The Meaning of Haggai 2:5 Explained

Haggai 2:5

KJV: According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not.

YLT: The thing that I covenanted with you, In your coming forth from Egypt, And My Spirit is remaining in your midst, fear not.

Darby: The word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, and my Spirit, remain among you: fear ye not.

ASV: according to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, and my Spirit abode among you: fear ye not.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

[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 does Haggai 2:5 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The Lord reiterated the promise He had made to the Israelites when they left Egypt in the Exodus. His Spirit would stay in their midst, so they did not need to fear (cf. Exodus 19:4-6; Exodus 33:14). The returnees could identify with their forefathers who departed from Egypt because they had recently departed from another captivity in Babylon. As the Lord had been with them in the cloudy pillar, so He was with them now. As David had encouraged Solomon to build the first temple with the promise that God would be with him ( 1 Chronicles 28:20), so Haggai encouraged Zerubbabel and Joshua to build the second temple with the same promise.
"There must have been those who were theologically naive and doubted that God could be with them if the temple and the ark in particular were not intact.
"Undoubtedly fear gripped many of the returnees-fear that God had written an eternal "Ichabod" over Jerusalem, fear that no amount of praying or piety would induce him to bless them again, fear that the whole endeavor was in vain, fear that the political enemies would in fact win, fear that all was lost." [1]

Context Summary

Haggai 2:1-9 - The True Glory Of God's House
One earnest man can arouse an entire community. Let a fire glow in our hearts, and it will spread. Assured of God's presence and favor, within three weeks the whole land was awake. Note the cooperation of God's Spirit with the message of His servant, "the Lord stirred up." Let us ever seek and rely on His cooperation! "We are witnesses, so also is the Holy Spirit!" Three prophecies occupy the following chapter. In the first, Haggai 1:1-9, the Jews are encouraged to persevere. Although there was no comparison between the glory of Solomon's Temple and the splendor of this, they must not be discouraged. Though they might deplore the absence of the sacred fire of the Shekinah, of the Ark with its cherubim, of the Urim and Thummim, and of the spirit of prophecy, yet the Messiah's presence, which would be associated with the second Temple would more than compensate for their deficiency, since He was the antitype of them all. If we lack many of the advantages and attractions in which others excel, let us be more than satisfied to possess Christ. And be it always remembered that Christian worship seeks to realize the presence of Him who said: "I am in the midst." Without that a cathedral is an empty void; with that, a barn will be heaven. For Haggai 1:6-7 see Hebrews 12:26-28. This little while in God's arithmetic lasted for 517 years. [source]

Chapter Summary: Haggai 2

1  He encourages the people to the work,
4  by promise of greater glory to the second temple than was in the first
10  In the type of holy things and unclean he shows their sins hindered the work
20  God's promise to Zerubbabel

What do the individual words in Haggai 2:5 mean?

- [According to] the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt so My Spirit remains among you not do fear -
אֶֽת־ הַדָּבָ֞ר אֲשֶׁר־ כָּרַ֤תִּי אִתְּכֶם֙ בְּצֵאתְכֶ֣ם מִמִּצְרַ֔יִם וְרוּחִ֖י עֹמֶ֣דֶת בְּתוֹכְכֶ֑ם אַל־ תִּירָֽאוּ ס

אֶֽת־  - 
Parse: Direct object marker
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
הַדָּבָ֞ר  [According  to]  the  word 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: דָּבָר  
Sense: speech, word, speaking, thing.
אֲשֶׁר־  that 
Parse: Pronoun, relative
Root: אֲשֶׁר 
Sense: (relative part.).
כָּרַ֤תִּי  I  covenanted 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: כָּרַת  
Sense: to cut, cut off, cut down, cut off a body part, cut out, eliminate, kill, cut a covenant.
אִתְּכֶם֙  with  you 
Parse: Preposition, second person masculine plural
Root: אֵת 
Sense: with, near, together with.
בְּצֵאתְכֶ֣ם  when  you  came  out 
Parse: Preposition-b, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct, second person masculine plural
Root: יׄוצֵאת 
Sense: to go out, come out, exit, go forth.
מִמִּצְרַ֔יִם  of  Egypt 
Parse: Preposition-m, Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: מִצְרַיִם  
Sense: a country at the northeastern section of Africa, adjacent to Palestine, and through which the Nile flows adj Egyptians = “double straits”.
וְרוּחִ֖י  so  My  Spirit 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, common singular construct, first person common singular
Root: רוּחַ  
Sense: wind, breath, mind, spirit.
עֹמֶ֣דֶת  remains 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, feminine singular
Root: עָמַד  
Sense: to stand, remain, endure, take one’s stand.
בְּתוֹכְכֶ֑ם  among  you 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct, second person masculine plural
Root: תָּוֶךְ  
Sense: midst, middle.
תִּירָֽאוּ  do  fear 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, second person masculine plural
Root: יָרֵא 
Sense: to fear, revere, be afraid.
ס  - 
Parse: Punctuation