Charles Ellicott Commentary Haggai 1:6

"Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages [to put it] into a bag with holes." — Haggai 1:6 (ASV)

Ye have sown much ...—Literally, Ye have been sowing much and bringing in little; eating, and it was not to satisfaction; drinking, and it was not to fulness; clothing yourselves, and it was not for any one’s being warm, etc. This description of course merely implies that, despite all their labors, there was not much to eat, drink, or put on. Compare the use of the phrase ye shall eat and not be satisfied, in Leviticus 26:26.

To put it into a bag with holes. —The last clause expresses in a bold metaphor the general prevalence of poverty. Scarcity necessitated high prices, so that money “ran away” as fast as it was earned.