The Rebuilding of the Temple Is Begun, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Old Testament · Book 37 of 66
Haggai
Haggai records four messages the prophet gave in one year to the Jews who had returned from exile. He urges them to finish rebuilding the temple and promises that God is with them.
Haggai records four messages the prophet gave in one year to the Jews who had returned from exile. He urges them to finish rebuilding the temple and promises that God is with them.
What is Haggai about?
Haggai is the book of four messages the LORD gave through the prophet Haggai in the second year of King Darius, to the people who had come back from exile to Jerusalem. The house of the LORD lay in ruins while they built houses of their own, and their harvests failed. The first message told them: “Consider carefully your ways” (1:5). Within 23 days the governor, the high priest and the people began the work. The later messages promised a glory for this house greater than the first, blessing from the day its foundation was laid, and Zerubbabel made the LORD's signet ring.
All 2 chapters
Every chapter of the book, in one grid. Each cell opens that chapter.
- Consider your waysChapter 1, the first day of the sixth month
- The glory of this latter house2:1 to 9, the twenty-first day of the seventh month
- From this day on I will bless you2:10 to 19, the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, inside chapter 2
- My signet ring2:20 to 23, the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, a second time, inside chapter 2
The colour is the dated message that opens the chapter, and every cell opens that chapter's Study level. The third and fourth messages, given on one day, stand inside chapter 2.
Who wrote it, where, when, for whom, and why?
The book names its prophet in its first verse: the word of the LORD came through Haggai the prophet (1:1). It calls him the messenger of the LORD, who delivered the LORD's message to the people (1:13), and gives him no father and no town. Ezra names Haggai with Zechariah son of Iddo as the prophets who prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem (Ezra 5:1), and says the elders built and prospered through their prophesying (Ezra 6:14).
Later, the prophets Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them.
Ezra 5:1, Berean Standard Bible.
The messages are given in Jerusalem, where the house of the LORD lies in ruins (1:4, 1:9) while the people live in paneled houses of their own. The LORD sends them into the hills for lumber (1:8), and the drought he calls lies on the fields and on the mountains (1:11).
Every message carries its date in the second year of King Darius: the first day of the sixth month (1:1), the twenty-first day of the seventh month (2:1), and the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, twice (2:10, 2:20). The work began on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month (1:15). Ezra says the work had stood still until the second year of Darius (Ezra 4:24), Zechariah's first word came in the eighth month of the same year (Zechariah 1:1), and the house was finished in the sixth year of Darius (Ezra 6:15).
And this temple was completed on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
Ezra 6:15, Berean Standard Bible.
The messages go to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest (1:1), and to all the remnant of the people (1:12, 2:2). The last message is for Zerubbabel alone (2:21).
The book gives its reason in the LORD's words. The people said the time had not come to rebuild his house (1:2) while they lived in their own, and their harvests failed because his house lay in ruins (1:9). He calls them to build it so that he may take pleasure in it and be glorified (1:8), tells them he is with them (1:13, 2:4), and promises to bless them from the day the foundation was laid (2:18 to 19).
The people have come back to a poor land. Some among them saw the first house in its former glory, and this one looks like nothing beside it (2:3). The rest of Scripture sets the scene: Cyrus king of Persia proclaimed that the house of the LORD should be built in Jerusalem (Ezra 1:2 to 3), and the older priests wept when its foundation was laid (Ezra 3:12).
Sources. Haggai 1:1, 1:2, 1:4, 1:8, 1:9, 1:11, 1:12, 1:13, 1:15, 2:1, 2:2, 2:3, 2:4, 2:10, 2:18 to 19, 2:20 and 2:21; Ezra 1:2 to 3, 3:12, 4:24, 5:1, 6:14 and 6:15; Zechariah 1:1. Every verse is read in the Berean Standard Bible.
How is Haggai arranged, and what is it for?
The four dated messages the book is made of, then what it teaches and what it was written to do.
- Consider your ways1, 15 verses, the turn at 1:14Given on the first day of the sixth month
The house lies in ruins, the harvest fails, and the people obey and begin the work.
- The glory of this latter house2:1 to 9, 9 verses, the turn at 2:9Given on the twenty-first day of the seventh month
Be strong and work: the LORD will shake the nations and fill the plain house with glory.
- From this day on I will bless you2:10 to 19, 10 verses, the turn at 2:19Given on the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month
The priests rule on holy meat and a defiled body, and the LORD promises blessing from the foundation day.
- My signet ring2:20 to 23, 4 verses, the turn at 2:23Given on the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, a second time
Thrones overturned, and Zerubbabel taken and made the LORD's signet ring.
The theme
The LORD's house comes first. The people who put their own houses first found that all their work came to little, and the LORD called them to consider their ways. When they obeyed, he promised his presence, his Spirit, and a glory for the plain second house greater than the first. Through the priests he taught that uncleanness spreads by touch, so the offerings of a people who left his house in ruins were unclean, and he promised to bless them from the day the foundation was laid. He ends by choosing Zerubbabel as his signet ring while the kingdoms of the nations fall.
The purpose
Haggai was sent to get the house of the LORD built. The book sets down the four dated messages that moved the governor, the high priest and the people to begin the work and kept them at it, so that the reason the house was rebuilt, and the promises made to those who built it, stand written with the day each was given.
Four messages in one year of Darius
- 1The first messageHaggai 1:1On the first day of the sixth month
“Consider carefully your ways” (1:5)
The governor, the high priest and all the remnant obey and fear the LORD (1:12).
- The work begunHaggai 1:15On the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month
They came and began the work on the house of the LORD (1:14 to 15).
- 2The second messageHaggai 2:1On the twenty-first day of the seventh month
“The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former” (2:9)
The text records no answer; the word is to keep working (2:4).
- Zechariah's first wordZechariah 1:1On the eighth month, no day given
In the eighth month the word of the LORD comes to Zechariah son of Berechiah.
- 3The third messageHaggai 2:10On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month
“from this day on, I will bless you” (2:19)
The priests answer both questions of the ruling (2:12 to 13).
- 4The fourth messageHaggai 2:20On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month
“I will make you like My signet ring” (2:23)
The text records no answer; the word is for Zerubbabel alone (2:21).
Consider your ways, Haggai 1
What the text says in these 15 verses, and the pages they open on.
The book opens on the first day of the sixth month in the second year of Darius, with the word of the LORD through Haggai to Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the high priest (1:1). The people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the LORD (1:2). The LORD asks whether it is a time for them to live in paneled houses while this house lies in ruins (1:4), and twice he tells them to consider their ways (1:5, 1:7). They have planted much and harvested little, and their wages go into a bag pierced through (1:6). He has called a drought on the land because his house lies in ruins while each of them is busy with his own (1:9 to 11). Zerubbabel, Joshua and all the remnant obey and fear the LORD, and he tells them he is with them (1:12 to 13). He stirs their spirit, and they begin the work on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month (1:14 to 15).
So the LORD stirred the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, as well as the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and began the work on the house of the LORD of Hosts, their God,
- Study
Haggai 1the house in ruins, the failed harvest and the work begunShow the summary and 4 pagesShow summary, 4 pagesHide the summary
Dated to the day (the second year of Darius, sixth month, first day) and addressed to Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the high priest. The people say it is not the time to build Jehovah's house, and the prophet answers with a question that lands in their own living rooms: 'Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?' Then the audit: 'You have planted much but harvested little. … You earn wages to put into a bag pierced through.' Consider your ways. Twenty-three days later they obey, Jehovah stirs up their spirit, and work resumes, carried by six words: 'I am with you … declares the LORD' (1:13).
- The people say the time has not come, and the LORD asks about their paneled houses (1:2 to 4).
- The harvest fails and the drought comes because his house lies in ruins (1:6 to 11).
- The leaders and the remnant obey, and the work begins on the twenty-fourth day (1:12 to 15).
On this chapter (4)
- The exile and the return
The people who came back and the house they were sent to build.
- How is the second year of Darius dated, and what does the Persian record give?
Answered under Where do readers disagree, lower on this page, with each reading and who holds it.
- How do Haggai and Zechariah fit with Ezra 5 to 6 and the work's stopping and starting?
Answered under Where do readers disagree, lower on this page, with each reading and who holds it.
- Haggai 1:5
The verse on its own page, with the commentators on it by era.
What they did, and what they got
| What they did | What they got | Verse |
|---|---|---|
| You have planted much | but harvested little | 1:6 |
| You eat | but never have enough | 1:6 |
| You drink | but never have your fill | 1:6 |
| You put on clothes | but never get warm | 1:6 |
| You earn wages | to put into a bag pierced through | 1:6 |
| You expected much | it amounted to little | 1:9 |
| what you brought home | I blew away | 1:9 |
Characters (4)
Who the text names. A name with a page carries its door.
- Haggai
The prophet the word of the LORD came through, called the messenger of the LORD (1:1, 1:13).
- Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel
Governor of Judah, stirred by the LORD to begin the work (1:1, 1:14).
- Joshua son of Jehozadak
The high priest, stirred with the governor and the people (1:1, 1:14).
- Darius
The king of Persia whose second year dates every message (1:1, 1:15).
Places (3)
Where the chapters stand.
- Jerusalem
Where the house of the LORD lies in ruins beside the people's paneled houses (1:4).
- The house of the LORD
The temple the people have left in ruins (1:4, 1:9).
- The hills
Where the LORD sends them for lumber to build the house (1:8).
Themes (3)
What these chapters raise, each on its own page where one stands.
- Consider your ways
The call given twice in the first message (1:5, 1:7), and twice again at 2:15 and 2:18.
- The house of the LORD
His house in ruins while each is busy with his own (1:9).
- The remnant
The people who came back and obeyed (1:12, 1:14).
No New Testament passage quotes or names these chapters.
The glory of this latter house, Haggai 2:1 to 9
What the text says in these 9 verses, and the pages they open on.
On the twenty-first day of the seventh month the word comes again (2:1). Haggai asks who is left who saw this house in its former glory, and whether it now looks like nothing (2:3). The LORD tells Zerubbabel, Joshua and all the people of the land to be strong and work, for he is with them, and his Spirit remains among them as he promised when they came out of Egypt (2:4 to 5). Once more, in a little while, he will shake the heavens and the earth and all the nations, and they will come with their treasures, and he will fill this house with glory (2:6 to 7). The silver and the gold are his (2:8). The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former, and in this place he will give peace (2:9).
The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former, says the LORD of Hosts. And in this place I will provide peace, declares the LORD of Hosts.”
- Study
Haggai 2the latter glory, the priests' ruling and the signet ringShow the summary and 6 pagesShow summary, 6 pagesHide the summary
Three more dated oracles. To the old men who remember Solomon's temple and weep at this one ('Does it not appear to you like nothing in comparison?') comes the charge to be strong and work, for 'My Spirit remains among you; do not be afraid', and the promise: 'I will shake all the nations … and I will fill this house with glory … The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine' (Hebrews 12 takes up the shaking). Then a priestly ruling by way of parable: holiness does not spread by contact, but defilement does. So is this people. Yet 'from this day on, I will bless you.' Last, to Zerubbabel: 'I will make you like My signet ring,' reversing Jeconiah's curse in the line that runs to Christ.
- Be strong and work: the latter glory of this house will be greater than the former (2:1 to 9).
- The priests' ruling, and blessing from the day the foundation was laid (2:10 to 19).
- Thrones overturned, and Zerubbabel made the LORD's signet ring (2:20 to 23).
On this chapter (6)
- The temple question
The temple from the second house to the one still looked for.
- The genealogy of Jesus
Where Zerubbabel stands in Matthew 1 and Luke 3.
- What is the desire of all nations in 2:7, the Messiah or the treasures of the nations, and what do the Hebrew and the Greek read?
Answered under Where do readers disagree, lower on this page, with each reading and who holds it.
- Was the glory of the second temple greater than the first, and in what sense have readers taken it?
Answered under Where do readers disagree, lower on this page, with each reading and who holds it.
- What did the promise to Zerubbabel as signet ring mean, and how does his name reach the genealogies of Matthew 1 and Luke 3?
Answered under Where do readers disagree, lower on this page, with each reading and who holds it.
- Haggai 2:9
The verse on its own page, with the commentators on it by era.
Once more: the shaking in Haggai and in Hebrews
For this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land.
At that time His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth, but heaven as well.” The words “Once more” signify the removal of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that the unshakable may remain.
Characters (3)
Who the text names. A name with a page carries its door.
- Zerubbabel
Told to be strong (2:4).
- Joshua the high priest
Told to be strong with him (2:4).
- The people of the land
Told to work, for the LORD is with them (2:4).
Places (2)
Where the chapters stand.
- The house of the LORD
The house that looks like nothing to those who saw the first (2:3).
- Egypt
Where the promise of 2:5 was made, when they came out.
Themes (3)
What these chapters raise, each on its own page where one stands.
- The latter glory
The glory of this house greater than the former (2:9).
- The Spirit among you
My Spirit remains among you (2:5).
- The shaking of the nations
Once more the heavens and the earth shaken, and the nations' treasures brought in (2:6 to 7).
Where the New Testament uses these chapters (1)each marked as a quotation or an allusion, with the evidence
- Explicit quotationHaggai 2:6 at Hebrews 12:26 to 27. Hebrews quotes the promise to shake the earth and heaven once more, and reads the words once more as the removal of what can be shaken, so that the unshakable may remain. Held by the writer of Hebrews, who gives the words as God's promise. He quotes the Greek form, not only the earth but heaven as well, where the Hebrew names the heavens, the earth, the sea and the dry land.
From this day on I will bless you, Haggai 2:10 to 19
What the text says in these 10 verses, and the pages they open on.
On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month Haggai is sent to ask the priests for a ruling (2:10 to 11). If consecrated meat carried in a garment touches other food, does the food become holy? The priests say no. If someone defiled by a corpse touches it, does it become defiled? The priests say yes (2:12 to 13). So it is with this people, says the LORD, and whatever they offer there is defiled (2:14). He tells them to think back to the time before a stone was laid on a stone, when a heap of twenty measures gave ten and a vat of fifty gave twenty, and he struck their work with blight, mildew and hail, and they did not turn to him (2:15 to 17). From this day, the day the foundation of the temple was laid, he will bless them (2:18 to 19).
Is there still seed in the barn? The vine, the fig, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yet yielded fruit. But from this day on, I will bless you.”
These 10 verses stand inside chapter 2, and its chapter entry stands under The glory of this latter house, where the chapter begins.
Two questions to the priests
- 1What the holy meat touches stays as it was2:12
- The question
- If a man carries consecrated meat in the fold of his garment, and it touches bread, stew, wine, oil, or any other food, does that item become holy?
- The priests' answer
- “No,” replied the priests.
- 2What the defiled person touches is defiled2:13
- The question
- If one who is defiled by contact with a corpse touches any of these, does it become defiled?
- The priests' answer
- “Yes, it becomes defiled,” the priests answered.
Characters (3)
Who the text names. A name with a page carries its door.
- The priests
Asked for a ruling on holy meat and a defiled body (2:11 to 13).
- Haggai
Asks the priests the two questions (2:13).
- This people and this nation
Whose offerings the LORD calls defiled (2:14).
Places (2)
Where the chapters stand.
- The temple of the LORD
Where no stone had been laid on a stone (2:15).
- The barn and the winepress
Where the heap of twenty gave ten, and fifty gave twenty (2:16, 2:19).
Themes (3)
What these chapters raise, each on its own page where one stands.
- Holiness and defilement
Defilement spreads by touch, and holy meat makes nothing holy (2:12 to 14).
- The day the foundation was laid
The twenty-fourth day of the ninth month (2:18).
- Consider your ways
Given twice more, from this day forward (2:15, 2:18).
No New Testament passage quotes or names these chapters.
My signet ring, Haggai 2:20 to 23
What the text says in these 4 verses, and the pages they open on.
On the same day the word comes to Haggai a second time, for Zerubbabel the governor (2:20 to 21). The LORD is about to shake the heavens and the earth, overturn royal thrones and destroy the power of the kingdoms of the nations, and horses and their riders will fall, each by the sword of his brother (2:21 to 22). On that day he will take Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, his servant, and make him like his signet ring, for he has chosen him (2:23). The book ends on that promise.
On that day, declares the LORD of Hosts, I will take you, My servant, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, declares the LORD, and I will make you like My signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the LORD of Hosts.”
These 4 verses stand inside chapter 2, and its chapter entry stands under The glory of this latter house, where the chapter begins.
The signet ring pulled off, and given back
“As surely as I live,” declares the LORD, “even if you, Coniah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on My right hand, I would pull you off.
On that day, declares the LORD of Hosts, I will take you, My servant, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, declares the LORD, and I will make you like My signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the LORD of Hosts.”
Characters (2)
Who the text names. A name with a page carries its door.
- Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel
The LORD's servant, chosen and made like his signet ring (2:23).
- Jehoiachin, called Coniah
The king Jeremiah said would be pulled off like a signet ring (Jeremiah 22:24).
Places (2)
Where the chapters stand.
- Judah
The province Zerubbabel governs (2:21).
- The kingdoms of the nations
Whose thrones the LORD will overturn (2:22).
Themes (3)
What these chapters raise, each on its own page where one stands.
- The signet ring
The seal of a ruler's authority, given to Zerubbabel (2:23).
- The Davidic covenant
The promise to David's line that Zerubbabel carries.
- The genealogy of Jesus
Where Zerubbabel stands in Matthew 1 and Luke 3.
Where the New Testament uses these chapters (2)each marked as a quotation or an allusion, with the evidence
- Probable allusionHaggai 2:21 to 22 at Hebrews 12:26 to 27. The second promise to shake the heavens and the earth, given to Zerubbabel, is read with the first where Hebrews speaks of what can be shaken removed. Held by Barnes, on 2:21, who says Haggai closes by resuming the words of the former prophecy. The store's cross-references, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible, link 2:21 to Hebrews 12:26 to 27.
- Later Christian readingHaggai 2:23 at Matthew 1:12 to 13; Luke 3:27. Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel stands in both genealogies of Jesus, and the promise of the signet ring has been read of Christ his descendant. Held by Matthew Henry, on 2:23. The genealogies name Zerubbabel and do not quote Haggai.
- Author
- Haggai the prophet (1:1)
- Date
- The second year of Darius (520 BC); four oracles across three months
- Audience
- The post-exilic community in Jerusalem under Zerubbabel and Joshua the high priest
Where do readers disagree?
One list: the readings with their holders, and what the evidence does not settle.
What is the desire of all nations in 2:7, the Messiah or the treasures of the nations, and what do the Hebrew and the Greek read?
The temple question, argued in full→- The one all nations long for, who is Christ. Held by Augustine of Hippo, who reads the desired of all nations as Christ in his City of God, book 18, chapter 35, and by Albert Barnes, on 2:7.
- The treasures of the nations brought into the house. Held by Adam Clarke, on 2:7.
- The glory that fills the house is the presence of Christ. Held by John Wesley, on 2:7, and by Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown, on 2:7.
What the evidence does not settle: The Hebrew sets a singular noun with a plural verb, and the Greek of the Septuagint reads the choice things of all the nations, so the grammar leans to the treasures while the Latin and the older English took the words of a person.
The argument in full
The one all nations long for, who is Christ. Jerome's Latin reads that the desired one will come to all nations, and the English of 1611 followed it; the verse's promise of glory is read as the LORD coming to his own house.
The treasures of the nations brought into the house. The Hebrew noun chemdat, desire, stands with a plural verb, they will come, and Clarke notes that no manuscript has the verb in the singular; the next verse says the silver and the gold are the LORD's (2:8).
The glory that fills the house is the presence of Christ. Whatever the nations bring, the promise is that the LORD will fill this house with glory, and the glory is read as Christ present in the second house.
What did the promise to Zerubbabel as signet ring mean, and how does his name reach the genealogies of Matthew 1 and Luke 3?
The genealogy of Jesus→- The sentence on Coniah reversed. Held by Barnes, on 2:23, who says God reverses to Zerubbabel the sentence on Jeconiah.
- A promise that looks through Zerubbabel to Christ. Held by Matthew Henry, on 2:23, who says the promise has special reference to Christ, who lineally descended from Zerubbabel.
- Zerubbabel himself raised to trust and honour. Held by Clarke, on 2:23, who reads it as exalting him to high dignity, power and trust.
What the evidence does not settle: Zerubbabel never sat on a throne, and the lists of his line differ: Matthew names Shealtiel's father as Jeconiah, Luke names Neri, and 1 Chronicles 3:19 lists Zerubbabel among the sons of Pedaiah.
The argument in full
The sentence on Coniah reversed. Jeremiah said that were Coniah a signet ring on the LORD's right hand he would pull him off (Jeremiah 22:24), and Haggai gives the same figure to Zerubbabel, whom Matthew names as Jeconiah's grandson (Matthew 1:12).
A promise that looks through Zerubbabel to Christ. Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel stands in both genealogies of Jesus (Matthew 1:12 to 13, Luke 3:27), and he governed Judah without reigning.
Zerubbabel himself raised to trust and honour. A signet was the instrument of a ruler's authority, and the promise is made to the governor by name in the upheavals of Darius's early reign.
How is the second year of Darius dated, and what does the Persian record give?
- Darius son of Hystaspes, in 520 BC. Held by Barnes, on 1:1, who names the king as Darius Hystaspis, and by Richard A. Parker and Waldo H. Dubberstein, Babylonian Chronology 626 B.C. to A.D. 75 (1956), whose tables set the first date on 29 August and the last on 18 December of that year.
- The shaking read in the revolts of Darius's first years. Held by Clarke, on 2:23, who ties the commotions to the revolt of Babylon that Darius besieged and took, citing Herodotus, Histories, book 3.
- The king of Persia, dated as the book counts. Held by Gill, on 1:1, who reads Darius the king as the king of Persia, then the greatest king in the world.
What the evidence does not settle: Babylonian months began at the new moon as it was seen, so a date set in the modern calendar may move by a day; the text gives the month and the day alone.
The argument in full
Darius son of Hystaspes, in 520 BC. Babylonian tablets dated by the months and years of Darius's reign let each day Haggai names be set in the modern calendar.
The shaking read in the revolts of Darius's first years. Darius's own inscription at Behistun records the rebellions he put down after he took the throne, and Haggai promises thrones overturned in the same years (2:22).
The king of Persia, dated as the book counts. Haggai dates by the Persian king's years, as Ezra dates the restart of the work by the second year of Darius king of Persia.
Was the glory of the second temple greater than the first, and in what sense have readers taken it?
The temple question, argued in full→- Greater through the presence of Christ. Held by Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, on 2:9, who point to Christ's words that one greater than the temple is here (Matthew 12:6).
- Greater because salvation was shown under it. Held by Clarke, on 2:9.
- Greater because it was kept free of idols. Held by Henry, on 2:9.
What the evidence does not settle: Which glory Haggai meant, since the older priests wept at the foundation (Ezra 3:12), the house looked like nothing to those who saw the first (2:3), and 2:9 names no time for the promise.
The argument in full
Greater through the presence of Christ. The second house stood until Jesus was brought into its courts as a child and sat teaching in it (Luke 2:27, Matthew 26:55).
Greater because salvation was shown under it. The first house was the LORD's dwelling between the cherubim for four hundred years, so Clarke finds the greater glory in the redemption the world saw in the time of the second.
Greater because it was kept free of idols. The first house was often defiled with idols (2 Kings 23:11 to 12), and the second was kept free of them before Christ came.
How do Haggai and Zechariah fit with Ezra 5 to 6 and the work's stopping and starting?
The exile and the return→- The prophets restarted a work a Persian order had stopped. Held by Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, on 1:2, who say the interdict of Smerdis was no longer in force once Darius was on the throne.
- The people waited on the seventy years. Held by Clarke, on 1:2, who says they thought the seventy years Jeremiah spoke of were not yet complete.
- Haggai's foundation day is the work resumed. Held by Barnes, on 2:18, who reads the day the foundation was laid of the work resumed in the second year of Darius, as Zechariah 8:9 speaks of it.
What the evidence does not settle: Which foundation 2:18 names, since Ezra 3 records one laid in the time of Cyrus, and how the letters of Ezra 4 stand in order of time.
The argument in full
The prophets restarted a work a Persian order had stopped. Ezra says the work ceased until the second year of Darius (Ezra 4:24), and then Haggai and Zechariah prophesied and Zerubbabel and Jeshua began to rebuild (Ezra 5:1 to 2).
The people waited on the seventy years. The people's own words are that the time has not yet come (1:2), and the LORD answers with their paneled houses (1:4).
Haggai's foundation day is the work resumed. Ezra records an earlier foundation laid with trumpets and weeping (Ezra 3:10 to 12), so 2:18 is read of the building begun again.
The Text and the Spade
- The Behistun Inscription of Darius Icarved c. 520 to 518 BC, on the cliff face at Bisitun in western Iran
The single most direct external anchor for Haggai's dating. Darius records his accession and the revolts he put down across the empire in his first years, in Old Persian, Elamite, and Akkadian. It fixes 'the second year of the reign of Darius' (1:1) in ordinary chronology and confirms the disturbances of 522 to 520 BC that lie behind the promise 'I will overturn royal thrones' (2:22). Its decipherment in the 1840s under Henry Rawlinson is also what opened Akkadian to modern reading.
- The Cyrus Cylinderc. 539 to 538 BC, from Babylon, now in the British Museum
A Babylonian clay cylinder in which Cyrus records returning displaced peoples to their homes and restoring their sanctuaries. It documents the imperial policy the return presupposes and matches the decree Ezra and 2 Chronicles preserve, where Cyrus says 'has appointed me to build a house for Him at Jerusalem in Judah' (2 Chronicles 36:23). The cylinder itself names Babylonian cities and gods and does not mention Judah or Jerusalem, so it corroborates the policy rather than the specific decree.
- The Persian-period bullae and seals from Judah published by Nahman Avigadlate 6th to 5th century BC; published as Bullae and Seals from a Post-Exilic Judean Archive (Qedem 4, 1976)
Clay sealings from a Judean administrative archive, including one reading Shelomith maidservant of Elnathan the governor. Avigad proposed identifying that Shelomith with the daughter of Zerubbabel named at 1 Chronicles 3:19, which would tie a later governor to the Davidic house by marriage. The proposal is attractive and unproven, and it is named here as a proposal. What the archive establishes without dispute is the office Haggai's book takes for granted, a Persian-appointed governor administering the small province of Yehud from Jerusalem.
- The excavated remains of Persian-period Jerusalem5th to 4th century BC levels, from excavations in the City of David and the Ophel
The archaeology of Jerusalem in this period is thin: modest construction, limited pottery, and no monumental building except the temple itself, which has never been excavated. Estimates of the population run from a few hundred to a few thousand and are actively disputed, with Israel Finkelstein arguing for the low end and Oded Lipschits for a somewhat larger settlement. Either figure fits what the book says about itself. Haggai's own description of the second house is 'Does it not appear to you like nothing in comparison?' (2:3), and Zechariah in the same year asks 'For who has despised the day of small things?' (Zechariah 4:10). The material record and the text agree that this was a poor community doing a large thing.
The pages Haggai opens on
Studies16
Sources for this page
The movements, the chapter entries, the figures and the Context are read off the text of Haggai, with Ezra 1 to 6, Zechariah 1:1, Jeremiah 22:24, Hebrews 12:26 to 27, Matthew 1:12 to 13 and Luke 3:27. The works behind the readings under Where do readers disagree are Augustine of Hippo, City of God (426); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament, 1748 to 1763; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765); Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible (1832); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament, 1832 to 1869; Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871); and Richard A. Parker and Waldo H. Dubberstein, Babylonian Chronology 626 B.C. to A.D. 75 (1956). The New Testament links are checked against the store's cross-references, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible. Every verse quoted on this page is the Berean Standard Bible, read from the store.