Bible Strands
Haggai 2:14
Then Haggai replied, “So it is with this people and this nation before Me, declares the LORD, and so it is with every work of their hands; whatever they offer there is defiled.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Haggai responds to the priests' confirmation in 2:13 that defilement transfers through physical contact. He addresses the people and nation of Israel regarding their ritual state while the temple rebuilding is actively underway.
The words — כֵּן (ken) means "thus" or "so," functioning as a direct bridge between the priests' answer about corpse defilement and the people's current standing before God.
The thread — The text's assertion that outward offerings cannot cleanse an unclean state echoes Proverbs 15:8, Proverbs 28:9, and Titus 1:15.
Why it lands — The verse explicitly states that every work of the people's hands and every offering they provide is defiled. It requires the reader to recognize that ritual activity cannot override a compromised spiritual condition.
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
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.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 28:9 Whoever turns his ear away from hearing the law, even his prayer is detestable.
- Titus 1:15 To the pure, all things are pure; but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. Indeed, both their minds and their consciences are defiled.
- Proverbs 15:8 The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.
- Isaiah 1:11 “What good to Me is your multitude of sacrifices?” says the LORD. “I am full from the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed cattle; I take no delight in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
- Haggai 1:4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?”
- Ezra 3:2 Then Jeshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests, along with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates, began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God.
- Proverbs 21:4 Haughty eyes and a proud heart—the guides of the wicked—are sin.
- Proverbs 21:27 The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable—how much more so when brought with ill intent!
- Jude 1:23 save others by snatching them from the fire; and to still others show mercy tempered with fear, hating even the clothing stained by the flesh.