Hagai 2:3

2:3 ‘Who among you survivors saw the former splendor of this temple? ¹  How does it look to you now? Isn’t it nothing by comparison?

Hagai 2:19

2:19 The seed is still in the storehouse, isn’t it? And the vine, fig tree, pomegranate, and olive tree have not produced. Nevertheless, from today on I will bless you.’”

[2:3]  ¹ tn Heb “this house in its earlier splendor”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “in its former glory.”

[2:3]  sn Solomon’s temple was demolished in 586 b.c., 66 years prior to Haggai’s time. There surely would have been some older people who remembered the former splendor of that magnificent structure and who lamented the contrast to the small, unimpressive temple they were building (see Ezra 3:8-13).