In Hebrew this verse consists of three questions, as in Revised Standard Version. Of these, the second assumes that the answer to the first is “yes,” and the third is really an answer to the second. Accordingly Good News Translation translates the third question as a statement.
Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory?: This first question suggests that there were some people old enough to remember the earlier Temple (compare Ezra 3.12). The second question is addressed to such people. The Temple built by Solomon had been destroyed in 586 B.C., sixty-six years earlier, so only people of 70 years old or more would be able to remember it. Jewish tradition has taken the question to indicate that Haggai himself was one of the small group who could remember the earlier Temple. This is quite possible, but it cannot be proved. It is equally possible that Haggai had simply heard these old people making discouraging comparisons between the earlier Temple and the new one, and was trying to prevent the discouragement from spreading. Less than one month had passed between the time when work on the new Temple was started (1.15) and the time of the present message (2.1), so that little progress could have been expected. This house of course refers to the Temple. See the comments on 1.2. Its former glory refers to the “beauty” or “magnificence” of Solomon’s Temple. Good News Translation “Is there anyone among you who can still remember how splendid the Temple used to be?” is a good alternative translation model for this question.
How do you see it now?: As noted above, this second question is addressed directly to those old people who could remember the earlier Temple. Haggai already knew the answer to this question, either from his own memory or from what he had heard people saying. Good News Translation expresses this from a different perspective with “How does it look to you now?” New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, and New Living Translation are identical or similar. Translators may use whichever perspective is more natural in their language.
The answer in Hebrew takes the form of a third question, this time a negative one, Is it not in your sight as nothing? Such a construction would be very awkward in some languages, so a number of translators will prefer to follow the example of Good News Translation and translate the question as a statement: “It must seem like nothing at all.” Another way of expressing this is “You probably think that it has no beauty at all.” In languages in which rhetorical questions are used, but negative questions are confusing, it may be possible for translators to follow the example of Jerusalem Bible and use a positive question, “Does it seem nothing to you?”
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 .