The Meaning of Haggai 2:8 Explained

Haggai 2:8

KJV: The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts.

YLT: Mine is the silver, and Mine the gold, An affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts.

Darby: The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith Jehovah of hosts.

ASV: The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith Jehovah of hosts.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

The silver  [is] mine, and the gold  [is] mine, saith  the LORD  of hosts. 

What does Haggai 2:8 Mean?

Verse Meaning

This verse seems to support the view that impersonal wealth is in view in Haggai 2:7. The Lord reminded the people that He controlled all the silver and gold in the world, so He could cause the nations to bring it to the temple in the future.
"The point may well be that because all such things are His and are therefore not of value to Him, His own glory is what is central." [1]
This reminder would have encouraged Haggai"s contemporaries as they rebuilt the temple as well. God could bring more financial resources to them so they could glorify their presently modest temple.

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 2:8 mean?

Mine the silver [is] and Mine the gold [is] says Yahweh of hosts
לִ֥י הַכֶּ֖סֶף וְלִ֣י הַזָּהָ֑ב נְאֻ֖ם יְהוָ֥ה צְבָאֽוֹת

לִ֥י  Mine 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular
Root: אֹבֵד  
Sense: destruction.
הַכֶּ֖סֶף  the  silver  [is] 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: כֶּסֶף  
Sense: silver, money.
וְלִ֣י  and  Mine 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition, first person common singular
הַזָּהָ֑ב  the  gold  [is] 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: זָהָב  
Sense: gold.
נְאֻ֖ם  says 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: נְאֻם  
Sense: (Qal) utterance, declaration (of prophet).
יְהוָ֥ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
צְבָאֽוֹת  of  hosts 
Parse: Noun, common plural
Root: צָבָא 
Sense: that which goes forth, army, war, warfare, host.