“HAGGAI THE LORD’S MESSENGER IN THE LORD’S MESSAGE” (HAGGAI 1:13) · EXILE & RETURN

Haggai. Four dated words in the second year of Darius: build the house.

SCRIPTURE CALLS

Prophet

ERA

Exile & return 586–430 BC

IN THE DAYS OF

Darius · Zerubbabel

BOOK

Haggai

HOW THE WORD CAME

The first word

THE CALL

How the word first came

THE FIRST WORD

“Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?”

Haggai 1:4 (KJV) →

HOW THE WORD KEPT COMING

  • The word of the LORD came “by Haggai the prophet”, and once “unto Haggai”. Haggai 1:1 Haggai 1:3 Haggai 2:1 Haggai 2:10 Haggai 2:20
  • He is called “the LORD’s messenger in the LORD’s message”, and the people obeyed his words “as the LORD their God had sent him”. Haggai 1:12–13
  • He put two questions of the law to the priests, whether holy flesh makes food holy and whether one unclean by a dead body makes it unclean, and drew the lesson: “So is this people, and so is this nation before me”. Haggai 2:11–14
  • Ezra says “Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem”, and that when the building began again “the prophets of God” were “helping them”. Ezra 5:1–2
  • From the textEvery word in the book is dated to the day. Haggai 1:1 Haggai 2:1 Haggai 2:10 Haggai 2:20
  • Scholars' viewKeil (1868) takes this Darius to be Darius Hystaspes (Darius I): Zechariah, he writes, began “in the second year of Darius Hystaspes, only two months later than his contemporary Haggai”. On Parker and Dubberstein's tables (1942), the second year of Darius I began on 3 April 520 BC, and the first day of its sixth month, the day of Haggai's first word, fell on 29 August 520 BC. Haggai 1:1 [37][24]

BEFORE THE KINGS

Before two rulers

KING OF PERSIA

Darius

“In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet”

Haggai 1:1 (KJV) →

GOVERNOR OF JUDAH

Zerubbabel, governor of Judah

“will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the LORD, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee”

Haggai 2:23 (KJV) →

THE MESSAGE

The word in its main themes

First the house of the LORD

“Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.”

Haggai 1:8 (KJV) →

Consider your ways

“Consider your ways.”

Haggai 1:5 (KJV) →

“from this day will I bless you”

Haggai 2:19 (KJV) →

I am with you

“be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the LORD, and work: for I am with you, saith the LORD of hosts”

Haggai 2:4 (KJV) →

The glory of the latter house

“The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts”

Haggai 2:9 (KJV) →

THE WORD TO …

To whom the word was spoken

TO THE PEOPLE

“Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?”

Haggai 1:4 (KJV) →

TO JOSHUA THE HIGH PRIEST

“be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest”

Haggai 2:4 (KJV) →

TO THE PRIESTS

“If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean?”

Haggai 2:13 (KJV) →

TO ZERUBBABEL

“I will shake the heavens and the earth”

Haggai 2:21 (KJV) →

  • Jerusalem · Where the house of the LORD was rebuilt.

WHAT CAME OF THE WORD

As Scripture reports it

THE WORD

SCRIPTURE REPORTS

THE WORD

SCRIPTURE REPORTS

THE BOOK

The book of Haggai

  • 1 Build the house; the people obey Haggai 1:1–15
  • 2 The glory of the latter house Haggai 2:1–9
  • 3 Unclean, and blessed from this day Haggai 2:10–19
  • 4 Zerubbabel the signet Haggai 2:20–23

WHERE THE NEW TESTAMENT QUOTES IT · 1

Each band joins a chapter of Haggai to the New Testament book quoting it (one book).

COMPANIONS AND OPPONENTS

Who stood with him, and against him

Zechariah

Zerubbabel

Joshua son of Josedech

HOW THE STORY ENDS

Scripture says, tradition says

SCRIPTURE SAYS

  • From the textHaggai's last dated word is the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month of Darius's second year. Ezra adds that the house was finished in Darius's sixth year through the prophesying of Haggai and Zechariah. Scripture says nothing more of him. Haggai 2:20 Ezra 6:14–15

TRADITION SAYS

  • According to tradition, as the Jewish Encyclopedia reports it, Haggai “was born in Chaldea during the Captivity, and was among those that returned under Zerubbabel”, and is numbered among “the men of the Great Synagogue” (Talmud, Baba Batra 15a).[32] Who says so: Jewish tradition, as reported in the Jewish Encyclopedia, reported 1904
  • His name, the Jewish Encyclopedia notes, stands in the Septuagint titles of some psalms, “though not in all manuscripts alike”.[32] Who says so: Titles in Greek (Septuagint) manuscripts of the Psalms, reported 1904

OPEN QUESTIONS

Where readers have differed

A person: the Messiah

The Targum and the Vulgate, as reported by the Pulpit Commentary; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown (1871)

The Pulpit Commentary reports that this is “the rendering of the ancient Jewish expositors, the Chaldee Targum, and the Vulgate, which gives, Veniet desideratus cunctis gentibus”, though it notes the difficulty that the verb is plural. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown hold that the Messiah is meant, as the one who satisfies the longings of the nations. Haggai 2:7 [42][41]

The precious things of the nations, brought to the house

C. F. Keil (1868); Ellicott's Commentary; S. R. Driver (1891)

Keil reads it as “the valuable possessions of the heathen, or according to Haggai 2:8 their gold and silver”. Ellicott renders “the precious things of all the nations shall come”, calling the Authorised Version's rendering “grammatically impossible with the present text, for the verb ‘come’ is plural”. Driver speaks of the glory coming from “the munificence of the Gentiles”. Haggai 2:7–8 [23][40][3]

IN SCRIPTURE

Every passage

CHAPTERS · 4

Haggai 1 Haggai 2 Ezra 5 Ezra 6

PASSAGES · 3

Haggai 1:1–2:23 Ezra 5:1–2 Ezra 6:14–15

WHAT SCRIPTURE DOES NOT SAY

  • Scripture gives Haggai no father, tribe or home.
  • Haggai 2:3 asks who among the people had seen the house “in her first glory”; it does not say whether Haggai had.
  • Scripture does not say when or where Haggai died.

SOURCES

Where this page comes from

  • S. R. Driver, An Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament (2nd ed., New York 1892; first published 1891) (1891), ch. XI (Daniel), pp. 458–483.
  • S. R. Driver, An Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament (2nd ed., New York 1892; first published 1891) (1891), ch. V (Ezekiel), pp. 260–279.
  • S. R. Driver, An Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament (2nd ed., New York 1892; first published 1891) (1891), ch. VI §10 (Haggai), pp. 320–321.
  • S. R. Driver, An Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament (2nd ed., New York 1892; first published 1891) (1891), ch. VI §11 (Zechariah), pp. 322–333.
  • S. R. Driver, An Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament (2nd ed., New York 1892; first published 1891) (1891), ch. VI §12 (Malachi), pp. 333–336.
  • E. B. Pusey, Daniel the Prophet: Nine Lectures Delivered in the Divinity School of the University of Oxford (1864), Lecture I, p. 1, and the table of contents, pp. xxxi–xxxvii.
  • E. B. Pusey, Daniel the Prophet: Nine Lectures Delivered in the Divinity School of the University of Oxford (1864), Lecture III, pp. 103–105.
  • E. B. Pusey, Daniel the Prophet: Nine Lectures Delivered in the Divinity School of the University of Oxford (1864), Lecture IV, pp. 169–170.
  • J. A. Montgomery, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Daniel (International Critical Commentary) (1927), Introduction §2, pp. 2–3.
  • J. A. Montgomery, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Daniel (International Critical Commentary) (1927), Introduction §19, pp. 60–61.
  • J. A. Montgomery, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Daniel (International Critical Commentary) (1927), Introduction, 'The dating of the two sections', pp. 96–97.
  • J. A. Montgomery, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Daniel (International Critical Commentary) (1927), on Dan 9:24–27, pp. 393–394.
  • G. A. Smith, The Book of the Twelve Prophets, vol. 2 (The Expositor's Bible) (1898), Preface, p. viii.
  • G. A. Smith, The Book of the Twelve Prophets, vol. 2 (The Expositor's Bible) (1898), ch. XXIII, pp. 331–333.
  • C. F. Keil, tr. M. G. Easton, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Daniel (Keil and Delitzsch) (1872), Introduction (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. F. Keil, tr. M. G. Easton, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Daniel (Keil and Delitzsch) (1872), note on Dan 2:39–40 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. F. Keil, tr. M. G. Easton, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Daniel (Keil and Delitzsch) (1872), notes on Dan 9:24–27 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. F. Keil, tr. M. G. Easton, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Daniel (Keil and Delitzsch) (1872), note on Dan 11:36–45 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. F. Keil, tr. James Martin, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel (Keil and Delitzsch) (1876), note on Ezek 1:1 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. F. Keil, tr. James Martin, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel (Keil and Delitzsch) (1876), the survey of chs. 40–48 (read on Bible Hub, printed with Ezekiel 1).
  • C. F. Keil, tr. James Martin, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel (Keil and Delitzsch) (1876), note on Ezek 14:14 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. F. Keil, tr. James Martin, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel (Keil and Delitzsch) (1876), note on Ezek 29:17–21 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. F. Keil, tr. James Martin, The Twelve Minor Prophets, vol. 2 (Keil and Delitzsch) (1868), note on Hag 2:7 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. F. Keil, tr. James Martin, The Twelve Minor Prophets, vol. 2 (Keil and Delitzsch) (1868), introduction to Zechariah, on 1:1 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. F. Keil, tr. James Martin, The Twelve Minor Prophets, vol. 2 (Keil and Delitzsch) (1868), introduction to Malachi, on 1:1 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. F. Keil, tr. Sophia Taylor, The Books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther (Keil and Delitzsch) (1873), note on Neh 6:10–14 (read on Bible Hub).
  • R. Dick Wilson, "Daniel, Book of", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915), sections VII (Genuineness) and VIII (Interpretation).
  • George L. Robinson, "Zechariah, Book of", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915), sections 1, 4 and 6.
  • Benjamin of Tudela, tr. M. N. Adler, The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela (1907), pp. 43–44 (Ezekiel's sepulchre) and 52–53 (Daniel's sepulchre at Shushan).
  • E. G. Hirsch, K. H. Cornill, S. Schechter and L. Ginzberg, "Ezekiel", Jewish Encyclopedia, vol. 5 (1903), pp. 313–316.
  • S. Schechter and L. Ginzberg, "Ezekiel's Tomb", Jewish Encyclopedia, vol. 5 (1903).
  • E. G. Hirsch, "Haggai", Jewish Encyclopedia, vol. 6 (1904).
  • I. Singer and A. Guttmacher, "Malachi, Book of", Jewish Encyclopedia, vol. 8 (1904), In Rabbinical Literature; Critical View.
  • K. Kohler and L. Blau, "Bat Ḳol", Jewish Encyclopedia, vol. 2 (1902).
  • Tertullian, tr. Peter Holmes (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 3), On the Resurrection of the Flesh (1885), chapters 29–30.
  • Augustine, tr. S. D. F. Salmond (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 6), The Harmony of the Gospels (1888), book 3, chapter 7, §§28–31.
  • R. A. Parker and W. H. Dubberstein, Babylonian Chronology 626 B.C.–A.D. 45 (Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization 24; dates cited as facts only) (1942), p. 28 (table of years: Darius I, years 1–4).
  • John Gill, An Exposition of the Old Testament (1748–1763), note on Ezek 4:4 (read on Bible Hub).
  • H. D. M. Spence and J. S. Exell (eds.), Pulpit Commentary: Ezekiel (1880–1897), note on Ezek 4:4 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. J. Ellicott (ed.), A Bible Commentary for English Readers (c. 1878–1884), note on Hag 2:7 (read on Bible Hub).
  • R. Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and D. Brown, A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments (1871), note on Hag 2:7 (read on Bible Hub).
  • H. D. M. Spence and J. S. Exell (eds.), Pulpit Commentary: Haggai (1880–1897), note on Hag 2:7 (read on Bible Hub).
  • John Gill, An Exposition of the New Testament (1746–1748), note on Matt 27:9 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. J. Ellicott (ed.), A New Testament Commentary for English Readers (c. 1878–1884), note on Matt 27:9 (read on Bible Hub).
  • R. Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and D. Brown, A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments (1871), note on Matt 27:9, quoting John Lightfoot (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. J. Ellicott (ed.), A New Testament Commentary for English Readers (c. 1878–1884), note on Matt 23:35 (read on Bible Hub).
  • A. B. Bruce, The Synoptic Gospels (The Expositor's Greek Testament, vol. 1) (1897), note on Matt 23:35 (read on Bible Hub).
  • H. E. Ryle, The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges) (1893), note on Neh 6:14 (read on Bible Hub).
  • John Gill, An Exposition of the Old Testament (1748–1763), note on Neh 6:14 (read on Bible Hub).
  • H. D. M. Spence and J. S. Exell (eds.), Pulpit Commentary: Nehemiah (1880–1897), note on Neh 6:14 (read on Bible Hub).
  • Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1683–1685), note on Neh 6:14 (read on Bible Hub).

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