Haggai

Name, Authorship, and Canonical Status

The book offers no biographical information about Haggai, the prophet for whom the book is named. The name Haggai is related to the Hebrew word for festival (hag), perhaps indicating that he was born on a feast day. The book reports Haggai's prophetic activity during a brief period of less than four months in 520 bce; see also Ezra 5.1. For Haggai as one of the twelve Minor Prophets, see the Introduction to the Prophetic Books (p. 971–75).

Date and Historical Context

The chronological formula with which the book begins (and which then reappears in 1.15b–2.1) is similar in style to those found in other books, e.g., 2 Kings 3.1; Hos 1.1; Am 1.1. The book of Haggai, however, records events after the destruction of the kingdom of Judah in 586 bce and so has no native king to whom to refer (cf. Esth 3.7; Dan 7.1; 8.1; 9.1; 10.1; 11.1). Instead, Haggai is dated to the reign of a Persian ruler, Darius I. Darius was the king during whose reign (522–486 bce) the Temple in Jerusalem was dedicated (515). The temple of Solomon had been destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 (see 2 Kings 26.8–21). The rebuilding inaugurates what scholars refer to as the Second Temple period. Early in Darius's reign, several Persian colonies revolted, most notably Egypt, in response to which the empire launched both military and administrative campaigns to restore regional security. It was therefore in his interest to have a politically stable Syria-Palestine from which to move toward Egypt.

Because the book does not mention the completion of the Temple in 515 bce, it was probably written before that event.

Structure, Contents, and Interpretation

Though many English translations construe the book as prose, substantial portions may be poetic, e.g., 1.4–9. The book presents a brief apologetic, historical narrative, focused on the rebuilding of the Temple, and, in four dated oracles, on Haggai's role in persuading the community to complete that project. Haggai interpreted the plight of those in Yehud (the name given to the territory around Jerusalem by the Persians). Although 2 Chr 36.22–23 highlights the role of Cyrus in the rebuilding of the Temple, the book of Haggai emphasizes that local leaders should receive the credit. The book's final oracle broaches another issue, the royal prerogatives of Zerubbabel, heir to the Davidic throne, and the glory that would ensue with a king enthroned.

David L. Petersen

¹ In the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest: ²Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord's house. ³Then the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai, saying: ⁴Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? ⁵Now therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider how you have fared. ⁶You have sown much, and harvested little; you eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and you that earn wages earn wages to put them into a bag with holes.

⁷Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider how you have fared. ⁸Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored, says the Lord. ⁹You have looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? says the Lord of hosts. Because my house lies in ruins, while all of you hurry off to your own houses. ¹⁰Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. ¹¹And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the soil produces, on human beings and animals, and on all their labors.

¹²Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of the prophet Haggai, as the Lord their God had sent him; and the people feared the Lord. ¹³Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord's message, saying, I am with you, says the Lord. ¹⁴And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God, ¹⁵on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month. In the second year of King Darius,

² in the seventh month, on the twenty- first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai, saying: ²Speak now to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, and say, ³Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Is it not in your sight as nothing? ⁴Yet now take courage, O Zerubbabel, says the Lord; take courage, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; take courage, all you people of the land, says the Lord; work, for I am with you, says the Lord of hosts, ⁵according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My spirit abides among you; do not fear. ⁶For thus says the Lord of hosts: Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land; ⁷and I will shake all the nations, so that the treasure of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with splendor, says the Lord of hosts. ⁸The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of hosts. ⁹The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts; and in this place I will give prosperity, says the Lord of hosts.

¹⁰On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai, saying: ¹¹Thus says the Lord of hosts: Ask the priests for a ruling: ¹²If one carries consecrated meat in the fold of one's garment, and with the fold touches bread, or stew, or wine, or oil, or any kind of food, does it become holy? The priests answered, “No.” ¹³Then Haggai said, “If one who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean?” The priests answered, “Yes, it becomes unclean.” ¹⁴Haggai then said, So is it with this people, and with this nation before me, says the Lord; and so with every work of their hands; and what they offer there is unclean. ¹⁵But now, consider what will come to pass from this day on. Before a stone was placed upon a stone in the Lord's temple, ¹⁶how did you fare?^a When one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten; when one came to the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were but twenty. ¹⁷I struck you and all the products of your toil with blight and mildew and hail; yet you did not return to me, says the Lord. ¹⁸Consider from this day on, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since the day that the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid, consider: ¹⁹Is there any seed left in the barn? Do the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree still yield nothing? From this day on I will bless you.

²⁰The word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month: ²¹Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I am about to shake the heavens and the earth, ²²and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms; I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and overthrow the chariots and their riders; and the horses and their riders shall fall, every one by the sword of a comrade. ²³On that day, says the Lord of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, son of Shealtiel, says the Lord, and make you like a signet ring; for I have chosen you, says the Lord of hosts.

1.1–11: Haggai indicts the people. 1: The second year, 520 bce. The sixth month, Elul (August-September). The first day of the month was a time for special rituals; the date is ironic, since the place where such rituals took place is in ruins. Zerubbabel (1 Chr 3.19; Ezra 2.2; 3.2,8; 5.2; Neh 12.1; Zech 4.6–10), the grandson of Jehoiachin (2 Kings 24.8–17; 1 Chr 3.16–19), and thus a descendant of David. Joshua, Zech 3.1–10; 6.11 (= Jeshua in Ezra 2–5). Addressing the two together suggests that Yehud was led by both political and religious leaders, cf. Zech 4.10b–14. 2: For reasons unknown, the community has resisted rebuilding the Temple. 3–5: Even though Zerubbabel and Joshua had been addressed previously, Haggai appears to speak directly to the community. 4: Haggai charges the people not only with not building the Temple but also with living in lavish, i.e., paneled, houses. (Solomon's palace was paneled with cedar, 1 Kings 7.7.) The issue of time (vv. 2,4) is important. Haggai's rhetorical question receives no direct answer, but the answer is obviously “no.” 5: Consider, lit., “set to your hearts,” a recurring phrase (1.7; 2.15,18). 6: Haggai analyzes the status quo, using imagery drawn from futility curses; cf. Deut 28.38; Hos 4.10. Such misfortune stands in marked contrast with the luxurious houses in which the people live. 7–11: A call to action. 8: Haggai's central admonition: build the Temple. 9–11: These verses are built around a wordplay: as long as the Temple is in ruins (Heb “ḥareb”), the people will suffer drought (“ḥoreb”). 9: The prophet returns to the language of futility curses, though now explicitly identifying the Lord as the one who has caused such futility.

1.12–15a: The people respond. Unlike many earlier prophets, Haggai is successful in his admonitions. 12: All the remnant of the people suggests that Zerubbabel and Joshua had moved the people to obey. Remnant is ambiguous, perhaps referring to a group smaller than the preexilic population, or perhaps specifying those who had returned from exile. 13: The messenger of the Lord, a logical though unusual label for a prophet; cf. 2 Chr 35.15–16. I am with you often occurs in oracles of salvation (e.g., Isa 41.10; 43.5). 14: A new perspective on the people's obedience (v. 12), which is due to the Lord's stirring up the spirit of both the leaders and the people; cf. 2 Chr 36.22. 15: The sixth month, see v. 1; the date seems out of place, since such dates elsewhere in the book occur at the beginning of an oracle.

1.15b–2.9: The Temple will be filled with splendor. Contrary to current experience, the Lord promises that this Temple will be even more glorious than the earlier one. 1.15b–2.1: The seventh month, Tishri (September-October); the twenty-first day, when the community would have been celebrating the feast of booths (Lev 23.33–36,39–42). 2.3: As in v. 4, Haggai poses questions, the last two of which are rhetorical. The first question indicates that at least some of those present had seen the First Temple before it was destroyed in 586 bce (cf. Ezra 3.12–13). They would have been more than seventy years old to remember the First Temple. 4: Take courage, cf. Zech 8.9,13,22–23, where the same Hebrew word occurs. In 1 Chr 28.10,20, David delivers a similar exhortation to Solomon, builder of the First Temple. People of the land probably refers to the same group known earlier as the remnant of the people, although some scholars have suggested that the former phrase refers to a rural population that did not go into exile. I am with you, see 1.13n. 5: The Hebrew is difficult, reading literally, “The matter that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt.” Haggai is clearly alluding to the Exodus and Sinai experiences, and claiming that God's covenant is still in force. The notion of God's spirit residing among the people is unusual. However, God could not be present as before, since the Temple had not yet been rebuilt.

2.6–9: An oracle announcing theophanic splendor. 6: God will now act on behalf of the Temple. Once again, in a little while is difficult in Hebrew, literally, “yet one, and it is only a little one.” References to such shaking of the cosmos often occur in eschatological literature (e.g., v. 21; Isa 13.13; Joel 3.16; Heb 12.26). Here the very fabric of the universe quakes, not just mountains. This description of the universe—heavens, earth, sea, dry land—echoes that in Gen 1. 7: Splendor refers to precious objects (see Hos 13.15; 2 Chr 32.27), which means that Haggai anticipates new ritual vessels will be provided for the Temple, the old ones having been plundered by the Neo-Babylonians (cf. 2 Kings 24.13). 8: On silver and gold, cf. Zech 6.9–15, where they are products of fund-raising. 9: Prosperity, Heb “shalom.” The rebuilt Temple will engender well-being in Yehud, reversing the conditions described in 1.6,9.

2.10–14: The community is unclean. 10: December 18, 520 bce, two months since the oracle promising splendor. The word of the Lord comes literally “to” Haggai, not “by” as was the case in 1.3 and 2.1; i.e., this is a private oracle. 11: Ruling, Heb “torah.” Priests were responsible for determining whether something or someone was holy or common, clean or unclean (Lev 10.10–11; Deut 33.10). Unlike the priests indicted in Ezek 22.26, those whom Haggai consults give proper responses. 12–13: Two cases, one involving something holy, another involving something unclean, demonstrate the supremely contagious quality of the latter. Corpse uncleanness is especially difficult to remove (Num 19). 14: Haggai focuses on what they offer there as unclean. Sacrifices presented at the altar and the Temple, which was under construction, are unclean, presumably because the Temple itself has not yet been rededicated. The unclean Temple is analogous to a corpse in its ability to defile.

2.15–19: The Temple is rededicated. Since 2:20 refers to a second word of the Lord on the twenty-fourth day, 2.15–19 are part of the first word, which begins at 2.10. 15–17: The repetition of consider in this oracle mirrors the twofold use in 1.5,7. Haggai appeals to past agricultural disaster, comparable to that depicted in 1.6,10–11. 18: This day almost certainly refers to the day on which the Temple's foundation stone was relaid (cf. Zech 4.9; Ezra 3.10–11). Even though the Temple will not be completed and rededicated until 515 bce, the Temple has now been purified. 19: Haggai's questions (cf. 1.4; 2.3,16) affirm that seeds will be planted and that vines and trees will yield fruit. Prior agricultural disaster will give way to fertility. The final words are literally “I will bless,” the implication being that the “shalom” foreseen in 2.9 will include both the people and the land.

2.20–23: Zerubbabel, my servant and signet ring. On that same twenty-fourth day, a second oracle focuses on Zerubbabel. 21: The diction of “shaking” the nations resumes that in 2.6. 22: God will destroy unnamed nations. The language is allusive, e.g., chariots and their riders echoes Jer 51.21, overthrow Gen 19.25, sword of a comrade Judg 7.22. 23: On that day, a phrase routinely used to depict the eschatological “day of the Lord.” Son of Shealtiel means that Zerubbabel stands in the Davidic line, the grandson of Jehoiachin, Judah's last reigning king. The diction of choosing (God “chose” David, Ps 78.70), servant (the Davidic king can be so labeled, 2 Sam 7.5), and signet ring (Jer 22.24 likens a king to a signet ring) all suggest that Haggai thinks Zerubbabel will achieve royal status. Zerubbabel's actual fate, however, is unknown.

^a Gk: Heb since they were