into my bed,
- Philippians 2:21 For all the others look after their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.
- Haggai 1:9 You expected much, but behold, it amounted to little. And what you brought home, I blew away. Why? declares the LORD of Hosts. Because My house still lies in ruins, while each of you is busy with his own house.
- Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.
- Jeremiah 52:13 He burned down the house of the LORD, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem—every significant building.
- Lamentations 4:1 How the gold has become tarnished, the pure gold has become dull! The gems of the temple lie scattered on every street corner.
- Daniel 9:17 So now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of Your servant. For Your sake, O Lord, cause Your face to shine upon Your desolate sanctuary.
- Micah 3:12 Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.
- Psalms 74:7 They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground; they have defiled the dwelling place of Your Name.