Haggai 2 13

Haggai 2:13 kjv

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.

Haggai 2:13 nkjv

And Haggai said, "If one who is unclean because of a dead body touches any of these, will it be unclean?" So the priests answered and said, "It shall be unclean."

Haggai 2:13 niv

Then Haggai said, "If a person defiled by contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled?" "Yes," the priests replied, "it becomes defiled."

Haggai 2:13 esv

Then Haggai said, "If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean?" The priests answered and said, "It does become unclean."

Haggai 2:13 nlt

Then Haggai asked, "If someone becomes ceremonially unclean by touching a dead person and then touches any of these foods, will the food be defiled?" And the priests answered, "Yes."

Haggai 2 verses

Haggai 2 13 Meaning

Haggai 2:13 explains a principle of Mosaic ritual law: that impurity, specifically the severe uncleanness incurred by contact with a dead body, is highly contagious and spreads easily to other objects through touch. Haggai asks the priests if an item becomes unclean if touched by someone defiled by a corpse, and the priests correctly affirm that it does. This sets the theological foundation for the subsequent verse, where God applies this principle to the spiritual defilement of the people of Judah, stating that their inaction and lack of true devotion in rebuilding His Temple have made them and their works unclean before Him. The verse underscores the pervasive and infecting nature of spiritual impurity due to disobedience.

Haggai 2 13 Context

Haggai chapter 2 presents three further prophetic messages from the LORD through the prophet Haggai, building upon the initial call to rebuild the Temple. Verses 10-14, which include Haggai 2:13, constitute the second message, delivered on the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month (December), about three months after the work on the Temple had resumed. The historical context is post-exilic Judah, where the returned exiles had faced severe economic hardships, including drought and famine, despite having returned to the land decades earlier. The prophet challenges the people's lack of prosperity and attributes it directly to their spiritual priorities – specifically their failure to complete the rebuilding of the LORD's Temple while they comfortably resided in their own paneled houses.

Haggai uses a legal Q&A format, consulting the priests as authoritative interpreters of Mosaic Law (Torah). In the preceding verses (2:11-12), he established that holiness does not transfer contagiously through mere contact (e.g., sacred meat touching food doesn't make the food holy). In verse 13, he shifts to impurity. This question and the priests' unequivocal answer are crucial as they form the legal premise for God's divine indictment and promise of cleansing in verse 14. The immediate chapter context reveals that the purpose of these ritual purity questions is not academic, but to make a profound spiritual point: the ongoing sin of neglect and disobedience among the people acts as a defiling agent, contaminating all their efforts and lives, just as corpse uncleanness would contaminate anything it touched.

Haggai 2 13 Word analysis

• Then said Haggai: Introduces Haggai as the divinely appointed messenger. He initiates a test of the priests' knowledge of Torah.
• If one that is unclean by a dead body: The Hebrew is ṭᵉmê-nāphesh (טְמֵא-נָפֶשׁ), meaning "unclean of soul" or "unclean because of a dead body/person." This specifies the most severe form of ritual defilement under the Mosaic Law (cf. Numbers 19). It emphasizes a profound and pervasive uncleanness that renders the entire person (soul/self) defiled. This is not a superficial dirt but a state of spiritual and ritual impurity.
• touch: The Hebrew verb is yiggaʿ (יִגַּע), meaning "to touch, reach, strike." It signifies contact, even slight or accidental, illustrating the ease with which this particular defilement spreads.
• any of these: Refers to the various food items (bread, stew, wine, oil, food) mentioned in verse 12. This clarifies that the contamination applies even to common, everyday provisions.
• shall it be unclean?: This is a direct, technical legal question posed to the Levitical priests, whose role was to instruct the people on matters of the Law and discernment between clean and unclean (Lev 10:10-11).
• And the priests answered and said: Confirms that the priests understood and acknowledged the Law of God regarding ritual purity. Their answer carries divine authority as interpreters of the Law.
• It shall be unclean: The Hebrew yitma' (יִטְמָא) is definite and unequivocal. It means "it will become unclean" or "it will be defiled." This affirms the contagious nature of impurity, a cornerstone of the Old Covenant purity system.

Words-group analysis

• "unclean by a dead body touch any of these": This phrase highlights the stark contrast to holiness. Holiness (as per v.12) is not easily transferred; it needs God's direct act or a deliberate dedication. Impurity, especially severe defilement from death, is easily, almost involuntarily, contagious through mere contact, permeating common objects. This establishes that evil spreads with far less effort than good or holiness.

Haggai 2 13 Bonus section

The type of defilement – "unclean by a dead body" – is significant. Corpse uncleanness was among the most profound and enduring ritual impurities, necessitating a week-long purification process involving the rare ashes of the red heifer (Numbers 19). This highlights the severity of the uncleanness God is addressing, symbolically connecting it to the ultimate consequence of sin: death. By using this potent example, God emphasizes that the people's lack of dedication and neglect in rebuilding His house was not a trivial matter, but a deep spiritual defilement akin to being stained by death itself. This understanding profoundly influenced Jewish thought on impurity, making a powerful analogy for the pervasive impact of sin and the radical cleansing required, ultimately found in the atoning work of Christ (Hebrews 9:13-14).

Haggai 2 13 Commentary

Haggai 2:13 is a pivotal verse in understanding the prophet's message of judgment and hope. It lays down a foundational principle from Old Covenant law, established by God Himself, through a concise legal question-and-answer session between the prophet and the priests. The law states that ritual impurity, particularly that contracted by touching a dead body—a state of significant spiritual uncleanness—is potent and spreads effortlessly through contact to other items. Unlike holiness, which the preceding verse demonstrated is not easily transferred by touch, uncleanness is readily infectious. The priests, acting as guardians and interpreters of the Law, confirm this principle, providing the divine standard that undergirds God's impending indictment of the people. This verse reveals a crucial theological truth: sin and spiritual disobedience are not inert but actively defiling, contaminating everything associated with them. Just as the impurity from death defiles objects, the spiritual state of neglect and unholy living can render a people, and even their religious practices, unacceptable to a holy God.

Practical usage:

• Recognize the contagiousness of sin: Just as physical uncleanness spreads, unchecked sin or rebellion in a community or even within an individual can taint all other areas, making works unacceptable.
• Holiness vs. Purity: It reminds us that while holiness is of God and cannot be "caught" casually, unholiness (sin) can spread easily. This emphasizes our need for vigilance against sin.
• The seriousness of defilement: The verse highlights how offensive any impurity, spiritual or physical, is to God, who demands a consecrated people.