Charles Ellicott Commentary Haggai 2:16

"Through all that time, when one came to a heap of twenty [measures], there were but ten; when one came to the winevat to draw out fifty [vessels], there were but twenty." — Haggai 2:16 (ASV)

Since those days were. —Better, from the time when things were so, or, since such things were — i.e., throughout that whole period of neglect up to the date when they resumed the work of restoration. Throughout that period the harvests had grievously disappointed expectation. A heap of sheaves which ought to have contained twenty—the measure is not specified—yielded only ten; and a quantity of grapes which should have yielded fifty poorahs, only produced twenty. The word poorah elsewhere means a “wine press;” here, apparently, it is the bucket or vessel which was used to draw up the wine. The last clause of the verse must therefore be rendered, When one came to the pressfat to draw out fifty poorahs, there were but twenty.