With this verse, Haggai begins the second part of his message, which speaks of the future rather than the present. This change is marked by a new paragraph in Good News Translation and also in other versions, including New American Bible, New International Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation, Biblen: Det Gamle og Det Nye Testamente, and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch. We recommend that translators consider making a new paragraph at this point.
Thus says the LORD of hosts: In the interests of natural English style, these words are omitted in Good News Translation, as in verses 4, 7, 8, and 9. This quotation formula including the word thus is normally the marker of a higher level discourse unit as in 1.2, 5, 7; 2.11; but when the particle translated For comes first it may also function at a lower level, and this is the case here. See the comments on other quotation formulas in the notes on 1.2, 5, 7, 9; 2.4.
Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth: The words Once again assume that there has been a previous shaking, probably one of the earlier outstanding examples of divine intervention in the affairs of Israel, such as Exo 19.18, where the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai was accompanied by earthquakes. There may also be a reference to the great earthquake in the days of King Uzziah, mentioned in Isa 6.4 and Amos 1.1. This had made a deep impression on the folk memory, as is shown by the reference to it in Zech 14.5.
The words Once again appear to have been omitted in Good News Translation, and also in Moffatt, New American Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Revised English Bible, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, Biblen: Det Gamle og Det Nye Testamente, Bible en français courant, and Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente. This is not in fact an omission, but rather a slightly different interpretation of a difficult Hebrew phrase. Many modern versions understand the words as Revised Standard Version does (New Revised Standard Version, Beck, Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch), and this seems to be the better approach. This verse is quoted in Heb 12.26, and is in fact the only part of the book of Haggai quoted in the New Testament. In the next verse, Heb 12.27, the discussion centers on the words “Yet once more.” It therefore seems wiser not to translate the passage in Haggai in a manner that could confuse readers of the New Testament who look up the source of the quotation. This is not to say that an interpretation favored by a New Testament writer should be imposed on the Old Testament. In the present case, both the interpretation in Revised Standard Version and the interpretation in Good News Translation are valid options for translators. It is a question of taking into account the influence of the wider context, in this case the whole Bible.
The words in a little while (Good News Translation “Before long” and Contemporary English Version “Soon”) may suggest that Haggai expected the political troubles of his own day to lead shortly to the establishment of an ideal Messianic kingdom. Compare also verses 21-23. Earlier prophets had already made similar predictions (for example, Micah 4.1-3; 5.2-4). The Hebrews seemed to assume that when the earth was shaken, the heavens were shaken also. In other prophetic writings, an earthquake was taken as a sign of the LORD’s presence (Isa 13.13; 29.6; Jer 10.10; Ezek 38.20; Joel 3.16). It was also used as a picture of political upheavals (compare Jer 51.29), such as the Persian Empire had experienced shortly before Haggai’s prophecy. Heavens in a number of languages will be rendered as “sky.” An alternative model may be “Soon I will again shake heaven [or, the sky] and the earth.”
The last part of the verse, the sea and the dry land, simply gives more detail about the earth, emphasizing that all parts of it will be affected. Good News Translation puts these words into a more usual English order as “land and sea” and does not translate the word dry separately, as its meaning is included in “land.” Many translators will wish to follow this example. In areas a long way from the sea, translators may need to adjust the expression to say “the lakes and the mountains” or something similar.
Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Haggai. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2002. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .