Hag 2:5 | NETfull | STEP | ‘Do not fear, because I made a promise to your ancestors when they left Egypt, and my spirit even now testifies to you.’

Haggai 2:5

5 ‘Do not fear, because I made a promise to your ancestors when they left Egypt, and my spirit ^{▼▼ My spirit. It is theologically anachronistic to understand “spirit” here in the NT sense as a reference to the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity; nevertheless during this postexilic period the conceptual groundwork was being laid for the doctrine of the Holy Spirit later revealed in the NT.} even now testifies to you.’ ^{▼▼ The MT of v. 5 reads “with the word which I cut with you when you went out from Egypt and my spirit [which] stands in your midst, do not fear.” BHS proposes emending “with the word” to זֹאת הַבְּרִית (zo’t habb^erit, “this is the covenant”) at the beginning of the verse. The proposed emendation makes excellent sense and is expected with the verb כָּרַת (karat, “cut” or “make” a covenant), but it has no textual support. Most English versions (including the present translation) therefore follow the MT here.}