Charles Ellicott Commentary Haggai 1:2

"Thus speaketh Jehovah of hosts, saying, This people say, It is not the time [for us] to come, the time for Jehovah`s house to be built." — Haggai 1:2 (ASV)

The time is not come. — Better (unless we alter the received text), It is not yet time to come — that is, it is not yet time to assemble and commence preparations for building. It is not stated on what grounds the people based this assumption, but they probably excused their indifference to religion by a pretended dread of Persian hostility. Darius, however, unlike his predecessor Artaxerxes, gave no support to the enemies of the Jews when a report was actually made to him on the subject .