In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, Yahweh’s word came by Haggai, the prophet, to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying, “This is what Yahweh of Armies says: These people say, ‘The time hasn’t yet come, the time for Yahweh’s house to be built.’ ”
Then Yahweh’s word came by Haggai, the prophet, saying, “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies waste? Now therefore this is what Yahweh of Armies says: Consider your ways.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 5 After the return of the people, they were favored,…
After the return of the people, they were favored, we know, especially with three Prophets, who roused their fainting hearts, and finished all predictions, until at length the Redeemer came in his appointed time. During the time of The Babylonian Exile the office of teaching was discharged among the captives by Ezekiel, and also by Daniel; and there were others less celebrated; for we find that some of the Psalms were then composed, either by the Levites, or by some other teachers. But these two, Ezekiel and Daniel, were above all others eminent. Then Ezra and Nehemiah followed them, the authority of whom was great among the people; but we do not read that they were endued with the Prophetic gift.
It then appears certain that three only were divinely inspired to proclaim the future condition of the people.
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Daniel had before them foretold whatever was to happen till the coming of Christ, and his Book is a remarkable mirror of God’s Providence; for he paints, as on a tablet, three things which were to be fulfilled after his death, and of which no man could have formed any conjecture. He has given even the number of years from the return of the people to the building of the Temple, and also to the death of Christ. But we must come to the other witnesses, who confirmed the predictions of Daniel. The Lord raised up three witnesses—Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.
The first condemned the sloth of the people; for, being intent on their own advantages, they all neglected the building of the Temple; and he shows that they were deservedly suffering punishment for their ingratitude; for they despised God their Deliverer, or at least honored him less than they ought to have done, and deprived him of the worship due to him. He then encouraged them to hope for a complete restoration, and showed that there was no reason for them to be disheartened by difficulties, and that though they were surrounded by enemies, and had to bear many evils, and were terrified by threatening edicts, they ought yet to have entertained hope; for the Lord would perform the work which he had begun—to restore their ancient dignity to his people, and Christ also would at length come to secure the perfect happiness and glory of the Church.
This is the sum of the whole. I now come to the words.
The Prophet mentions here the year, the month, and the day in which he began to rouse up the people from their sloth and idleness, by the command of God; for every one studied his own domestic interest, and had no concern for building the Temple.
This happened, he says, in the second year of Darius the king. Interpreters differ as to this time; for they do not agree as to the day or year in which the Babylonian captivity began. Some date the beginning of the seventy years at the ruin which happened under Jeconiah, before the erasing of the city, and the destruction of the Temple. It is, however, probable, that a considerable time had passed before Haggai began his office as a Prophet; for Babylon was taken twenty years, or little more, before the death of king Cyrus; his son Cambyses, who reigned eight years, succeeded him. The third king was Darius, the son of Hystaspes, whom the Jews will have to be the son of Ahasuerus by Esther; but no credit is due to their fancies; for they hazard any bold notion in matters unknown, and assert anything that may come to their brains or to their mouths; and thus they deal in fables, and for the most part without any semblance of truth. It may be sufficient for us to understand, that this Darius was the son of Hystaspes, who succeeded Cambyses, (for I omit the seven months of the Magi; for as they crept in by deceit, so shortly after they were destroyed;) and it is probable that Cambyses, who was the first-born son of Cyrus, had no male heir. Hence it was that his brother being slain by the consent of the nobles, the kingdom came to Darius. He, then, as we may learn from histories, was the third king of the Persians. Daniel says, in the fifth chapter, that the city of Babylon had been taken by Cyrus, but that Darius the Mede reigned there.
But between writers there is some disagreement on this point; though all say that Cyrus was king, yet Xenophon says, that Cyaxares was ever the first, so that Cyrus sustained only the character, as it were, of a regent. But Xenophon, as all who have any judgement, and are versed in history, well know, did not write a history, but fabled most boldly according to his own fancy; for he invents the tale that Cyrus was brought up by his maternal grandfather, Astyages. But it is evident enough that Astyages had been conquered in war by Cyrus. He says also that Cyrus married a wife a considerable time after the taking of Babylon, and that she was presented to him by his uncle Cyaxares, but that he dared not to marry her until he returned to Persia, and his father Cambyses approved of the marriage. Here Xenophon fables, and gives range to his own invention, for it was not his purpose to write a history. He is a very fine writer, it is true; but the unlearned are much mistaken who think that he has collected all the histories of the world. Xenophon is a highly approved philosopher, but not an approved historian; for it was his designed object fictitiously to relate as real facts what seemed to him most suitable. He fables that Cyrus died in his bed, and dictated a long will, and spoke as a philosopher in his retirement; but Cyrus, we know, died in the Scythian war, and was slain by the queen, Tomyris, who revenged the death of her son; and this is well known even by children. Xenophon, however, as he wished to paint the image of a perfect prince, says that Cyrus died in his bed. We cannot then collect from the Cyropaeda, which Xenophon has written, anything that is true. But if we compare the historians together, we shall find the following things asserted almost unanimously:—That Cambyses was the son of Cyrus; that when he suspected his younger brother he gave orders to put him to death; that both died without any male issue; and that on discovering the fraud of the Magi, the son of Hystaspes became the third king of the Persian. Daniel calls Darius, who reigned in Babylon, the Mede; but he is Cyaxares. This I readily admit; for he reigned by sufferance, as Cyrus willingly declined the honor. And Cyrus, though a grandson of Astyages, by his daughter Mandane, was yet born of a father not ennobled; for Astyages, having dreamt that all Asia would be covered by what proceeded from his daughter, was easily induced to marry her to a stranger. When, therefore, he gave her to Cambyses, his design was to drive her to a far country, so that no one born of her should come to so great an empire: this was the advice of the Magi. Cyrus then acquired a name and reputation, no doubt, only by his own efforts; nor did he venture at first to take the name of a king, but suffered his uncle, and at the same time his father-in-law, to reign with him; and yet he was his colleague only for two years; for Cyasares lived no longer than the taking of Babylon.
I come then now to our Prophet: he says, In the second year of Darius it was commanded to me by the Lord to reprove the sloth of the people. We may readily conclude that more than twenty years had elapsed since the people began to return to their own country. Some say thirty or forty years, and others go beyond that number; but this is not probable. Some say that the Jews returned to their country in the fifty-eighth year of their captivity; but this is not true, and may be easily disproved by the words of Daniel as well as by the history of Ezra. Daniel says in the ninth chapter Daniel 9:1 that he was reminded by God of the return of the people when the time prescribed by Jeremiah was drawing nigh. And as this happened not in the first year of Darius, the son of Hystaspes, but about the end of the reign of Belshasar before Babylon was taken, it follows that the time of the exile was then fulfilled. We have also this at the beginning of the history, ‘When seventy years were accomplished, God roused the spirit of Cyrus the king.’ We hence see that Cyrus had not allowed the free return of the people but at the time predicted by Jeremiah, and according to what Isaiah had previously taught, that Cyrus, before he was born, had been chosen for this work: and then God began openly to show how truly he had spoken before the people were driven into exile. But if we grant that the people returned in the fifty-eighth year, the truth of prophecy will not appear. They therefore speak very thoughtlessly who say that the Jews returned to their country before the seventieth year; for thus they subvert, as I have said, every notion of God’s favor.
Since then seventy years had elapsed when Babylon was taken, and Cyrus by a public edict permitted the Jews to return to their country, God at that time stretched forth his hand in behalf of the miserable exiles; but troubles did afterwards arise to them from their neighbors. Some under the guise of friendship wished to join them, in order to obliterate the name of Israel; and that they might make a sort of amalgamation of many nations. Then others openly carried on war with them; and when Cyrus was with his army in Scythia, his prefects became hostile to the Jews, and thus a delay was effected. Then followed Cambyses, a most cruel enemy to the Church of God. Hence the building of the Temple could not be proceeded with until the time of this Darius, the son of Hystaspes. But as Darius, the son of Hystaspes, favored the Jews, or at least was pacified towards them, he restrained the neighboring nations from causing any more delay as to the building of the Temple. He ordered his prefects to protect the people of Israel, so that they might live quietly in their country and finish the Temple, which had only been begun. And we may hence conclude that the Temple was built in forty-six years, according to what is said in the second chapter of John (John 2:20); for the foundations were laid immediately on the return of the people, but the work was either neglected or hindered by enemies.
But as liberty to build the Temple was given to the Jews, we may gather from what our Prophet says, that they were guilty of ingratitude towards God; for private benefit was by every one almost exclusively regarded, and there was hardly any concern for the worship of God. Hence the Prophet now reproves this indifference, allied as it was with ungodliness: for what could be more base than to enjoy the country and the inheritance which God had formerly promised to Abraham, and yet to make no account of God, nor of that special favor which he wished to confer—that of dwelling among them? An habitation on mount Sion had been chosen, we know, by God, that thence might come forth the Redeemer of the world. As then this business was neglected, and each one built his own house, justly does the Prophet here reprove them with vehemence in the name and by the command of God. Thus much as to the time. And he says in the second year of Darius, for a year had now elapsed since liberty to build the Temple had been allowed them; but the Jews were negligent, because they were too much devoted to their own private advantages.
And he says, that the word was given by his hand to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and to Joshua, the son of Josedech. We shall hereafter see that this communication had a regard without distinction to the whole community; and, if a probable conjecture be entertained, neither Zerubbabel nor Joshua were at fault, because the Temple was neglected; nay, we may with certainty conclude from what Zechariah says, that Zerubbabel was a wise prince, and that Joshua faithfully discharged his office as a priest. Since then both spent their labor for God, how was it that the Prophet addressed them? and since the whole blame belonged to the people, why did he not speak to them? why did he not assemble the whole multitude? The Lord, no doubt, intended to connect Zerubbabel and Joshua with his servant as associates, that they three might go forth to the people, and deliver with one mouth what God had committed to his servant Haggai. This then is the reason why the Prophet says, that he was sent to Zerubbabel and Joshua.
Let us at the same time learn, that princes and those to whom God has committed the care of governing his Church, never so faithfully perform their office, nor discharge their duties so courageously and strenuously, but that they stand in need of being roused, and, as it were, stimulated by many goads. I have already said, that in other places Zerubbabel and Joshua are commended; yet the Lord reproved them and severely expostulated with them, because they neglected the building of the Temple. This was done, that they might confirm by their authority what the Prophet was about to say: but he also intimates, that they were not wholly free from blame, while the people were thus negligent in pursuing the work of building the Temple.
Zerubbabel is called the son of Shealtiel: some think that son is put here for grandson, and that his father’s name was passed over. But this seems not probable. They quote from the Chronicles a passage in which his father’s name is said to be Pedaiah: but we know that it was often the case among that people, that a person had two names. I therefore regard Zerubbabel to have been the son of Shealtiel. He is said to have been the governor of Judah; for it was necessary that some governing power should continue in that tribe, though the royal authority was taken away, and all sovereignty and supreme power extinguished. It was yet God’s purpose that some vestiges of power should remain, according to what had been predicted by the patriarch Jacob,
‘Taken away shall not be the scepter from Judah, nor a leader from his thigh, until he shall come;’ etc. (Genesis 49:10.)
The royal scepter was indeed taken away, and the crown was removed, according to what Ezekiel had said, ‘Take away the crown, subvert, subvert, subvert it,’ (Ezekiel 21:26, 27;) for the interruption of the government had been sufficiently long. Yet the Lord in the meantime preserved some remnants, that the Jews might know that that promise was not wholly forgotten. This then is the reason why the son of Shealtiel is said to be the governor of Judah. It now follows—
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4 Because the building of the Temple began to cease,…
Because the building of the Temple began to cease, by reason that the people were discouraged by their enemies: and if these two notable men had need to be stirred up and admonished of their duties, what shall we think of other governors, whose doings are either against God, or very cold in his cause?
Who was the son of Histaspis and the third king of the Persians, as some think.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–5 Hag 1:1 In the second year of Darius the…
Hag 1:1 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 unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying,
Ver. 1. In the second year of Darius the king] Not of Darius the Mede, as Genebrard noteth, for he was predecessor to Cyrus, Dan 5:31, and Haggai prophesied after Cyrus and Cambyses, Ezr 4:5; Ezr 5:1, neither of Darius Nothus, as Scaliger in his book, De Emend. Temporum (the doctrine whereof is almost wholly fictitious, saith one, and founded upon the confines of nothing); but of Darius son of Hystaspes, who succeeded Cambyses in the kingdom of Persia; being chosen king by the peers, upon the neighing of his horse first, as Herodotus testifieth. Whether this Darius was the husband of Queen Esther, as some affirm, or her son, as others (and was therefore so favourable to the Jews), I undertake not to determine; only take notice, that by heathen historians it is said, that the wife of this Darius was called Atossa, which sounds in part somewhat like Hadassah, that is, Esther, Est 2:7. Hadassah was her own Hebrew name; and after she was made queen she was called Esther. He is called Darius the king, as if he were the only king on earth. His successor, Darius, in his proud embassy to Alexander, called himself the king of kings and cousin of the gods; and for Alexander, he called him his servant; but Alexander soon after became his lord: for the kingdom of Persia was lost by that Darius, as it had been restored by this to its former splendour, after the havoc made by Cambyses (παλιν επι Dαρειου σχεδον εσωθη); who among other vile acts of his (as "wickedness proceedeth from the wicked, according to the proverb of the ancients," 1Sa 24:18), forbade the building of the temple, Ezr 4:22. But he who sets up princes at his pleasure, and turns their hearts whithersoever he will, Pro 21:1 (as the ploughman doth the watercourse with his paddle, or the gardener with his hand), turned here the heart of this great king to his people the Jews; so that he made a new decree for the advancement of the building, Ezr 5:8. God also seasonably stirred up Haggai and Zechariah to quicken the people (who were soon after their return from Babylon grown cold again and careless), and so blessed their ministry, that the house, that is, the sanctuary, and the holy of holies, was finished in four years’ time, or thereabouts, Ezr 6:14. The outward court, and so the whole temple, in three years after that, as Josephus witnesseth.
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In the sixth month] In the 3484th year of the world, as Ussher computeth it, on the first of September, {confer Hag 2:19} when the Jews were ingathering their harvest and fruits, and found a dearth toward. This the prophet makes use of, pressing it upon the people as a just hand of God upon them, for slighting and slacking the rebuilding of his house. It is good for God’s ministers to set in with him, to strike while the iron is hot, to cry, "Hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it," Mic 6:9; for as iron is very soft and malleable while in the fire; and as molten metals are fit for the mould; so when men are under the cross they are more easily wrought upon; they will hearken to instruction, that before laughed at it, as the wild ass doth at the horse and his rider, Job 39:18. The wild ass, that is used to the wilderness, though she kick up her heels, and snuff up the wind at her pleasure, so that they that seek her will not weary themselves, yet there is a time when she may be taken; in her month they shall find her, Jer 2:24.
In the first day of the month] Heb. In one day. One for first is ordinary in both Testaments, Gen 1:5; Num 29:1; Dan 9:1; Mat 28:1; Joh 20:1; 1Co 16:2. The time of this prophecy (as of others, Isa 1:1 Jer 1:2-3, &c.) is precisely noted, to teach us what account we should make of God’s oracles and inspirations; and how God will one day reckon with us for the helps we have had and the time we have enjoyed them. He sets down all: how much more should we, and live up to our means and mercies, propagating our thankfulness into our practice! Jeremiah prophesied forty years, but with ill success; it was his unhappiness to be physician to a dying state, Tunc etiam, docta plus valet arte malum. The Holy Ghost sets a special mark upon these forty years of his prophesying, Eze 4:6, by bidding the prophet lie forty days upon his right side, and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days, a day for a year.
Came the word of the Lord] i.e. He began to prophesy, as Ezr 5:1, being sent and set to work by God, whose alone it is to make fit ministers of either Testaments, 2Co 3:5, to send, gift, and bless them, Jer 23:21. Prophetarum ora sunt Dei os The mouths of the prophets are the mouth of God. (Chrysost.).
By Haggai the prophet] Heb. by the hand of Haggai, that is, by his means and ministry. {See Trapp on "Mal 1:1"} Haggai signifieth merry and pleasant ( Festivus et laetus), as at a solemn feast; which name of his excellence suited both with the time of his prophecy, viz. after the return from captivity, see Psa 126:1-2, and also with the matter whereof he treats and whereto he drives, Christ, the Desire of all nations, Hag 2:7 Wilt thou be merry at any time? saith Seneca, think on Caesar: canst thou be sad and he be in health? How much more cause have we to be merry in the Lord Christ! Let us keep the feast with all solemnity; let us keep holy day (εορταζωμεν), since Christ our passover is sacrificed for us, 1Co 5:7-8. Let this swallow up all our discontents, and crown the calendar of our lives with continual festivals; let the ransomed of the Lord return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads, &c., Isa 35:10. The Septuagint ascribe certain of the Psalms to Haggai and Zechariah, in the titles they prefix; though some think that the Hallelujah Psalms (as they are called, because they begin and end with Hallelujah, or, Praise ye the Lord) were sung by the Jews, returning out of Babylon; those two prophets beginning the tune, or giving the verse (as they call it). And hereunto the prophet Jeremiah might have an eye, Jer 31:12 "Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together, to the goodness of the Lord," &c.
Unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel] Philo saith he was also called Barachias; others Pedaiah, out of 1Ch 3:19. He is called Sheshbazzar, Ezr 1:8. His name, Zerubbabel, signifieth either, Born in Babel, or, Far from confusion. A prince (of all men) should observe order, and keep the peace. By the laws of England a nobleman cannot be bound to the peace; because it is supposed that the peace is always bound to him, and that of his own accord he will be careful to keep others in good order. But what a regnum Cyclopicum was at Rome in Nero’s days, Quando poterat quisque ea quam cuperet potiri, negare licebat nemini? Turn servus cum Domina, praesente Domino suo, et gladiator cum virgine nobili inspectante patre rem habuit (Dio in Vit. Neron). Blessed be God for better times.
Governor of Judah] Or duke, captain, provincial, president. The many headed multitude hath need of a guide, who may be αθορυβος και φρονιμος, peaceable and prudent (saith Plato), to keep and care for the welfare of his subjects. Such a one was Zerubbabel, Nobilis genere, nobilior sanctitate, Noble by birth, but more noble by his piety; drained from the dregs and sifted from the brans of the baser sort of people. In the seventeenth year of his age he led back part of the people from Babylon to Jerusalem, where he continued governor for the time of 58 years, saith Gryaenus. Those that make Darius in the text to be Darius Nothus must needs allow him a much longer life and government; which God, say they, granteth to some because he hath something to be done by them. The change of states may here also be remarked. This people was first governed by judges, or captains; then by kings, and now by captains again. So the principality of Edom, as it began with dukes, and rose to kings, so it returned to dukes again, after the death of Hadad, in Moses’ time, 1Ch 1:51 Gen 36:43. Adeo nihil est in vita firmum aut stabile (ασταθμητον του βιου). Truly, nothing in life is fixed and secure. So uncertain are all things.
And to Joshua the son of Josedech] A brand plucked out of the fire, Zec 3:2, and therefore the fitter for such a preferment, ut in alto positus non altum sapiat (Bernard). David came not to the kingdom till his soul was even as a weaned child, Psa 131:2. Queen Elizabeth swam to her crown through a sea of sorrows. Matthias, King of Hungary, was taken from the prison to the throne. But to the business: Joshua, the high priest, was a type of Christ in regard, 1. Of his name, which signifieth a Saviour. 2. Of his office of high priesthood. 3. Of his partnership with Zerubbabel, in bringing the people home to their own country. The Lord Christ is both our Prince of life and our merciful and faithful High Priest, ever living to make request for us, Act 2:15; Heb 4:14-16; Heb 7:24-28
The high priest, saying] Zerubbabel and Jehoshua were the chieftains of the people; and though not themselves in fault, or, at least, nothing so much (for they were both very religious), yet they were not so forward and forth putting as they should have been in so excellent a work. Howsoever, if the task be not done, the taskmasters are beaten, Exo 5:14. It is the misery of those that are trusted with authority that their inferiors’ faults are beaten upon their backs. If the people gather manna on the Lord’s sabbath Moses and Aaron shall hear, "How long refuse ye to keep. my commandments?" Exo 16:28. It is Mr Calvin’s opinion that Haggai, therefore, addressed himself to these two principal persons; to the end that they might join their forces with him, in reprehending and exciting the people to the Lord’s work. When the word and the sword go together there is great likelihood of much good to be done. Upon the sword of Charles the Great was written Utriusque tabulae custos. Guard of both tables of the law. And Queen Elizabeth riding progress once in Suffolk, said, that now she saw the reason why that county was so well governed, for she observed that all the justices coming to meet her had every one his minister next to his person.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1–5 Darius: of this name there were seven, Darius Medus,…
Darius: of this name there were seven, Darius Medus, Hystaspes, Longimanus, Nothus, Ochus, Arsames, Codomanus; one before Cyrus, viz. that Darius which is distinguished from the other by Medus, the Mede; the next Darius was son of Hystaspes, and third king of Persia, (if we leave out Smerdis the cheat, who on Cambyses's death counterfeited the true Smerdis, slain by Cambyses's order, got into the throne, but was discovered and slain at seven months' end,) of whom the text speaketh; unless you can think Joshua high priest through one hundred and forty-four years, and some considerable number of Jews to have lived one hundred and ninety-six years, and the returned captives to have wanted a temple for one hundred and twelve years at least, which incredible things attend them who will have this Darius to be Nothus.
The king; as being the greatest of that time, and by way of eminency above others.
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In the sixth month; Elul, answering to part of our August and September.
The word of the Lord; the command or direction what they should do, and reproof for what they had omitted to do.
Haggai: we read nothing of his parentage or country in the Scripture; he doted that thought him an angel.
The prophet; inspired, sent, approved, and assisted of God in his office.
Zerubbabel; whose name speaks either his birth in Babylon, or his interest and power there as some conjecture: probably his birth in Babylon might be ground of trusting him with the government of Judah, to which he had right.
Son of Shealtiel; adoptive son to Shealtiel, being of the royal line, probably he was the chief branch thereof, uncle to him; but by nature, or by generation, son of Pedaiah; or else there were two Zerubbabels, sons of two brothers, Pedaiah and Shealtiel.
Governor of Judah; appointed to this by the Persian king, under whose power the Jews were now fallen, and at whose pleasure governors were placed or displaced over the remnant returned out of Babylon, and once at last settled in the land of Judah.
Joshua; a type of the great Deliverer; one Joshua leads them into Canaan, another restores the temple.
Josedech; whose name did portend good to this people, and bespoke God's righteousness; his father Seraiah was high priest and slain by Nebuchadnezzar.
The high priest, by lineal descent according to the law, chief of power in church matters, as Zerubbabel was chief in civil things: to these the prophet is sent to stir them up to the building of the temple.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v1 It was the complaint of the Jews in Babylon…
It was the complaint of the Jews in Babylon that they saw not their signs, and there was no more prophet (Psa 74:9), which was a just judgment upon them for mocking and misusing the prophets. We read of no prophets they had in their return, as they had in their coming out of Egypt, Hos 12:13. God stirred them up immediately by his Spirit to exert themselves in that escape (Ezr 1:5); for, though God makes use of prophets, he needs them not, he can do his work without them. But the lamp of Old Testament prophecy shall yet make some bright and glorious efforts before it expire; and Haggai is the first that appears under the character of a special messenger from heaven, when the word of the Lord had been long precious (as when prophecy began, Sa1 3:1) and there had been no open vision. In the reign of Darius Hystaspes, the third of the Persian kings, in the second year of his reign, this prophet was sent; and the word of the Lord came to him, and came by him to the leading men among the Jews, who are here named, Hag 1:1. The chief governor, 1. In the state; that was Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, of the house of David, who was commander-in-chief of the Jews, in their return out of captivity. 2. In the church; and that was Joshua the son of Josedech, who was now high priest. They were great men and good men, and yet were to be stirred up to their duty when they grew remiss. What the people also were faulty in they must be told of, that they might use their power and interest for the mending of it. The prophets, who were extraordinary messengers, did not go about to set aside the ordinary institutions of magistracy and ministry, but endeavoured to render both more effectual for the ends to which they were appointed, for both ought to be supported. Now observe,
I. What the sin of the Jews was at this time, Hag 1:2. As soon as they came up out of captivity they set up an altar for sacrifice, and within a year after laid the foundations of a temple, Ezr 3:10. They then seemed very forward in it, and it was likely enough that the work would be done suddenly; but, being served with a prohibition some time after from the Persian court, and charged not to go on with it, they not only yielded to the force, when they were actually under it, which might be excused, but afterwards, when the violence of the opposition had abated, they continued very indifferent to it, had no spirit nor courage to set about it again, but seemed glad that they had a pretence to let it stand still. Though those who are employed for God may be driven off from their work by a storm, yet they must return to it as soon as the storm is over. These Jews did not do so, but continued loitering until they were afresh reminded of their duty. And that which they suggested one to another was, The time has not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built; that is, 1. "Our time has not come for the doing of it, because we have not yet recovered, after our captivity; our losses are not repaired, nor have we yet got before-hand in the world. It is too great an undertaking for new beginners in the world, as we are; let us first get our own houses up, before we talk of building churches, and in the mean time let a bare altar serve us, as it did our father Abraham." They did not say that they would not build a temple at all, but, "Not yet; it is all in good time." Note, Many a good work is put by by being put off, as Felix put off the prosecution of his convictions to a more convenient season. They do not say that they will never repent, and reform, and be religious, but, "Not yet." And so the great business we were sent into the world to do is not done, under pretence that it is all in good time to go about it. 2. "God's time has not come for the doing of it; for (say they) the restraint laid upon us by authority in a legal way is not broken off, and therefore we ought not to proceed, though there be a present connivance of authority." Note, There is an aptness in us to misinterpret providential discouragements in our duty, as if they amounted to a discharge from our duty, when they are only intended for the trial and exercise of our courage and faith. It is bad to neglect our duty, but it is worse to vouch Providence for the patronising of our neglects.
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II. What the judgments of God were by which they were punished for this neglect, Hag 1:6, Hag 1:9-11. They neglected the building of God's house, and put that off, that they might have time and money for their secular affairs. They desired to be excused from such an expensive piece of work under this pretence, that they must provide for their families; their children must have meat and portions too, and, until they have got before-hand in the world, they cannot think of rebuilding the temple. Now, that the punishment might answer to the sin, God by his providence kept them still behind-hand, and that poverty which they thought to prevent by not building the temple God brought upon them for not building it. They were sensible of the smart of the judgment, and every one complained of the unseasonable weather, the great losses they sustained in their corn and cattle, and the decay of trade; but they were not sensible of the cause of the judgment, and the ground of God's controversy with them. They did not, or would not, see and own that it was for their putting off the building of the temple that they lay under these manifest tokens of God's displeasure; and therefore God here gives them notice that this is that for which he contended with them. Note, We need the help of God's prophets and ministers to expound to us, not only the judgments of God's mouth, but the judgments of his hands, that we may understand his mind and meaning in his rod as well as in his word, to discover to us not only wherein we have offended God, but wherein God shows himself offended at us. Let us observe,
1. How God contended with them. He did not send them into captivity again, nor bring a foreign enemy upon them, as they deserved, but took the correcting of them into his own hands; for his mercies are great. (1.) He that gives seed to the sower denied his blessing upon the seed sown, and then it never prospered; they had nothing, or next to nothing, from it. They sowed much (Hag 1:6), kept a great deal of ground in tillage, which, they might expect, would turn to a better advantage than usual, because their land had long lain fallow and had enjoyed its sabbaths. Having sown much, they looked for much from it, enough to spend and enough to spare too; but they were disappointed: They bring in little, very little (Hag 1:6); when they have made the utmost of it, it comes to little (Hag 1:9); it did not yield as they expected. Isa 5:10, The seed of a homer shall yield an ephah, a bushel's sowing shall yield a peck. Note, Our expectations from the creature are often most frustrated when they are most raised; and then, when we look for much, it comes to little, that our expectation may be from God only, in whom it will be outdone. We are here told how they came to be disappointed (Hag 1:10): The heaven over you is stayed from dew; he that has the key of the clouds in his hands shut them up, and withheld the rain when the ground called for it, the former or the latter rain, and then of course the earth is stayed from her fruit; for, if the heaven be as brass, the earth is as iron. The corn perhaps came up very well, and promised a very plentiful crop, but, for want of the dews at earing-time, it never filled, but was parched with the heat of the sun and withered away. The restored captives, who had long been kept bare in Babylon, thought they should never want when they had got their own land in possession again and had that at command. But what the better are they for it, unless they had the clouds at command too? God will make us sensible of our necessary and constant dependence upon him, throughout all the links in the chain of second causes, from first to last; so that we can at no time say, "Now we have no further occasion for God and his providence." See Hos 2:21. But God not only withheld the cooling rains, but he appointed the scorching heats (Hag 1:11): I called for a drought upon the land, ordered the weather to be extremely hot, and then the fruits of the earth were burnt up. See how every creature is that to us which God makes it to be, either comfortable or afflictive, serving us or incommoding us. Nothing among the inferior creatures is so necessary and beneficial to the world as the heat of the sun; it is that which puts life into the plants and renews the face of the earth at spring. And yet, if that go into an extreme, it undoes all again. Our Creator is our best friend; but, if we make him our enemy, we make the best friends we have among the creatures our enemies too. This drought God called for, and it came at the call; as the winds and the waves, so the rays of the sun, obey him. It was universal, and the ill effects of it were general; it was a drought upon the mountains, which, lying high, were first affected with it. The mountains were their pasture-grounds, and used to be covered over with flocks, but now there was no grass for them. It was upon the corn, the new wine, and the oil; all failed through the extremity of the hot weather, even all that the ground brought forth; it all withered. Nay, it had a bad influence upon men; the hot weather enfeebled some, and made them weary and faint, and spent their spirits; it inflamed others, and put them into fevers. It should seem, it brought diseases upon cattle too. In short, it spoiled all the labour of their hands, which they hoped to eat of and maintain their families by. Note, Meat for the belly is meat that perishes, and, if we labour for that only, we are in danger of losing our labour; but we are sure our labour shall not be in vain in the Lord if we labour for the meat which endures to eternal life. For the hand of the diligent, in the business of religion, will infallibly make rich, whereas, in the business of this life, the most solicitous and the most industrious often lose the labour of their hands. The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. (2.) He that gives bread to the eater denied his blessing upon the bread they ate, and then that did not nourish them. The cause of the withering and failing of the corn in the field was visible - it was for want of rain; but, besides that, there was a secret blast and curse attending that which they brought home. [1.] When they had it in the barn they were not sure of it: I did blow upon it, saith the Lord of hosts (Hag 1:9), and that withered it, as buds are sometimes blasted in the spring by a nipping frost, which we see the effects of, but know not the way of. I did blow it away; so the margin reads it. When men have heaped wealth together God can scatter it with the breath of his mouth as easily as we can blow away a feather. Note, We can never be sure of any thing in this world; it is exposed, not only when it is in the field, but when it is housed; for there moth and rust corrupt, Mat 6:19. And, if we would have the comfort and continuance of our temporal enjoyments, we must make God our friend; for, if he bless them to us, they are blessings indeed, but if he blow upon them we can expect no good from them: they make themselves wings and fly away. [2.] When they had it upon the board it was not that to them that they expected: "You eat, but you have not enough, either because the meat is washy, and not satisfying, or because the stomach is greedy, and not satisfied. You eat, but you have no good digestion, and so are not nourished by it, nor does it answer the end, or you have not enough because you are not content, nor think it enough. You drink, but are not cooled and refreshed by it; you are not filled with drink; you are stinted, and have not enough to quench your thirst. The new wine is cut off from your mouth (Joe 1:5), nay, and you drink your water too by measure and with astonishment; you have no comfort of it, because you have no plenty of it, but are still in fear of falling short." [3.] That which they had upon their backs did them no good there: "You clothe yourselves, but there is none warm; your clothes soon wear out, and wax old, and grow thin, because God blows upon them," contrary to what Israel's did in the wilderness when God blessed them. It is God that makes our garments warm upon us, when he quiets the earth, Job 37:17. [4.] That which they had in their bags, which was not laid out, but laid up, they were not sure of: "He that earns wages by hard labour, and has it paid him in ready current money, puts it into a bag with holes; it drops through, and wastes away insensibly. Every thing is so scarce and dear that they spend their money as fast as they get it." Those that lay up their treasure on earth put it into a bag with holes; they lose it as they go along, and those that come after them pick it up. But, if we lay up our treasure in heaven, we provide for ourselves bags that wax not old, Luk 12:33.
2. Observe wherefore God thus contended with them, and stopped the current of the favours promised them at their return (Joe 2:24); they provoked him to do it: It is because of my house that is waste. This is the quarrel God has with them. The foundation of the temple is laid, but the building does not go on. "Every man runs to his own house, to finish that, and to make that convenient and fine, and no care is taken about the Lord's house; and therefore it is that God crosses you thus in all your affairs, to testify his displeasure against you for that neglect, and to bring you to a sense of your sin and folly." Note, As those who seek first the kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof shall not only find them, but are most likely to have other things added to them, so those who neglect and postpone those things will not only lose them, but will justly have other things taken away from them. And if God cross us in our temporal affairs, and we meet with trouble and disappointment, we shall find this is the cause of it, the work we have to do for God and our own souls is left undone, and we seek our own things more than the things of Jesus Christ, Phi 2:21.
III. The reproof which the prophet gives them for their neglect of the temple-work (Hag 1:4): "Is it time for you, O you! to dwell in your ceiled houses, to have them beautified and adorned, and your families settled in them?" They were not content with walls and roofs for necessity, but they must have for gaiety and fancy. "It is high time," says one, "that my house were wainscoted." "It is high time," says another, "that mine were painted." And God's house, all this time, lies waste, and nothing is done at it. "What!" says the prophet, "is it time that you should have your humour pleased, and not time you should have your God pleased?" How much was their disposition the reverse of David's, who could not be easy in his house of cedar while the ark of God was in curtains (Sa2 7:2), and of Solomon's, who built the temple of God before he built a palace for himself. Note, Those are very much strangers to their own interest who prefer the conveniences and ornaments of the temporal life before the absolute necessities of the spiritual life, who are full of care to enrich their own houses, while God's temple in their hearts lies waste, and nothing is done for it or in it.
IV. The good counsel which the prophet gives to those who thus despised God, and whom God was therefore justly displeased with. 1. He would have them reflect: Now therefore consider your ways, Hag 1:5 and again Hag 1:7. "Be sensible of the hand of God gone out against you, and enquire into the reason; think what you have done that has provoked God thus to break in upon your comforts; and think what you will do to testify your repentance, that God may return in mercy to you." Note, It is the great concern of every one of us to consider our ways, to set our hearts to our ways (so the word is), to think on our ways (Psa 119:59), to search and try them (Lam 3:40), to ponder the path of our feet (Pro 4:26), to apply our minds with all seriousness to the great and necessary duty of self-examination, and communing with our own hearts concerning our spiritual state, our sins that are past, and our duty for the future; for sin is what we must answer for, duty is what we must do; about these therefore we must be inquisitive, rather than about events, which we must leave to God. Many are quick-sighted to pry into other people's ways who are very careless of their own; whereas our concern is to prove every one his own work, Gal 6:4. 2. He would have them reform (Hag 1:8): "Go up to the mountain, to Lebanon, and bring wood, and other materials that are wanting, and build the house with all speed; put it off no longer, but set to it in good earnest." Note, Our considering our ways must issue in the amending of whatever we find amiss in them. If any duty has been long neglected, that is not a reason why it should still be so, but why now at length it should be revived; better late than never. For their encouragement to apply in good earnest to this work, he assures them, (1.) That they should be accepted of him in it: Build the house, and I will take pleasure in it; and that was encouragement enough for them to apply to it with alacrity and resolution, and to go through with it, whatever it cost them. Note, Whatever God will take pleasure in, when it is done, we ought to take pleasure in the doing of, and to reckon that inducement enough to set about it, and go on with it in good earnest; for what greater satisfaction can we have in our own bosoms than in contributing any thing towards that which God will take pleasure in? It ought to be the top of our ambition to be accepted of the Lord, Co2 5:9. Though they had foolishly neglected the house of God, yet, if at length they will resume the care of it, God will not remember against them their former neglects, but will take pleasure in the work of their hands. Those who have long deferred their return to God, if at length they return with all their heart, must not despair of his favour. (2.) That he would be honoured by them in it: I will be glorified, saith the Lord. He will be served and worshipped in the temple when it is built, and sanctified in those that come nigh to him. It is worth while to bestow all possible care, and pains, and cost, upon that by which God may be glorified.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–5 In the second year of Darius the King,.... That…
In the second year of Darius the King,.... That is, of Persia; he is spoken of as if he was the only king in the world; and indeed he was the then greatest king in it; and therefore is emphatically called "the king". This was not Darius the Mede, as Genebrard; who was contemporary with Cyrus, and partner in the kingdom; nor Darius Nothus, as Scaliger, and those that follow him; since the second year of this Darius was, according to Cocceius, who follows this opinion, one hundred and thirty eight years after the first edict of Cyrus; and so Zerubbabel and Joshua must exercise their office, the one of governor, the other of high priest, such a term of years, and more, which is not credible; and some of the Jews in captivity must have lived upwards of two hundred years; even those who saw the temple in its first glory, before the captivity, and now behold it in Haggai's time, in a very different condition, Hag 2:3. It seems therefore more probable, according to Josephus (i), and others, that this was Darius Hystaspis, who was chosen king by the nobles of Persia, upon his horse's neighing first as Herodotus (k) relates: the second year of his reign was about seventeen or eighteen years after the proclamation of Cyrus; during whose reign, he being much engaged in affairs abroad, and the reign of his successor Cambyses, the enemies of the Jews, encouraged by the latter, greatly obstructed the building of the temple, and discouraged them from going on with it; but when this king came to the throne, things took another turn, being favoured by him; for Josephus (l) relates, that, when a private person, he vowed, if ever he became king, whatever of the holy vessels were in Babylon, he would send to the temple at Jerusalem; and upon solicitations made to him, the Jews were encouraged to go on with the building of it:
in the sixth month; the month Elul, answering, to part of August, and part of September; which was the sixth, reckoning from the month Nisan:
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in the first day of the month; which was the feast of the new moon:
came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet; or, "by the hand of Haggai" (m); by his means; he was the instrument by whom the Lord delivered his word; the word was not the prophet's, but the Lord's; and this is observed, to give weight and authority to it:
unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel: the same who is called Salathiel, Mat 1:12 according to Kimchi and Ben Melech, he was the grandson of Salathiel; though rather Salathiel seems to be his uncle, he being the son of Pedaiah his brother, Ch1 3:17 however, he was his heir and successor in the government, and so called his son; See Gill on Mat 1:12,
governor of Judah; not king; for the country was under the dominion of the king of Persia, and Zerubbabel was a deputy governor under him; so the apocryphal Ezra calls him governor of Judea,
"And also he commanded that Sisinnes the governor of Syria and Phenice, and Sathrabuzanes, and their companions, and those which were appointed rulers in Syria and Phenice, should be careful not to meddle with the place, but suffer Zorobabel, the servant of the Lord, and governor of Judea, and the elders of the Jews, to build the house of the Lord in that place.'' (1 Esdras 6:27)
and, according to Josephus (n), he was made governor of the captive Jews, when in Babylon, being in great favour with the king of Babylon; and, with two more, were his body guards; and he was continued governor by the Persians, when the Jews returned to their land:
and to Joshua the son of Josedech the high priest; who is called Jeshua, and his father Jozadak, Ezr 3:2 his father was carried captive by Nebuchadnezzar, Ch1 6:15 now, to these two principal persons in the commonwealth of Judea was the word of the Lord sent by the prophet; the one having the chief power in civil things, and the other in things ecclesiastical; and both had an influence upon the people; but very probably were dilatory in the work of building the temple; and therefore have a message sent to them, to stir them up to this service:
saying: as follows:
(i) Antiqu. l. 11. c. 3. sect. 1. and c. 4. sect. 5, 7. (k) Thalia, sive l. 3. c. 84, 85, 86. (l) Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 11. c. 3. sect. 1. and c. 4. sect. 5, 7.) (m) "in manu Aggaei", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Cocceius. (n) Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 11. c. 3. sect. 1. and c. 4. sect. 5, 7.)
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 4 A reproof of the Jews for their delay in…
A reproof of the Jews for their delay in building, which had provoked God to punish them, ver. 1-11. The peoples return to the work, whom the prophet, in God's name, encourages therein, ver. 12-15.
Son - Adoptive son to Shealtiel, being of the royal line, but by nature, son of Pedaiah. Governor - Appointed to this by the Persian king, over the remnant returned out of Babylon. Joshua - A type of the great deliverer; one Joshua leads them into Canaan, another restores the temple.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 5 Chronological Notes relative to this book
THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET HAGGAI
Chronological Notes relative to this book
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-Year from the Creation, according to Archbishop Usher, 3484.
-Year of the Julian Period, 4194.
-Year since the flood, 1828.
-Year from the vocation of Abram, 1301.
-Year since the first celebration of the Olympic games in Elis by the Idaei Dactyli, 934.
-Year since the foundation of the monarchy of the Israelites by the Divine appointment of Saul to the regal dignity, 576.
-Year from the foundation of the temple, 492.
-Year from the division of Solomon's monarchy into the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, 456.
-Year since the re-establishment of the Olympic games at Elis by Lycurgus, Iphitus, and Cleosthenes, 365.
-Year since the conquest of Coroebus at Olympia, usually called the first Olympiad, 257.
-First year of the sixty-fifth Olympiad.
-Year from the building of Rome, according to the Varronian or generally received computation, 234.
-Year from the building of Rome, according to Cato and the Fasti Consulares, 233.
-Year from the building of Rome, according to Polybius the historian, 232.
-Year from the building of Rome, according to Fabius Pictor, 228.
-Year of the era of Nabonassar, 228.
-Year since the destruction of the kingdom of Israel by Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, 202.
-Year since the destruction of the kingdom of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, 68.
-Year since the destruction of the Chaldean empire by the Persians, 18.
-Year before the birth of Christ, 516.
-Year before the vulgar era of Christ's nativity, 520.
-Cycle of the Sun, 22.
-Cycle of the Moon, 14.
-Second year of Darius I., king of Persia.
-Twenty-eighth year of Amyntas, king of Macedon.
-Seventh year of Demaratus, king of Lacedaemon, of the family of the Proclidae.
-Eleventh year of Cleomenes, king of Lacedaemon, of the family of the Eurysthenidae.
-Fifteenth year of Tarquinius Superbus, the last king of the Romans.
-This was about twelve years before the abolition of the regal government of the Romans by the expulsion of the Tarquins.
-Confucius, the celebrated Chinese philosopher, is supposed to have flourished about this time.
CHAPTER I
The prophet reproves the people, and particularly their ruler
and high priest, for negligence and delay in rebuilding the
temple; and tells them that their neglect was the cause of
their having been visited with unfruitful seasons, and other
marks of the Divine displeasure, 1-11.
He encourages them to set about the work, and on their doing
so, promises that God will be with them, 12-15.
We know nothing of the parentage of Haggai. He was probably born in Babylon during the captivity, and appears to have been the first prophet sent to the Jews after their return to their own land. He was sent particularly to encourage the Jews to proceed with the building of the temple, which had been interrupted for about fourteen years. Cyrus, who had published an edict empowering the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their city and temple, revoked this edict in the second year of his reign, through the evil advice of his courtiers and other enemies of the Jews. After his death Cambyses renewed the prohibition, but after the death of Cambyses, Darius, the son of Hystaspes, renewed the permission; and Haggai was sent to encourage his countrymen to proceed with the work. Darius came to the throne about the year B.C. 521, and published his edict of permission for the Jews to rebuild the city and temple in the second year of his reign, which was the sixteenth of their return from Babylon.
NOTES ON CHAP. I
Verse 1. In the sixth month] Called Elul by the Hebrews. It was the sixth month of the ecclesiastical year, and the last of the civil year, and answered to a part of our September.
Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel] Who was son of Jeconiah, king of Judah, and of the family of David, and exercised the post of a governor among the people, but not over them, for both he and they were under the Persian government; but they were permitted to have Zerubbabel for their own governor, and Joshua for their high priest; and these regulated all matters relative to their peculiar political and ecclesiastical government. But it appears from Ezra, Ezr 5:3, that Tatnai, the governor on this side the river, had them under his cognizance. None of their own governors was absolute. The Persians permitted them to live under their own laws and civil regulations; but they always considered them as a colony, over which they had a continual superintendence.
Joshua the son of Josedech] And son of Seraiah, who was high priest in the time of Zedekiah, and was carried into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar, 1Ch 6:15. But Seraiah was slain at Riblah, by order of Nebuchadnezzar, 2Kg 25:18-21.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 5 Hag 1:1. In the second year of Darius —…
Hag 1:1. In the second year of Darius — Namely, the son of Hystaspes, king of Persia. Blair places the second year of his reign five hundred and twenty years before Christ. In the sixth month, in the first day of the month — Therefore, about two months before Zechariah received a similar commission, for the word of God came to him in the eighth month of the same year: see Zec 1:1. These two prophets were sent to the Jews chiefly, it seems, to exhort them to go on with the rebuilding the temple. And the historical book of Ezra records, chap. 5., that the rebuilding of the temple was resumed and carried on again through the exhortations and encouragements of these prophets. Unto Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel — And grandson of Jeconiah, who was carried captive to Babylon: see the margin. It is likely that Zerubbabel was regarded with as much respect by the Jews as if he had been their king, being of the royal family of David; but they did not give him the title of king, or invest him with the splendour of royal dignity, for fear of giving offence to the Persian kings, under whose protection they lived, and upon whom they were in a great measure dependant. And to Joshua the son of Josedech — Son of Seraiah, who was high-priest when Jerusalem was taken, and who was slain at Riblah: see 1Ch 6:14; 2Ki 25:18-21. Haggai seems to have addressed Zerubbabel and Joshua probably in the hearing of the people: see Hag 1:12.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1–5 In the second year of Darius - , i.…
In the second year of Darius - , i. e., Hystaspis. The very first word of prophecy after the captivity betokens that they were restored, not yet as before, yet so, as to be hereafter, more than before. The earthly type, by God’s appointment, was fading away, that the heavenly truth might dawn. The earthly king was withdrawn, to make way for the heavenly. God had said of Jeconiah Jer 22:30, “No man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling anymore in Israel:” and so now prophecy begins to be dated by the years of a foreign earthly ruler, as in the Baptism of the Lord Himself Luk 3:1. Yet God gives back in mercy more than He withdraws in chastisement. The earthly rule is suspended, that people might look out more longingly for the heavenly.
In the sixth month - They counted by their own months, beginning with Nisan, the first of the ecclesiastical year (which was still used for holy purposes and in sacred history), although, having no more any kings, they dated their years by those of the empire, to which they were subject (See Zec 1:7; Zec 7:1) in the sixth month, part of our July and August, their harvest was past, and the dearth, which they, doubtless ascribed (as we do) to the seasons, and which Haggai pointed out to be a judgment from God, had set in for this year also. The months being lunar, the first day of the month was the festival of the new moon, a popular feast Pro 7:20 which their forefathers had kept Isa 1:13-14, while they neglected the weightier matters of the law, and which the religious in Israel had kept, even while separated from the worship at Jerusalem (2Ki 4:23; add Amo 8:5; Hos 2:11). In its very first day, when the grief for the barren year was yet fresh, Haggai was stirred to exhort them to consider their way; a pattern for Christian preachers, to bring home to people’s souls the meaning of God’s judgments. God directs the very day to be noted, in which He called the people anew to build His temple, both to show the readiness of their obedience, and a precedent to us to keep in memory days and seasons, in which He stirs our souls to build more diligently His spiritual temple in our souls .
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By the hand of Haggai - God does almost everything which He does for a person through the hands of people. He commits His words and works for people into the hands of human beings as His stewards, to dispense faithfully to His household. Luk 12:42. Hence, He speaks so often of the law, which He commanded “by the hand of Moses;” but also as to other prophets, Nathan 2Sa 12:25, Ahijal, 1Ki 12:15; 1Ki 14:16; 2Ch 10:15. Jehu 1Ki 16:7, Jonah 2Ki 14:25, Isaiah Isa 20:2, Jeremiah Jer 37:2, and the prophets generally. Hos. 7:20; 2Ch 29:25 the very prophets of God, although gifted with a Divine Spirit, still were willing and conscious instruments in speaking His words.
Unto Zerubbabel - (so called from being born in Babylon) “the son of Sheatiel.” By this genealogy Zerubbabel is known in the history of the return from the captivity in Ezra and Nehemiah Ezr 3:2, Ezr 3:8; Ezr 5:2; Neh 12:1. God does not say by Jeremiah, that Jeconiah should have no children, but that he should in his lifetime be childless, as it is said of those married to the uncle’s or brother’s widow Lev 20:20-21, “they shall die childless.” Jeremiah rather implies that he should have children, but that they should die untimely before him. For he calls Jeconiah Jer 22:30, “a man who shall not prosper in his days; for there shall not prosper a man of his seed, sitting on the throne of David, and ruling anymore in Israel.” He should die (as the word means) “bared” of all, alone and desolate. The own father of Shealtiel appears to have been Neri Luk 3:27, of the line of Nathan son of David; not, of the line of the kings of Judah. Neri married, one must suppose, a daughter of Assir, son of Jeconiah 1Ch 3:17-19 whose grandson Shealtiel was; and Zerubbabel was the own son of Pedaiah, the brother of Shealtiel, as whose son he was in the legal genealogy inscribed, according to the law as to those who die childless Deu 23:5-10, or as having been adopted by Shealtiel being himself childless, as Moses was called the son of the daughter of Pharaoh Exo 2:10. So broken was the line of the unhappy Jehoiachin, two thirds of whose own life was passed in the prison Jer 52:31, into which Nebuchadnezzar did cast him.
Governor of Judah - The foreign name betokens that the civil rule was now held from a foreign power, although Cyrus showed the Jews the kindness of placing one of themselves, of royal extraction also, as his deputy over them.
The lineage of David is still in authority, connecting the present with the past, but the earthly kingdom had faded away. Under the name “Sheshbazzar” Zerubbabel is spoken of both as the “prince” and the “governor” Ezr 5:14, of Judah. With him is joined “Joshuah the son of Josedech, the high priest,” whose father went into captivity 1Ch 6:15, when his grandfather Seraiah was slain by Nebuchadnezzar 2Ki 25:18-21. The priestly line is also preserved. Haggai addresses these two, the one of the royal, the other of the priestly, line, as jointly responsible for the negligence of the people; he addresses the people only through them. Together, they are types of Him, the true King and true priest, Christ Jesus, who by the resurrection raised again the true temple, His Body, after it had been destroyed .
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 5 Darius Hystaspes. (Calmet) --- When the Jews had no…
Darius Hystaspes. (Calmet) --- When the Jews had no king, the prophets dated from the reign of the monarch on whom they were dependent. (Theodoret) --- Sixth; Elul, the last of the civil year, corresponding with our September. The harvest had been bad, and Aggeus assigns the reason. (Calmet) --- Governor. Literally, "duke," or captain. Septuagint, "of the tribe of Juda." (Haydock) --- He descended from the kings of Juda, and was now chief governor by leave of Darius. (Worthington) --- Yet Cyrus had appointed Sarasar, (1 Esdras i. 8.) who perhaps, after the death of Cambyses, fled; Zorobabel and Jesus are designated judges, and a crown is made for them, chap. ii. 24., Zacharias iii., and vi. 11. Still Thartanai, governor beyond the Euphrates, took cognizance of the Jewish affairs, 1 Esdras v. 3. The prince of Juda was therefore under him. Zorobabel was son or grandson of Salathiel, (1 Paralipomenon iii. 17.) or was adopted by him, being born of Phadaia. (Calmet) --- Josedec, who was led into captivity, 1 Paralipomenon vi. 15.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 Rebuke and Expostulation of the People for their Neglect…
FIRST ADDRESS
Rebuke and Expostulation of the People for their Neglect of the Temple
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Hag_1:1-11
1In the second, year of Darius1 the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, there was a word of Jehovah, by the hand of Haggai the Prophet, to Zerubbabel,2 son of Shealtiel, governor3 of Judah, and to Joshua, son of Josadak, 2the High Priest, saying: Thus speaketh Jehovah of Hosts, saying: This people say, It is not the time to come,4 the time for the House of Jehovah to be built. 3And 4a word of Jehovah was by the hand of Haggai the Prophet, saying: Is it the time for you yourselves5 to dwell in wainscoted6 houses, and this House lying waste
5, 6 But come! saith Jehovah of Hosts, set your heart upon your ways. Ye have been sowing much and bringing in little; eating, and it was not to satisfaction; drinking, and it was not to fullness;7 clothing yourselves, and it was not to any one’s being warm;8 and he who has been earning wages has been earning them into 7a torn purse.9 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, Set your heart upon your ways. 8Go up to the mountain and bring wood and build the House, and I will take pleasure in it, and will be honored,10 saith Jehovah. 9Ye have kept looking for much,11 and lo (it came) to little!12 and ye brought it home and I blew upon it. Because of what?13 saith Jehovah. Because of my House which is desolate, while ye are running each 10to his own house. Therefore above you have the heavens restrained themselves 11from dew, and the earth has restrained her increase. And I invoked desolation upon the earth and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new-made wine, and upon the oil, and upon all that the soil produces, and upon man and upon beast, and upon all the labor of (men’s) hands.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Hag_1:1. In the second year of Darius the King, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month. The dates affixed to the prophecies generally contemplate the perpetuation of the several books and the requirements of readers in all succeeding time. Haggai indicates with special care the precise date of the delivery of each of his messages. In accordance with the practice necessarily adopted by the Old Testament writers after the people of God were subjected by heathen powers, the year of his prophecies is reckoned from the accession of the king to whom the Jews were then subject. The Darius here mentioned is Darius Hystaspes, who ascended the throne of Persia b. c. 521, and whose treatment of his Jewish subjects is recorded in Ezr_6:14 to Ezr_6:22. That it could not have been Darius Nothus (b. c. 423), as J. J. Scaliger and a few others have maintained, appears plainly from Hag_2:3, where our Prophet, according to the only natural interpretation of the verse, addresses those who had beheld the First Temple, which was destroyed b. c. 588. The month is named according to the sacred order in the Jewish year (comp. Zec_1:7; Zec_7:1; Zec_8:19). The sixth month is Elul, answering nearly to our September, or, more strictly, extending from the sixth to the seventh new moon of the year. The first day of the month was specially suitable for the delivery of the Prophet’s message, as being the feast-day of the New Moon, when he would be more likely to attract attention (Hengstenberg). There was a word of the Lord by the hand of Haggai the Prophet. The “word of the Lord,” as always in the Prophets, indicates a freedom from all human admixture; while the expression, בְּיַר, intimates that the Prophet himself was merely a medium of communication, the word simply passing through his hands. On the name and person of the Prophet see Introd. § 1. To Zerub-babel, son of Shealtiel, Governor of Judah, and to Joshua, son of Josadak, the High Priest. Zerubbabel is called in Ezr_1:8; Ezr_5:14 by his Persian name Sheshbazzar (of uncertain origin). In 1Ch_3:17, Shealtiel appears as a son of Assir and grandson of Jeconiah (Jehoiachin). According to 1Ch_3:19, Zerubbabel was a son of Pedaiah, a brother of Shealtiel. According to Luk_3:27, Shealtiel was a son of Neri, a descendant of David through his son Nathan. The best method of harmonizing these statements is that adopted by Koehler and Keil. The latter says: “These three divergent accounts may be brought into agreement by means of the following combinations, if we keep in mind the prophecy of Jeremiah (Jer 22:30), that Jeconiah would be childless and not be blessed with seeing one of his seed sitting upon the throne of David and ruling over Judah. This prophecy was fulfilled according to Luke’s genealogical table, inasmuch as Shealtiel’s father there is not Assir or Jeconiah, a descendant of David in the line of Solomon, but Neri, a descendant of David’s son Nathan. It follows therefore that neither of the sons of Jeconiah mentioned in 1Ch_3:17-18 (Zedekiah and Assir), had a son, but that the latter had only a daughter, who married a man of the family of her father’s tribe, according to the law of heiresses (Num_27:8; Num_36:8-9), namely, Neri, who belonged to the tribe of Judah and the family of David. From this marriage sprang Shealtiel, Malkiram, Pedaiah, and others. The eldest of these took possession of the property of his maternal grandfather, and was regarded legally as his son. Hence he is described in 1Ch_3:17 as the son of Assir the son of Jeconiah, whereas in Luke he is regarded, according to his lineal descent, as the son of Neri. But Shealtiel also appears to have died without posterity, and to have left only a widow, which necessitated a Levirate marriage on the part of one of the brothers (Deu_25:5; Deu_25:10; Mat_22:24; Mat_22:28). Shealtiel’s second brother Pedaiah appears to have performed this duty, to have begotten Zerubbabel and Shimei by this sister-in-law (1Ch_3:19), the former of whom, Zerubbabel, was entered in the family register of the deceased uncle Shealtiel, passing as his (legal) son and heir, and continuing his family.” פֶּחָה (“governor”) is a general term for a civil and military ruler of a division of a kingdom, applied at first to those of the Persian monarchy, and extended to those of others in writings of the later period (1Ki_10:15). It was applied both to satraps, as Tatnai (Ezr_5:3), and to inferior governors, as Zerubbabel. Joshua is the same person so frequently mentioned in the Book of Zechariah, upon whom the high distinction was conferred of representing the Messiah as the future Prince and Priest of Israel, in the symbolical transaction recorded in Zechariah 3. It is in accordance with this typical function that Joshua is addressed here along with Zerubbabel, not merely as the highest representative of the sacred priestly office, but also, to a certain extent, as ruling the people jointly with the civil governor. Such authority was gradually more and more assumed by the High Priests after the dissolution of the kingdom until the tendency culminated in the Maccabæan princes, who formally united the two functions in one person. It was, therefore, as the leaders of the people civil and ecclesiastical, that Zerubbabel and Joshua were appealed to. “Upon them the responsibility is laid if the work enjoined by Jehovah is not accomplished” (Koehler).
Hag_1:2. Thus speaketh Jehovah of Hosts. This venerable formula is employed uniformly by our Prophet to introduce his messages. This people say. There is no ground for assuming, as many have done, that the word this is here used in a contemptuous manner, like οὗτος and iste. There is, however, a significance in the choice of the word. The Jews, are not called “Israel” or “My people,” but by an attributive which denotes indifference, and thus indicates the divine displeasure against them. It is not the time to come. That this is the correct translation, is proved in the grammatical note upon this verse. The second clause: time for the House of Jehovah to be built, is both explanatory of the first and parallel to it throughout in thought and construction. “Coming” means preparing to build the Temple, as the separate stages of preparation and erection are distinguished also in Hag_1:14. So most of the recent German expositors, after Osiander, Junius, Tremellius, and Cocceius. The people had probably been urging as an excuse for their inactivity that their relations with Persia were not favorable to a resumption of work upon the Temple. But this was a mere pretext; for they had made no effort to discover whether the new and legitimate king Darius Hystaspes would not regard them with favor. Their inaction was not the compulsory and painful restraint of zealous patriots and ardent worshippers, but the easy and selfish indifference of an ungrateful and unfaithful people. See a fuller estimate of their disposition at this time in the Introduction, § 2.
Hag_1:3-4. And a word of Jehovah … And this House lying desolate. The disingenuous-ness of their plea is self-evident, and is therefore simply assumed in the following discourse, the design of which is to awaken in them a sense of their ingratitude to God. It is represented to them most impressively, with an allusion to the very language of their pretext, that while they held their own wants and even their luxuries to be matters of pressing moment, they thought any time suitable to attend to the claims of their God; that while their own homes had been regained, there was yet no habitation for the God of Israel; that while their wealthy members were using their superfluous means to adorn and beautify their dwellings, God’s dwelling-place still lay desolate, appealing in vain to their piety and patriotism, which had been overborne by selfishness and supineness. The allusion, moreover, could not fail to expose the insincerity of their excuses. Houses wainscoted with cedar were the residence of kings (1Ki_7:7; Jer_22:14), and if some of them had now the command of such resources as enabled them to live in princely splendor, they might surely have reserved a portion for the requirements of the Temple, when the work of building it should be resumed,—if that work had been giving them the least concern. The personal pronoun is repeated—you yourselves—for the sake of emphasis, in order to make more prominent the antithesis between them and Jehovah. See Grammatical note.
Hag_1:5. Set your heart upon your ways. This expression, so frequent in our Prophet (Hag_1:7; Hag_2:15; Hag_2:18), is equivalent to: consider your ways. As the next verse shows, the people were bidden to contemplate the results of their late course. In these, as displaying the operation of the principles of God’s moral and theocratical government, they might discern evidences of a disregard of his plainly revealed will. They were to infer the nature of their conduct from its results.
Hag_1:6. Ye have been sowing much—into a torn purse. On the peculiar constructions in this verse see the grammatical note. The consequences of the people’s “ways” are now specified as they appeared in the unproductiveness of their fields and the unprofitableness of their labor generally. The various expressions are intended to form one general picture, and to set forth in language partly literal and partly figurative, that not only was their labor to a very large extent profitless, but that even what their fields and their manual toil did produce gave them but little enjoyment. The latter result did certainly happen, and was due, moreover, to the withdrawal of God’s blessings, as appears plainly from Hag_1:9. But to assume that all the expressions are to be taken in their unqualified literalness, as Calvin, Osiander, Koehler, and Keil seem to have done, must be regarded as an unwarranted as well as unnecessary interpretation. If we compare the prediction of a similar condition of things in Lev_26:26 (see on Hag_1:5), we find that the words: ye shall eat and shall not be satisfied, imply, as shown by the context, that the hunger threatened in case of disobedience would result simply from the scarcity of food. It is natural to suppose that similar circumstances are described here by the like expressions. But to hold generally that the hunger and thirst and cold were not in any degree removed by food, and drink, and clothing, would be to postulate a miracle quite without necessity. הָבֵא, to bring in, is the term proper to harvesting (comp. 2Sa_9:10, and the figurative use of the word in Psa_90:12). The last clause, in a striking figure, illustrates the inadequacy of the remuneration for labor, from which we may infer that business generally was almost prostrated.
This verse and Hag_1:9-11 are not at all inconsistent with Hag_1:4. There the rebuke is directed against the wealthier members, as before indicated. They, having probably become possessed of some property in Babylon, and having prospered during the first few years of their Jewish residence, still lived in comparative prosperity, and were therefore in a position to give of their means and time to the work they had neglected. The mass of the people, however, though presumably also prosperous at first, were now suffering from those temporal inflictions visited upon them by God on account of their neglect of their paramount duty to Him, which would soon involve the entire community, rich and poor, in complete destitution, unless they aroused themselves from their sinful indifference.
Hag_1:7. The admonition of Hag_1:5 is repeated here, both as betokening greater urgency, and also for the purpose of reinforcing the argument of Hag_1:5-6, by showing to what course a conscientious review of their conduct should determine them. They should be impelled, as is next shown, to make immediate preparations for the complete restoration of the Temple.
Hag_1:8. Go up to the mountain and bring wood, and build the House. It is somewhat difficult to determine the precise application of הָהָר in this passage. Leaving out of view the altogether improbable notion of Grotius, Rosenmüller, and Newcome, that it refers to Mount Moriah itself, on which the Temple stood, we find that while perhaps the majority of modern expositors (e.g. J. D. Michaelis, Maurer, Keil, Moore, Fausset) regard it as a collective expression for the hilly parts of Palestine generally, in accordance with Neh_8:15; Jos_9:1; Jos_11:2; Jos_11:12, many others (e. g., Cocceius, Ewald, Henderson) limit its application to Mount Lebanon. It is most probable that no definite mountain was thought of, the command not restricting the sphere of operation even to Palestine itself, but urging the people in general terms to seek building material in those districts in which it could best be obtained. It is hardly necessary to remind the reader that it was upon the high lands of the country that the most suitable timber grew. As there is no command with reference to stone for the walls, the building of which had already begun (Hag_2:18; Ezr_3:10; Ezr_5:16), it is plain that “wood ” is put here for building material generally. And I will take pleasure in it and will be honored. Koehler and Keil translate reflexively: will glorify myself, that is, upon the people by blessing them. But this sense is not obvious. It is best, with Maurer, Moore, and others, to take the word in its primary application. See Textual note.
Hag_1:9-11. The exhortation of the last verse is now reinforced by a more fresh and elaborate presentation of those disastrous consequences of disobedience which had been urged in Hag_1:6. The connection with Hag_1:8 may be easily perceived. Jehovah had there promised to manifest his approbation if the people would return to their duty. The certainty of this must be evident to them; for was not their domestic distress a consequence of their neglect of his claims upon their service? The relation of these verses to all of the discourse that precedes, becomes clearer when we perceive that the whole passage, Hag_1:5-11, is intended to force upon the minds of the people the consideration that ruin is awaiting them, unless they proceed at once with the rebuilding of the Temple. The command in Hag_1:8 therefore, though expressing the practical conclusion to which the whole message tends, is not the leading sentence in the discourse, but is introduced as subsidiary to the main argument Hag_1:5, and again Hag_1:7, exhort the people to consider their ways. Hag_1:8 shows the joyful consequences of obedience. Hag_1:9-11 suggest, by depicting the baleful results of past disobedience, the evils which the continuance of such a course would entail.
Hag_1:9. Ye looked for much—every man to his own house. On the construction, see Grammatical note. The literal translation of the first clause would be: ye turned towards much (Exo_16:10). The allusion is to a frequent inspection of the growing crops. I blew upon it, for the purpose of scattering and dissipating it. The small quantity that was gathered profited but little, on account of the absence of God’s blessing, according to the general notion conveyed by Hag_1:6. See the remarks upon that verse. Why? saith Jehovah of Hosts. Though the present condition of things could very well have been accounted for by the people themselves, Jehovah condescends to explain it to them. He Himself asks the cause, and gives the solution to which the whole of the discourse had been leading,—that while their own affairs had been absorbing their thoughts, his claims had been disregarded. Because of my house which is desolate, and ye are running every man to his own house. As in Hag_1:4, the different feelings with which the people were regarding God’s House and their own houses, are sharply contrasted, but here the latter do not seem to be limited in application to the dwellings themselves, the word “house” being probably employed as the centre of that activity which they all manifested in their haste to attend to their own concerns.
Hag_1:10. We concur with Keil in the opinion that it is impossible to determine whether עְַלֵ֨יכֶם is to be translated: above you, or: on your account. We incline rather to the former view, though it is stoutly opposed by Hitzig, Henderson, and others. A difficulty likewise meets us in the rest of the clause. כלא, in the second member of the verse, is transitive, with a direct object. If transitive here also, we expect an object expressed or understood; but Köhler and Keil, who deny an intransitive or reflexive sense, do not inform us what that object is; for they maintain rightly that מִּטַּל is privative (from dew), and in fact use in an intransitive sense the verb which they employ in their translation (darum haben über euch die Himmel zurückgehalten dass kein Thau fiel). If מטַּל is privative, the reflexive sense would seem to be unavoidable. Ewald, Umbreit, Henderson, take that word as the object, and that in a partitive sense: has restrained of her dew, a rendering which Köhler rightly condemns as too prosaic.
Hag_1:11. And I invoked desolation—upon all the labor of (men’s) hands. This verse still depends upon the “therefore” of Hag_1:10, completing the picture of misfortune and threatening ruin evoked by the unfaithfulness of the people. We translate חֹרֶב desolation, because it is the only word which will apply to all the objects cited in the verse. The phrase has moreover been chosen designedly by the Prophet to indicate both the justice and the fitness of the retribution. They allowed God’s House to lie “desolate” (Hag_1:4; Hag_1:9). Disaster and failure had already visited their fields and the labor of their hands, and very soon, if they should remain unmoved in their guilty indifference, the blighting curse invoked by their of fended God would fall upon them in its unrestrained severity, when they should realize the full meaning of that sentence afterwards pronounced upon their obdurate and ungrateful descendants: Behold your house is left unto you desolate.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. The two great objects of the institution of Prophecy were to direct the inner life of God’s people into harmony with the commands and the spirit of the Law, and to point forward to Him who was to fulfill both the Law and the Prophets. Our Prophet, as we shall see, represented both of these functions. In this chapter he is concerned with the religious condition of the people as expressed by their attitude towards God’s true worship. Their persistent disregard of the claims of their Deliverer and King indicated plainly a growing estrangement and disloyalty of heart. They could only be recalled to devotion and duty through a message of rebuke and warning from God through an inspired and chosen messenger (comp. Hag_1:13). And such utterances were naturally directed against the most patent and flagrant violation of their religious duty,—their neglect of the House of God. The Temple, as the centre of the Jewish worship, the place where Jehovah’s presence was manifested, where national and individual sins might be covered over, and where the favor of God might be invoked upon his people, was indispensable to the very life of the nation as a people of God. To neglect it was to commit treason against Him, to reject Him as their God and King, and to invite his rejection of them.
2. Such indifference to the demands of God upon the service of his people was necessarily followed by his estrangement from them. For, as the worship in the Temple secured their admission into the very presence of God, it was both in type and reality a meeting not simply of reconciliation but of cordial friendship, a renewed ratification of the Covenant (comp. Rev_21:3). As loving God’s House and being devoted to its service, could He fittingly call them “My People:” and it seems no less fitting and necessary that indifference on their part to the enjoyment of his favor and confidence should alienate his regard, that tenderness in Him should become aversion, that the Israel of God should be coldly recognized as “this people.”
3. But other and more palpable consequences must follow such a course of conduct on the part of God’s people. It was a warning repeatedly urged upon them by Moses in the illustration of that Law which was to be the guide of their national and individual life; it was a lesson impressed upon them by many a hard experience of public and private distress and calamity, culminating in that long captivity from which they had so lately emerged, that the loss of God’s favor involves not merely religious and moral deterioration, but the withdrawal of that providential care which secures a due return to labor, with fruitful seasons and bounteous harvests, and even follows men to their homes, leading every act and thought to enjoyment and happiness. Deprived of such care, they, in all their pursuits, might look and look again for much, but they would surely bring in little.
4. Such dealings on the part of God towards his people, while setting forth clearly the doctrine of retribution (De Wette), are not simply punitive: they are also corrective and remedial in design and tendency. Otherwise prophecy would be nothing but the repeated announcement of an impending doom. Otherwise there would be no meaning in the message of our Prophet, who, while holding out to his people no other prospect than that of distress and desolation as the result of continued disobedience, presents also the inspiring and quickening vision of their God and King restored by their obedience to the dwelling-place which they are urged to prepare for Him, and looking forth upon them thence in favor and love (Hag_1:8). In this he is the prophet, not of his faithless countrymen alone, but also of a God-despising yet not God abandoned world: he still calls out to men on behalf of God: Consider your ways.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Hag_1:2-4. (“This people” instead of “My people”): The loss of God’s confidence: (1) Its occasions; (2) Its consequences; (3) Its retrieval.—There is a time for everything with men; but they should consider, (1) Who it is that claims their first and most devoted service; (2) the means and methods of serving Him best.
Calvin: Men are very ingenious, when they wish to hide their delinquencies.
Matthew Henry: There is an aptness in us to misinterpret providential discouragements in our duty, as if they amounted to a discharge from our duty, when they are only intended for the trial and exercise of our courage and faith. It is bad to neglect our duty; but it is worse to vouch Providence for the patronizing of our neglects.
Cramer: There are many men, who have a plenty of money when they are going to build houses for themselves, but a great scarcity of it when any is wanted for churches, or schools, or anything else to promote God’s glory.
Moore: The carved ceilings and costly ornaments will have a tongue in the day of judgment.
Hag_1:5-6. In considering our ways, we should seek to discover, (1) the motives that have urged us; (2) whither our present ways would lead us at the end of our earthly course.
Gerlach: Fruitfulness or sterility comes from God, not from blind and powerless Nature. This is the teaching of the Scriptures from Paradise and the Fall to its close.
Moore: A careful pondering of God’s dealings with us will often indicate to us God’s will regarding us.
Hag_1:8. God will not come to bless us as an uninvited Guest. His favor will be displayed towards us only when we have prepared Him a temple in our hearts.
Hag_1:9-11. Inflictions of suffering by God in his providence are always charged with a salutary lesson: they are a warning to his despisers, and a correction to his children.
Fausset: The very evils which men think to escape by neglecting God’s ordinances, they actually bring on themselves by such unbelieving neglect.
Footnotes:
[1]Hag_1:1.—לְרָֽרְיֶָשׁ. Some MSS. of Hagg., Zech., Dan., and Ezra read רָּרְיָוֶשׁ (Doryavesh), and others, רַּרְיָוֶשׁ. The correctness of the common reading is established by the forms Dâryavush and Dârayavush, found in the Cuneiform Inscriptions. The name is usually held to be derived from the Zendic dar, to preserve, Sanskrit dhar, the normal and root form of the verb dhri. The explanation of Herodotus (6:98), ἑρξείης, coercitor, conservator, is therefore probably correct.
[2]Hag_1:1.—זְרֻבָּבֶל is a name derived from זְרוּי and בָּבֶל (Dispersed to Babylon), or from זְרוּעַ and בָּבֶל (Begotten in Babylon). As Zerubbabel was probably born during the Exile, it is impossible to determine which is the correct explanation. Either etymology would of course account for the doubling of the first Beth. Ayin is dropped in the name שְׁמוּאֵל, from שְׁמוּעַ and אֵל.
[3]Hag_1:1.—פַּחַת. The derivation of this word cannot be said to be yet settled. The commonly received etymology (suggested by Benfey) from the Sanskrit paksha, a companion (of the king), from which the modern term pasha is also supposed to be derived, is disputed by Spiegel, chiefly on the ground that the word is not found in the Eranian languages. He proposes to derive from the form pâvan, from pâ. to defend, which occurs in Zend and Sanskrit at the end of compounds (e. g., khsatrapâvan, satrap, a defender of the kingdom), and in the Avesta as a separate word in the contracted form pavan. He then conjectures a dialectic variation, pagvan, to account more naturally for our word.
[4]Hag_1:2.—לֹא עֵתה־בֹּאִ. The only plausible defense for reading בָּא, and rendering: the time has not come, as all the ancient translators have done, as well as most of the English and early Continental expositors, is that according to the received reading the infinitive would be written defectively. This, however, is quite common (comp. Exo_2:18; Lev_14:48; Num_32:9; 1Ki_14:28; Isa_20:1). Moore and; Henderson retain the inf. and yet give the above translation. This can be assumed as correct only on the supposition that the inf. is used absolutely as equivalent to a finite verb. The position, however, that such a construction can be adopted when no finite verb precedes in the sentence, is very precarious, really resting only upon Eze_1:14 (comp. Green, Heb. Gr., § 268, 1 a, and Ewald, § 280 a). But there is not the least necessity of resorting to it; for the translation here adopted, and held by most of the recent German expositors, is quite natural and agreeable to the context. For the construction of the last clause of the verse, see Green, § 267 b; Ewald, § 237 c.
[5]Hag_1:4.—אַתֶּם. On this emphatic repetition of the pers. pronoun, see Ewald, § 105 f., and comp. Jer_2:31.
[6]Hag_1:4.—סְפוּנִים. This is one of the rare cases in which an adjective qualifying a definite substantive is without the article.
[7]Hag_1:6.—The absol inf. being properly a verbal noun, אָכוֹל ,הָבֵא , etc., depend upon זרַעְתֶּם, and are determined in sense by it; see Green, § 268, 1. The literal translation therefore is: Ye have sown much, and (there was) a bringing in of little, etc.
[8]Hag_1:8.—The impersonal force of the absol. inf. above suggested by the employment in the last clause but one of לוֹ instead of לָכֶם, which would be naturally expected; literally: there was a clothing (of one‘s self), and it was not for warming to him.
[9]Hag_1:6.—In the last clause we have a pregnant construction: earns wages (and puts them) into a purse with holes.
[10]Hag_1:8.—The keri is וְאֶכָּבְרָה, which is also found in some MSS. in Kennicott. The He paragogic in the “voluntative” future occurs regularly in sentences denoting a consequence (Ewald, § 347 a.). But it is sometimes absent (comp. Zec_1:3 with Mal_3:7). Its omission in וְאֶרְצֶה decides nothing, since it is appended but very rarely to לה verbs (Green, § 172, 3; Ewald, § 228 c.). The letter ה representing the number five, its omission here has been regarded by later Talmudists as betokening that the Second Temple was deprived of the five following things: (1) The Ark of the Covenant with the Mercy Seat and the Cherubim; (2) The Sacred Fire; (3) The Shekinah; (4) The Holy Spirit: (5) The Urim and Thummim.
[11]Hag_1:9.—פָּנֹה. The inf. abs. occurs here without any finite verb preceding, unlike the construction in Hag_1:6. See the grammatical remarks upon that verse. It is therefore strictly a verbal noun: (there was) a looking for much, etc. Such a mode of expression often indicates a certain degree of emotion, “after the utterance of which the ordinary manner of speaking Is easily resumed” (Ewald, § 328 b). Accordingly a finite verb, הְַבֵאתֶם, is found in the next clause.
[12]Hag_1:9.—Before לִמְעָט some such verb as הָיָה is to be understood: (it came) to little.
[13]Hag_1:9.—יַעַן מֶה. This is one of the numerous cases cited by Ewald (§ 182 b), in which מֶה occurs for מָה without any assignable cause. Köhler suggests that the analogy of עַר מֶַה,כּמֶּה,בַּמֶּה might possibly explain the change as being occasioned by a preceding preposition. The laws of Hebrew vocalization are, however, determined by the form and not by the meaning of words, and the existence of such anomalies as מֶה קוֹל (1Sa_4:14), מֶה סשְׁפַּט (2Ki_2:7), would seem to show that further investigation would be hopeless.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2, 4, 5 the Lord of hosts--Jehovah, Lord of the powers of…
the Lord of hosts--Jehovah, Lord of the powers of heaven and earth, and therefore requiring implicit obedience.
This people--"This" sluggish and selfish "people." He does not say, My people, since they had neglected the service of God.
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The time--the proper time for building the temple. Two out of the seventy predicted years of captivity (dating from the destruction of the temple, 558 B.C., Kg2 25:9) were yet unexpired; this they make their plea for delay [HENDERSON]. The seventy years of captivity were completed long ago in the first year of Cyrus, 536 B.C. (Jer 29:10); dating from 606 B.C., Jehoiakim's captivity (Ch2 36:6). The seventy years to the completion of the temple (Jer 25:12) were completed this very year, the second of Darius [VATABLUS]. Ingenious in excuses, they pretended that the interruption in the work caused by their enemies proved it was not yet the proper time; whereas their real motive was selfish dislike of the trouble, expense, and danger from enemies. "God," say they, "hath interposed many difficulties to punish our rash haste" [CALVIN]. Smerdis' interdict was no longer in force, now that Darius the rightful king was on the throne; therefore they had no real excuse for not beginning at once to build. AUBERLEN denies that by "Artaxerxes" in Ezra 4:7-22 is meant Smerdis. Whether Smerdis or Artaxerxes Longimanus be meant, the interdict referred only to the rebuilding of the city, which the Persian kings feared might, if rebuilt, cause them trouble to subdue; not to the rebuilding of the temple. But the Jews were easily turned aside from the work. Spiritually, like the Jews, men do not say they will never be religious, but, It is not time yet. So the great work of life is left undone.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1, 5 The Book of Haggai contains four separate prophetic utterances…
MESSAGE OF REBUKE FOR RELIGIOUS INDIFFERENCE, 1-11.
The Book of Haggai contains four separate prophetic utterances (Hag_1:1-11; Hag_2:1-23); to the first is added an historical section (Hag_1:12-15), setting forth the effect of this utterance upon the hearers.
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The first discourse contains a rebuke of religious indifference and an exhortation to rebuild the temple. Hag_1:1 gives the time when the discourse was delivered and the names of the persons to whom it was addressed; Hag_1:2-11 reproduce the discourse. The prophet rebukes the religious indifference that has permitted the people to erect comfortable houses for themselves, while the temple remained in ruins (Hag_1:2-4); he calls attention to the disappointments, distress, and suffering which they were experiencing as a result of drought, and tells them that these afflictions have come to them as divine judgments for their religious apathy. If they would find relief they must speedily restore the dwelling place of Jehovah (Hag_1:5-11).
Hag_1:1 is an integral part of the report of Haggai’s first address (compare Zec_1:1).
The second year of Darius — Darius Hystaspis reigned from 521 to 486 B.C.; his second year, therefore, is 520.
The king — It was not necessary to add “of Persia,” for the king of Persia was the only prominent ruler with whom the Jews were acquainted during the early part of the postexilic period, and until the fall of the Persian empire he was the king, because he was their king (compare Ezr_5:4).
The sixth month — Called Elul; it corresponds to the latter part of August and the first part of September (compare Neh_6:15).
The first day — Which was the new moon festival, when the people gathered for worship — a splendid opportunity for reaching a large number; besides, on such a day the lack of a house of worship would be felt most keenly. Chronological notes of this character are found only in postexilic writings; the greater exactness is undoubtedly due to Babylonian influence.
By Haggai — Literally, by the hand of Haggai (compare Hag_1:13; see on Mic_5:12). Haggai was the instrument used by Jehovah to make known his will. On the person of the prophet see Introduction, p. 547. The message was addressed especially, though not exclusively (compare Hag_1:4 ff.), to the civil and ecclesiastical heads of the community.
Zerubbabel… governor of Judah — Mentioned also by Zechariah as the civil ruler. How he came to be governor we do not know. He is named among the first exiles who returned (Ezr_2:2), but the governor appointed by Cyrus is called Sheshbazzar (Ezr_1:8; Ezr_5:14). Some have thought that the two names belong to one and the same person, but this is exceedingly doubtful. It is more probable that Zerubbabel was the successor of Sheshbazzar as governor of Judah.
Son of Shealtiel — See Ezr_3:2; Ezr_5:2; compare 1Ch_3:19.
Joshua… , the high priest — Zechariah also names Joshua as the head of the priesthood (see especially Zec_3:1 ff.).
The son of Josedech — R.V., “Jehozadak,” which is a fuller form of the same name; it means Jehovah is righteous (compare Zec_6:11; Ezr_3:2).
Hag_1:2 ff. contain the words of the prophet.
Thus speaketh Jehovah of hosts — The verb is the same as that rendered “saith” in the rest of the book. In Haggai as in Zechariah the affirmation that the prophet is the spokesman of Jehovah occurs very frequently (see on Zec_1:3). For Jehovah of hosts see on Hos_12:5.
This people — The people gathered at the new moon celebration. The phrase may be used in a contemptuous sense (Hag_2:14), though it does not necessarily imply reproach (compare Isa_8:11-12).
The time is not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built — R.V., “It is not the time for us to come, the time for Jehovah’s house to be built.” The ancient versions omit the first “time,” and, since the construction of the present Hebrew text is very awkward, we may be justified in doing the same, so that the clause will read, “The time is not (yet) come for the building of Jehovah’s house” (see margin R.V.). The people may have misunderstood the seventy years of Jeremiah (Jer_25:11-12; Jer_29:10). If they reckoned from the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 the time would not be accomplished until four years after the delivery of this prophecy. For other causes that may have been responsible for the delay see Introduction, p. 549. However, Haggai considers the delay inexcusable. On the view that previous to the preaching of Haggai no steps had been taken toward the rebuilding of the temple see Introduction, pp. 550f.; compare H.P. Smith, Old Testament History, pp. 344ff.
In Hag_1:4 ff. the prophet, after affirming once more that he is the spokesman of Jehovah, points out the unfairness of the people’s neglect. They have left Jehovah without a dwelling place, while they themselves live in costly and magnificently decorated homes. Surely they cannot urge poverty or lack of resources as an excuse.
Is it time — R.V., “Is it a time”; a proper or fit time.
For you, O ye — R.V., “for you yourselves.” Their own interests should be of less consequence than the interests of their God.
Cieled houses — Houses whose walls and ceilings were covered or inlaid with costly woodwork. Such decorations were exceedingly expensive (compare 1Ki_6:9; Jer_22:14), and yet these people, who, judging from the words of the prophet, urged poverty as an excuse for the neglect of the temple, used them extensively.
And this house lie waste — A circumstantial clause, which should be rendered with R.V., “while this house lieth waste.”
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 5 Ch. Hag_1:1-11. The First Prophecy
Ch. Hag_1:1-11. The First Prophecy
1. Darius the king] Lit., Daryavesh. “Daryavesh is a more accurate transcript of the name of the Persian kings than Δαρεῖος (Darius). Darius calls himself in his descriptions Dâryavush, which means the ‘holder,’ or ‘supporter.’ ” Max. Müller in Pusey’s Book of Daniel, p. 570.
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This was Darius the son of Hystaspes, who had deposed the impostor Smerdis and succeeded him on the throne of Persia, and who on his accession returned to the policy of Cyrus with reference to the Jews.
the sixth month] i.e., of the Jewish year. While they had kings of their own the Jewish historians were wont, as we see throughout the Books of Kings and Chronicles, to date events by the years of their reigns. Now that their own monarchy was at an end, they use instead the year of the foreign Sovereign to whom they were tributary. The transition is observable in ver. 8 of 2 Kings 25 as compared with ver. 1. But the months are still those of their own calendar. The sixth month was called Elul after the return from Babylon. (Neh_6:15; 1Ma_14:27.)
by Haggai] Lit., by the hand of, i.e. by his means or instrumentality. And so in ver. 3.
Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel] Both in the history of the return in Ezra (Ezr_3:2; Ezr_3:8, Ezr_5:2) and Nehemiah (Neh_12:1) and in the genealogies of our Lord, Mat_1:12; Luk_3:27, Zerubbabel is called as he is in this book the son of Shealtiel or Salathiel. But in 1Ch_3:19 he is said to be the son of Pedaiah. The probable explanation of the discrepancy is that Shealtiel, who was the elder brother and the head of the family, had no sons of his own, and that consequently his nephew Zerubbabel, who was the eldest son of the younger brother Pedaiah, became the heir of his uncle Shealtiel, and was commonly regarded and described as his son. He was the recognised head of the Jews in Babylon, “the Prince of Judah,” as he is called (Ezr_1:8), at the time when the decree of Cyrus was issued for their return. He bears a leading part in the history of the return, and of the events which followed immediately upon it. He was among the first to respond to the prophetic call of Haggai and Zechariah (Hag_1:12). Many of their prophecies were addressed to him by name (Hag_1:1; Hag_2:2; Hag_2:21; Zec_4:6); and his spirit was specially stirred up by God (Hag_1:14) to promote the reformation of the people and the rebuilding of the temple. He has been described as “a man inferior to few of the great characters of Scripture, whether we consider the perilous undertaking to which he devoted himself, the importance, in the economy of the Divine government, of his work, his courageous faith, or the singular distinction of being the object of so many and such remarkable prophetic utterances.” Smith’s Bible Dict. Art. Zerubbabel. The fact that his name Zerubbabel (“scattered to Babylon,” or “born at Babylon,” Gesenius) was changed, like those of Daniel and his companions, to the Chaldee name Sheshbazzar, as well as his appointment by Cyrus to the office of “Governor,” makes it probable, as has been suggested, that he was in the service of the king of Babylon. In the Apocryphal account of the return from Babylon contained in the first book of Esdras, Zerubbabel who is apparently regarded by the writer as a distinct person from Sheshbazzar (Sanabassar, 1Es_2:12), under whom the Jews returned in the time of Cyrus, is described as one of the young men who formed the body guard of king Darius. The story told is, that three of these young men agreed to compete before the king as to which of them could compose and write the wisest sentence. “The first wrote, Wine is the strongest. The second wrote, The king is strongest. The third wrote, Women are strongest: but above all things Truth beareth away the victory” (1Es_3:10-12). To this third sentence which was Zerubbabel’s, the king and his wise men awarded the palm, and its author, on being invited by the king to name his reward, claimed the fulfilment of the vow which Darius had made on his accession, to build Jerusalem and restore the holy vessels for the Temple. (See the story in full 1 Esdr. ch. 3, 4; and for the additions and variations of Josephus Dict. of the Bible, Art. Zerubbabel.)
governor] The foreign name (Pechah) here used for the “Governor” of the Jews is again a badge of their servitude. The word itself is an interesting one. It is first used in the Hebrew Bible in the time of Solomon (1Ki_10:15; 2Ch_9:14) of some “governors of the country” in his outlying dominions who sent him a yearly supply of gold. Even there it is probably a foreign title. “It seems to me most probable,” writes Dr Pusey, “that Solomon adopted the title, as it already existed in the Syrian territories, for it is not said that he ‘placed Pechahs,’ but only that they paid him gold. Thus the name ‘Rajah’ is continued in our Indian dominions.” We next find it when Benhadad after his first defeat is advised to depose the thirty-two subordinate kings who helped him, and to put Pechahs, Syrian Governors, in their place (1Ki_20:24). “Then, still in that neighbourhood, and in part doubtless in the same country, they are in military command in Sennacherib’s army, leading doubtless their own contingent of troops, in his multitudinous host (2Ki_18:24). Sennacherib compares Hezekiah to one of the ‘Governors’ of the subjugated provinces, which he held subdued (Comp. Isa_10:8-9; 2Ki_18:34). Then, in each case joined with Sagans, Pechah is used of Babylonian, (Jer_51:23; Jer_51:57; Eze_23:6; Eze_23:23) and Median (Jer_51:28) governors. Daniel, in recounting the Babylonian governors, places the Pechahs the third, after the Satraps and Sagans (Dan_3:2-3; Dan_3:27). Under Darius, they are not immediately united with the Sagans, but still are enumerated with these only, the Satraps and the haddaberin, ‘privy Councillors,’ Dan_6:8. Somewhat later, (Est_8:9; Est_9:3) the Pechahs are mentioned without the Sagans, but with the Satraps and the ‘princes of the provinces.’ In the times after the captivity there were several such Pechahs, westward of the Euphrates, between it and Judea (Ezr_8:36; Neh_2:7; Neh_2:9), probably the same locality, in regard to which the name was first used under Solomon. Specifically, Tatnai is entitled as ‘Pechah beyond the river,’ Ezr_5:3; Ezr_6:6, who (although apparently he dwelt at Jerusalem, Neh_3:7) is yet, in the same rescript of Darius, distinguished from ‘the Pechah of the Jews’ (Ezr_6:7), whom naturally there was most occasion to mention (Hag_1:1; Hag_1:14; Hag_2:2; Hag_2:21; Mal_1:8; Neh_5:14; Neh_5:18; Neh_12:26).” Pusey, Book of Daniel, p. 567; where also the possible connection of Pechah with Pashah is discussed by Max Müller.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 5 (1-11) The First Utterance.—The neglect of God’s House denounced,…
(1-11) The First Utterance.—The neglect of God’s House denounced, and declared to be the cause of the prevalent dearth.
(1) Darius the king.—Scil., Darius I., son of Hystaspes, who became king of Persia in B.C. 521. The fact that there were still men living who had seen the First Temple (Hag_2:3), which fell in B.C. 586, sufficiently disproves the absurd theory that Darius Nothus is meant, who did not accede to the throne until B.C. 423-4. Prophecy is now dated by the years of a foreign ruler, for Zerubbabel, though a lineal descendant of David, was only a pechâh, or viceroy of Persian appointment, not a king in his own right.
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The sixth month.—That named Elul, corresponding nearly with our September.
In the first day—i.e., on the festival of the new moon, a holy day which had always been marked not only by suspension of labour, but by special services in the Temple (Eze_46:3; Isa_66:23). It was thus an appropriate occasion for Haggai to commence a series of exhortations so intimately connected with the Temple. Besides, it appears to have been an ancient custom that the people should resort to the prophets for religious instruction on new moons and Sabbaths. (See 2Ki_4:23.)
Came the word . . .—Literally, there was a word of the Lord by the hand of Haggai, &c. This expression, which occurs repeatedly in this book, indicates that Jehovah was the direct source of these announcements, and Haggai only their vehicle.
The prophet.—See Hab_1:1, Note.
Son of Shealtiel.—Strictly speaking, Zerubbabel was the son of Pedaiah, who contracted a Levirate marriage with the widow of his brother Shealtiel. (See Notes on 1Ch_3:17; Jer_22:30; Luk_3:27.)
Governor.—Satrap, or viceroy, a term applied in the Old Testament to the provincial prefects of the Assyrian and Babylonian and Persian empires. (See Note on 1Ki_10:15.) Joshua, the high priest, is a prominent character in the prophecy of Zechariah. Haggai addresses Zerubbabel as the civil, Joshua as the ecclesiastical head of the restored exiles.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1–5 Vers. 1-15Part I THE FIRST ADDRESS: EXHORTATION TO BUILD…
Vers. 1-15Part I THE FIRST ADDRESS: EXHORTATION TO BUILD THE TEMPLE AND ITS RESULT.
Vers. 1-6. 1. The people are reproved for their indifference with regard to the erection of the temple, and admonished that their present distress is a chastisement for this neglect.
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In the second year of Darius the king. This is Darius Hystaspes, who reigned over Persia from B.C. 521 to B.C. 486. He is called in the inscriptions Daryavush, which name means "Holder," or "Supporter." Herodotus (6:98) explains it as "Coercer" (eJrxei>hv). Hitherto the prophets have dated the time of the exercise of their office from the reigns of the legitimate Hebrew monarchs; it shows a new slate of things when they place at the head of their oracles the name of a foreign and a heathen patenlate. The Jews had, indeed, now no king of their own, "the tabernacle of David had fallen", (Amo_9:11) and they were living on sufferance under an alien power. They had returned from exile by permission of Cyrus in the first year of his occupancy of the throne of Babylon sixteen years before this time, and had commenced to build the temple soon after; but the opposition of neighbours, contradictory orders from the Persian court, and their own lukewarmness had contributed to hinder the work, and it soon wholly ceased, and remained suspended to the moment when Haggai, as the seventy years of desolation drew to an end, was commissioned to arouse them from their apathy, and to urge them to use the opportunity which was afforded by the accession of the new monarch and the withdrawal of the vexatious interdict that had checked their operations in the previous reign (see Introduction, and comp. (Ezr_4:24) The sixth month, according to the sacred Hebrew calendar, which reckoned from Nisan to Nisan. This would be Elul, answering to parts of our August and September. In the first day. This was the regular festival of the new moon (Num_10:10; Isa_1:13) and afitting time to urge the building of the temple, without which it could not be duly celebrated. By; literally, by the hand (as in ver. 3), the instrument whom God used (Exo_9:35; Jer_37:2; Hos_12:11; Act_7:35) Haggai the prophet (see the Introduction). Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel; Septuagint, Eijpon probel ton tou Salaqihl, "Speak to Zorobabel the son of Salathiel." The temporal head of the nation, the representative of the royal house of David, and therefore with the high priest jointly responsible, for the present state of affairs, and having power and authority to amend it. The name, as explained, and rightly, by St. Jerome, means, "Born in Babylon," and intimates the truth concerning his origin. He is called Sheshbazzar in. (Ezr_1:8 Ezr_5:14, which is either his name at the Persian court, or is an erroneous transliteration for a synonymous word (see Kuabenbauer, in loc. ) The name is found in the cuneiform inscription, as Zir-Babilu. Shealtiel (or Salathiel) means, "Asked of God." There is a difficulty about Zerubbabel"s parentage. Here and frequently in this book, and in Ezra and Nehemiah, as well as in Mat_1:12 and Luk_3:27, he is called "son of Shealtiel;" in 1Ch_3:19 he is said to be the son of Pedaiah the brother of Salathiel. The truth probably is that he was by birth the son of Pedaiah, but by adoption or the law of the levirate, the son of Salathiel. He was regarded as the grandson of Jehoiachin, or Jeconiah. Governor (pechah) A foreign word, used in 1Ki_10:15, in Isaiah (Isa_36:9) and frequently in Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, to denote an inferior satrap or subordinate governor. Strassmaier (ap. Knabenbauer) notes that in Assyrian the word is found in the form pachu, that pichatu means "a province," pachat, "a district." It seems natural, though probably erroneous, to connect it with the Turkish pashah. But see the discussion on the word in Pusey, "Daniel the Prophet," p. 566, etc. Instead of "Governor of Judah," the LXX here and ver. 12 and Hag_2:2 reads, "of the tribe of Judah." One of the house of David has the government, but the foreign title applied to him shows that he holds authority only as the deputy of an alien power. Judah was henceforward applied to the whole country. The prophecy in Gen_49:10 still held good. Joshua. The highest spiritual officer. (Ezr_3:2, 8 4:3) This Joshua, Jehoshua, Jeshua, as he is variously called, was a son of Josedech who, in the time of Nebuchadnezzar, had been carried captive to Babylon, (1Ch_6:15) and grandson of that Seraiah who, with other princes of Judah, was slain at Riblah by the Babyloniaes. (2Ki_25:18, etc.) The parentage of Zerubbabel and Joshua is specially mentioned to show that the former was of the house of David and the latter of the family of Aaron, and that even in its depressed condition Israel retained its rightful constitution. (see note on Zec_3:1)
Ver. 1Divine revelations.
I SELECT THEIR OWN TIMES. These are:
1. Often unexpected. In the present instance this was probably the case. The band of exiles who, availing themselves of Cyrus"s permission, (Ezr_1:3) returned to Judah and Jerusalem nearly 50, 000 persons in all, (Ezr_2:64, Ezr_2:65) though Pusey estimates the company of immigrants at 212, 000, counting free men, women, children, and slaves had for sixteen years at least not heard a prophet"s voice. The last that had fallen on their ears had been Daniel"s in Babylon, (Dan_9:1) which had predicted the going forth of a commandment to build and restore Jerusalem, and the coming, "seven weeks and three score and two weeks" thereafter, of Messiah the prince. (Dan_9:25) Now, in the second year of Darius the king, (Ezr_4:24) i.e. about B.C. 520, the interval of silence terminated, and the lips of a new prophet were unsealed. That God reserves in his own hands "the times and seasons" of his special supernatural interpositions in human history, while it should keep men alive to every movement of the Divine presence in their midst, ought to guard them against presumption both in making and in interpreting prophecy.
2. Always appropriate. The interpositions of Heaven are never post horam. The clock of eternity always keeps time. When the hour comes, so does the man. Man often speaks at an inopportune moment; God, never. When Haggai stood forth among the Jews who had returned from Babylon, they were in urgent need of such a messenger from heaven as he proved himself to be. Sixteen years at home in their own land, for a year and a half they had been disheartened about the building of their temple, and had even discontinued work. Some had even begun to lose interest in the restoration of the sacred edifice (ver. 2). Hence they much wanted rousing from indolence and rebuke for unbelief, as well as comfort in sadness and succour in weakness; and all this they received from the new monitor from Jehovah that bad arisen in their midst. So have God"s revelations ever been as suitable to men"s necessities as to time"s urgencies. Notably was this the case with his showing of himself to Moses at the bush, (Exo_3:2) and his disclosure of himself to mankind in the Person of Christ. (Gal_4:4)
3. Sometimes suggestive. This was so in the case under consideration. First, the year in which Haggai appeared was suggestive of the people"s sadness; having no more a king of their own to count from, they reckoned the date as that of the second year of Darius, i.e. of Darius Hystaspes (Darajavus of the cuneiform inscriptions), who reigned from B.C. 521 to B.C. 486. Next, the month the sixth of their ordinary Jewish year( corresponding with our August or September), and therefore towards the close of harvest ought at least, by the comparatively barren fields they had reaped, to have reminded them of their chastisement (vers. 10, 11), and so induced in them a spirit of humility. Lastly, the day of the month, the new moon"s day, which the Law had directed to be kept as a day of special sacrifice, (Num_28:11) which their forefathers had observed as a popular festival, (Pro_7:20, margin Authorized Version) and marked by religious gatherings at the local sanctuaries (Isa_1:13, Isa_1:14; 2Ki_4:23) and which probably they also celebrated as a holiday, might have spoken to them of their sin in preserving the outward forms of religion while neglecting its inward spirit, and perhaps also of their duty, to attend with true docility to the admonition which proceeded from the new prophet"s lips.
II FIND THEIR OWN INSTRUMENTS. These also are:
1. Mostly humble. Only once did Divine revelation find an organ that was truly exalted, viz. when he who, as the only begotten Son, had been in the Father"s bosom, made him known (Joh_1:18) although even then itwas needful that that Son should empty himself of his glory and. veil his Divinity behind a garment of humanity before he could properly accomplish his work. (Php_2:6, 7) But in all other instances the instruments selected by Jehovah for the transmission of his will to mankind are humble and lowly in comparison with him whose will they bear, (Isa_40:18) even when they are angels; how much more when men, as they mostly are! And of these it is seldom the most exalted in rank or wisdom that he selects, but most frequently the lowliest persons in obscure stations, like Moses when a stranger in Midian, (Act_7:29-31) like Elisha when holding the plough, (1Ki_19:19) or like Amos when amens the herdsmen of Tekoa; (Amo_1:1) and persons of unknown family, like Elijah the Tishbite, or Nahum the Elkoshite, or Habakkuk, of whom almost nothing is known.
2. Always suitable. Men frequently err in choosing instruments to execute their will; God, never. He can always discern spirits, while men only think they can. Men judge according to appearance; he, according to the heart. Haggai was, perhaps, not such a vehicle as man would have pitched upon to be the medium of a Divine communication. But for God"s purpose he was fitted beyond most. Though not absolutely certain, it is most probable he was an old man of eighty years (Ewald, Pusey), who had seen the first temple in its glory, (Hag_2:3) and who could therefore speak with greater emphasis and solemnity as one standing on the confines of eternity, who knew the vanity of earthly greatness, and could appreciate the superior excellence and desirability of things inward and spiritual. Besides, his very name Haggai, or "Festive fitted him to be the bearer of a message to desponding builders. What they wanted was inspiriting incitement, encouragement, and hope; and of that there was a promise in the old man"s designation Haggai, or "The Festal One especially if this only expressed the habitual disposition of his soul.
3. Generally efficient. "It has been the wont of critics, in whose eyes the prophets were but poets," writes Pusey, "to speak of the style of Haggai as "tame" and destitute of life and power; but, for all that, it was adapted to the object sought to be accomplished. Haggai had no need to complain, as the eloquent Isaiah (first or second), "Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?"; (Isa_53:1) of him itis recorded that his words awoke an immediate response in his hearers" hearts, and "they came and did work in the house of the Lord of hosts, their God" (ver. 14). Man cannot always say of his instruments, however finely polished, that they will never fail; God can always predict of his, however rude, that they will certainly succeed.
III CHOOSE THEIR OWN RECIPIENTS. These are commonly diverse, as in the present instance. Haggai"s message was directed:
1. To Zerubbabel; concerning whom may be noted:
(1) His names Sheshbazzar, (Ezr_1:8) most probably Chaldean or Babylonian, and perhaps signifying "Worshipper of Fire" (Gesenius); Zerubbabel, (Ezr_2:1) obviously Hebrew, and meaning "Born in Babylon;" and Tirshatha (Ezr_2:63; Neh_7:65) most likely Persian, and equivalent to "The Feared.
(2) His descent. Described in the text as the son of Shealtiel, who was the son of Jeconiah the captive, (1Ch_3:17, Authorized Version) or, if Assir be taken as a proper name, (1Ch_3:17, Authorized Version) the grandson of Jeconiah; or again, if Luke"s register be followed, (Luk_3:27) the son of Neri; Zerubbabel is expressly stated by the chronicler to have been a son of Pedaish, a brother of Shealtiel. (1Ch_3:19) Probably as good a solution cf the difficulty as any other is Keil"s, that Jeconiah, according to the prophecy of Jeremiah, (Jer_22:30) had no sons, but only a daughter, who married Neri, a descendant of David, and became by him the mother of Shealtiel and Pedaiah, who accordingly were reckoned sons of Jeconiah, and that Shealtiel having died without issue, his brother Pedaiah married his widow, and raised up for him a son named Zerubbabel.
(3) His office. As a descendant of the royal house of Judah, he Was the recognized head of the Jewish exiles in Babylon, and as such was by Cyrus appointed governor of the pilgrim band who returned to their native land.
2. To Joshua; who also is described by his ancestry as the son of Josedech, who had been carried away by the Chaldeans to Babylon, (1Ch_6:15) when his father Zeraiah had been put to death by Nebuchadnezzar (2Ki_25:18-21; Jer_52:24-27) and by his office as the high priest of the young community that had returned to Judea and Jerusalem. As Zerubbabel was their cirri, so was Joshua their religious, head; and "together they are types of him, the true King and true Priest, Christ Jesus, who by his resurrection raised again the true temple, his body, after it had been destroyed" (Pusey).
3. To the people. Though Haggai"s words were directed in the first instance to Zerubbabel and Joshua, they were in the second instance designed for the whole congregation; and that the whole congregation received them, whether directly from the prophet"s own lips or indirectly through those of the prince and the priest, is expressly stated (vers. 12, 13).
LESSONS.
1. The possibility of revelation.
2. The human medium of inspiration.
3. The greater privilege of the Christian Church in having as arevealer of the Divine will, not a human prophet merely, but the incarnate Son.
4. The higher responsibility which this entails.
HOMILIES BY S.D. HILLMAN Ver. 1The introduction.
The Bible student, with a view to the clear understanding of the Old Testament Scriptures, should fix in his mind the order of the prophetical writings. These books of prophecy may appropriately be arranged under three heads.
1. Those which stand related to the Assyrian period, including the books ofJonah, Joel, Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah, and Nahum.
2. Those connected with the Babylonian period, including Habakkuk,zephaniah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, and Obadiah.
3. Those associated with the return from the exile: Haggai, Zechariah,malachi. The introduction of this brief prophecy by Haggai suggests to us
I THE CHANGES MARKED BY THE REVOLVING WHEEL OF TIME. We are able, through this opening verse, to fix the exact date of this prophecy. It was "in the second year of Darius the king" that Haggai fulfilled this special mission, i.e. B.C. 521. Hence upwards of a century had passed away since Zephaniah had declared so faithfully the terrible Divine judgments which should overtake the nation on account of its guilt. His words had proved strictly true, and had been very literally and completely fulfilled. The land had been rendered utterly desolate; its cities had been entirely destroyed; its temple reduced to a heap of ruins; and its people carried away into exile. No King of Judah was referred to by Haggai in commencing his book, for the simple reason that the throne had fallen, and he had to recognize the authority of a Persian sovereign, and to speak of his favoured land as a province of a foreign power (ver. 1). The dispersion, however, had in a measure been followed by the regathering. Zephaniah had prophesied respecting the return of "a remnant," and his prophecy had, in a sense, now been fulfilled, for Cyrus permitted the Jews to colonize their own land, and a number had availed themselves of this permission, and had now spent some years in the bad given to their fathers, seeking to repair the waste and desolation which the march of events and the lapse of time had wrought.
II THE WILL OF GOD AS COMMUNICATED THROUGH HUMAN INSTRUMENTALITY. The returned exiles commenced well. Their first concern had reference to the rebuilding of the house of the Lord, and with all possible speed they laid the foundation of the second temple. They were, however, weak and poor; they laboured amidst untold difficulties and discouragements, and it is not surprising that, their hearts becoming downcast and depressed, their ardour declined and their zeal languished. They needed stimulus; they required some message from the Lord their God declarative of his will and purpose; and this need was supplied, for they heard "a voice from heaven" speaking unto them through Haggai and Zechariah. (Hag_1:1, Hag_1:2; Zec_1:1) In every age God has communicated his will and intention through the instrumentality of man. He has made holy men, full of human sympathies, the medium of Communicating his purposes. His agents in this instance, as ever, were admirably chosen. Haggai was advanced in life; he had probably seen the former temple; he was a link connecting the old with the new, and brought to bear upon the difficulties of the times a ripened and matured experience; whilst Zechariah was young, and with all the enthusiasm and warmth of youth. They worked together in perfect harmony and for the common good, their prophecies being at times admirably interwoven. There are two elements in the Bible the Divine and the human. God speaks to us in every page, and he does so all the more emphatically, in that he addresses us through men who possessed throbbing hearts and who passed through experiences like our own.
III THE RAISING UP IN THE ORDER OF PROVIDENCE OF EFFICIENT LEADERS TO DIRECT GREAT MOVEMENTS. "The word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, Governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josadech, the high priest" (ver. 1). Zerubbabel, of royal descent from David, and Joshua, who was in the priestly line, had secured the confidence and esteem of the Jewish community in the land of captivity; and the former had won the regard of Cyrus, the Persian monarch; so that when the time for the return came, leaders, esteemed alike by the Jews and their foreign rulers, were prepared to guide the movement and to carry it through successfully. God"s work shall never fail through lack of suitable agents to do his bidding, but he will raise up a bright succession of leal-hearted men to carry on his cause, until the ruin and desolation wrought by sin has been completely repaired, and the topstone of the temple of redeemed humanity be "brought forth" amidst rapturous praise. S.D.H.
HOMILIES BY D. THOMAS Vers. 1, 2Duty revealed.
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 unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, Governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, "This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord"s house should be built." Haggai is the first of the three prophets who lived and taught after the restoration t the Jews from the Babylonian captivity. It is generally supposed that he returned with the Hebrew exiles under Zerubbabel and Joshua the high priest, in the year B.C. 536. He prophesied in the reign of Darius Hystaspes, who ascended the Persian throne s.c. 521. He and Zechariah were employed by Jehovah to excite and encourage the Jews to the rebuilding of the temple. This book consists of four messages, which were delivered in three months of the year B.C. 620, and all refer to the work of temple restoration. His style, being somewhat interrogatory, has much vigour and vehe mence. The grand subject of this whole chapter is duty duty revealed, duty postponed, duty vindicated. Those two verses direct us to the revelation of duty. Here we have:
1. The time of its revelation. Every duty has its time, every true work hasits hour. Woe to us if that hour is neglected!
2. The organ of its revelation. "Came the word of the Lord by Haggai. Godspeaks to humanity through individual men whom in sovereignty he appoints. In all ages there are certain great men through whom God speaks to the world. They are his messengers.
3. The order of its revelation. Haggai had to deliver the message to mennearest to him, with whom he was most identified, and the men, too, who had the most power in influencing others. To the greatest man in the state, Zerubbabel; to the greatest man in the Church, Joshua. I make two remarks as suggested by this subject.
I DUTY IS THE BURDEN OF DIVINE REVELATION. The great purpose of Haggai"s mission was, in the name of God, to urge his countrymen to the fulfilment of a work which was morally incumbent on them, viz. the rebuilding of the temple. It was the purpose of God that the temple should be rebuilt, and he required the Jews to do that work. He could have restored the structure by a miracle or by the hands of others; but he imposed the building of it on the Jewish people for reasons best known to himself. What was the burden of Haggai"s mission is in truth the burden of the whole Divine revelationduty. It contains, it is true, histories of facts, effusions of poetry, discussions of doctrine; but the grand all-pervading substance of the whole is duty; its grand voice teaches, not merely to believe and feel, but to do; it regards faith and feeling as worthless unless taken up and embodied in the right act. It presents the rule of duty, it supplies the helps to duty, it urges the motives to duty. This fact shows two things.
1. That the Bible studies the real well bring of man. According to our constitution, our strength, dignity, and blessedness consist, not merely in our ideas and emotions, but in our settled character. But what is character? Not an assemblage of beliefs and emotions, but an assemblage of acts add habits.
2. That unpractised religion is spurious. There is the religion of creed, of sentimentality, of sacerdotalism, of routine. These are all spurious; it is the doer of the Word that is blessed; it is the doer of the Divine will that God approves. "Every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not," etc.. (Mat_7:26)
II DUTY IS INCREASED BY SOCIAL ELEVATION. This is implied in the circumstance that Haggai went directly with the message from God to the most influential men in the state, to "Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, Governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest." The former was one of the head men in the state, the commander-in-chief at the head of the Jews in their return from their captivity in Babylon; the latter was the head man in the Church, he was the high priest. It was the duty of all the Jews to set to the work; but the obligation of these men, on account of their high position, had an increased force. These men had greater opportunities of knowing the Divine will, and greater facilities for carrying it out. The influence of men in high position is a great talent that God requires to be used. This fact serves two purposes.
1. To supply a warning to men in high places. The man who is in a high position, and disregards his great responsibilities, is more an object of pity than envy. "Unto whom much is given, of him much will be required." Elevated positions in life invest men with an immense social power power which God intended to bless, but which is often used to curse men.
2. A lesson to ministers. Let the ambassadors of Heaven carry their messages first, if possible, to men in authority. Do not be afraid; none need your message more; none, if they receive it in faith, can render you better assistance in the great work of spiritual reformation. It is common to lecture the poor on duty. How seldom the Divine voice of duty is made to ring into the hearts of men in authority and power! D.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 5 Came the Word of the Lord by Haggai.
Hag_1:1-2
Came the Word of the Lord by Haggai.
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Duty revealed
The grail subject of the whole chapter is duty. Duty revealed, duty postponed, duty vindicated These two verses direct us to the revelation of duty. Here we have--
(1)
The time of its revelation. Every duty has its time, every true work has its hour.
(2) The organ of its revelation. Came the Word of the Lord by Haggai.
(3) The order of its revelation Haggai had to deliver the message to men nearest to him, with whom he was most identified, and the men too who had the most power in influencing others.
I. Duty is the burden of divine revelation. The great purpose of Haggais mission was, in the name of God, to urge his countrymen to the fulfilment of a work which was morally incumbent on them, namely, the rebuilding of the temple, What was the burden of Haggais mission is in truth the burden of the whole Divine revelation--duty. It contains, it is true, histories of facts, effusions of poetry, discussions of doctrine; but the grand all-pervading substance of the whole is duty; its grand voice is not merely to believe and feel, but to do; it regards faith and feeling as worthless unless taken up and embodied in the right act. It presents the rule of duty, it supplies the helps to duty, it urges the motives to duty. This fact shows two things--
1. That the Bible studies the real well-being of man. Not an assemblage of beliefs and emotions, but an assemblage of acts and habits. The fact shows--
2. That unpractised religion is spurious.
II. Duty is increased by social elevation. This is implied in the circumstance that Haggai went directly with the message from God to the most influential men in the state, to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest. This fact serves two purposes.
1. To supply a warning to men in great places.
2. A lesson to ministers. Let the ambassadors of heaven carry their messages first, if possible, to men in authority. (Homilist.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On vv1, 5 CRITICAL NOTES.] By] Lit. in the hand of Haggai,…
CRITICAL NOTES.] By] Lit. in the hand of Haggai, the prophet, merely a conscious medium; God the real speaker (cf. Act_7:35; Gal_3:19). Governor] Pechah, akin to the Turkish Pasha, one who rules a less country than a Satrap.
Hag_1:2. This] Not my people, but reproachfully, this people, as in acts disowning him, and so deserving to be disowned by him [Pusey]. Come] i.e. to build. Two out of seventy predicted years of captivity unexpired: this a plea for delay (cf. Henderson).
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Hag_1:3.] A repetition, to give greater prominence to the antithesis.
Hag_1:4.] God meets them with a question, and appeals to the conscience. You] Yourselves; the shameful contrast between them and Jehovah. Cieled] Heb. to cover, wainscot, or overlay with boards, “so that what is predicated of the houses is not to be confined to the ceiling, but must be extended to the walls which were thus covered, at once for comfort and ornament” [Henderson].
HOMILETICS
THE CALL TO DUTY.—Hag_1:1-2
The prophet addresses the people through their rulers, and seeks to rouse them to their work. The first day, the day of the new moon and a time of festal sacrifice, was an appropriate time. On such a day they must have been conscious of the ruins of the temple, and the work they had to do. In season and out of season God calls to duty.
I. A call through an inspired messenger. The prophet was invested with a Divine commission, and spoke with Divine authority. The voice was human, but the “word” was from Jehovah. He entrusts ministers with His words and works, and they should dispense them, as faithful stewards, to his people. This is a motive, an encouragement, and a help to perform his will.
II. A call to all people. The people were only few, a remnant, but none must excuse (Hag_1:12; Hag_1:14).
1. To the prince. “Unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel.” The prince of royal blood, the governor of the land, was not to be exempt.
2. To the priest. “And to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest.” The heads in civil and religious authority, rulers in Church and State, were jointly responsible for the negligence of the people. Great and good men must be stirred up when they grow remiss. Men in high position have greater opportunities of knowing, and should set a better example in doing, God’s will. No institution must be set aside, and no social elevation must excuse from duty.
3. To the people. The few are addressed through their officials. All have equal share and equal responsibility. Duty is the cry to all. Duty only is truth, and there is no true religion but in its accomplishment. This alone is the end of the highest life, and the truest happiness is derived from the consciousness of its fulfilment. Duty performed, says George Herbert, “gives us music at midnight.” “The word duty seems to me,” says one, “the biggest word in the world, and is the uppermost in all my serious doings.” This call to duty is loud, continual, and urgent. “Whatsoever he saith to you, do it.”
THE GUILTY EXOUSES FOR DELAY IN DUTY.—Hag_1:2-4
The people are charged with neglect in their work, bereft of every excuse to justify their negligence, and refuted in their pretences by their own sinful conduct. They did not question the call, nor deny the obligation to duty, but were criminal in delaying it.
I. They were actuated by selfishness. They dwelt in ceiled houses, adorned them with comforts and luxuries, while the temple was in ruins. They were more concerned for themselves than for the cause of God. They were not poor in means, but in spirit. Self-love will hinder all effort to repair and build the house of God. It is fatal to spiritual interests. “Woe to you who join house to house, and field to field, and regard not the work of the Lord.”
II. They were hindered through fear. They might urge that their relation with Persia was not favourable, and that the edict to cease labour, were reasons for inaction. But this was a more pretext. They had made no effort to discover the mind of the legitimate king, Darius Hystaspis. Their neglect was not the opposition to zealous patriots and ardent worshippers, but the selfish indifference of an unfaithful people. The intrigues of the enemies, and cowardice, determined them from serious effort. They grew fainthearted through difficulty (Ezr_3:11-13; Ezr_4:4). “Woe unto him that is faint-hearted,” says the son of Sirach. No blessings equal a stout heart in the service of God. Cherish the spirit of Nehemiah, “The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we, his servants, will arise and build.”
III. They delayed in presumption. “This people say, The time is not come.” Ingenious in excuses, they declared that interruptions proved that the proper time to build had not arrived. “God hath interposed many difficulties to punish our rash haste” [Calvin], why then work till the full period is expired? Many, like the Jews, do not say, Never, but not yet. Conscience will not let them say, We will never be religious and work for God; but they procrastinate—put off till to-morrow what should be done to day (2Co_6:1-2), and thus leave the great work of life undone. The time is always come to him who wishes to do right. In his providence and by his prophets, God calls now. The present is the opportunity to respond, undertake, and finish the work which God has given us to do. Should worldlings exert themselves for pleasure and self-indulgence, and the servants of God stand back amid the ruins of the temple, and the loss of immortal souls? “Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed; I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids, until I find out a place for the Lord, a habitation for the mighty God of Jacob” (Psa_132:3-5; 2Sa_7:2.)
A MISSIONARY SERMON.—Hag_1:4
The captivity of Babylon had passed away. The Jews were now called to rebuild the second temple, and restore the worship of God. Adversaries watched them, and tried to cause their work to cease for a time. The prophets Haggai and Zechariah were raised up to urge them to begin afresh. This state of things existed in other periods of the world. To excite you to zeal and greater diligence in the cause of God, look at the words in the following aspects—
I. As representing a depression in the cause of God. “The house of God lieth waste.” There is a painful imperfection in the work of God in the present day. What are the scenes in lands where Christianity is professed? In our own land the cause of God is depressed. Much that is opposed to purity and happiness abounds. In other countries which bear the name of Christendom, in the continent of Europe, we behold the strong-holds of the prince of the power of the air—mystic Babylon, having in her hand the cup full of abominations. Over the vast portions of the East reigns the vile impostor in barbarism and sensuality. Beyond these are the regions of heathenism. The light is only just gathering which is to dissipate the darkness, and change the world into brightness and beauty. Are we not compelled to say, “the temple of God lieth waste”?
II. As describing a pursuit of temporal gratification on the part of those confessedly attached to the cause of God. All neglect exertions which God justly demands. Some think the cause is impolitic, others that it is unjust. Generally, it is often a lamentation that large portions of wealth, talent, and influence in the world are not devoted to God. More particularly, is there sufficient exercise of talent and opportunity? Do not the principles of selfishness prevent us from making sacrifices which ought to be made? From the period of the Reformation, little has been done to purify the Church and advance its interests. The spirit of missions has to Christianize the Church, before the Church can Christianize the world. The time must come when wealth, splendour, talents, and influence must dedicate their most hallowed powers to God. Individual exertion is still very imperfect in the great cause. Let each consider how much of his time, natural gifts, and property have been given to promote the interests of his fellow-men. It will be little indeed, while an immense portion of each has been given to the world. Contrast our state with the votaries of false religion, Mahommedanism, and heathenism. Think of almost incredible sums devoted to degrading superstitions. Think of Whitfield and others, whose memory we cherish; emulate their zeal and catch their spirit.
III. As challenging the employment of our various talents, and urging the claims of God.
1. Consider the nature of those obligations under which God has placed you, and regard the services which you are called to render.
2. Consider the peculiar nature of the gospel which you have embraced.
3. Consider that while there is not energy in the cause of God, there is an awful amount of misery resting upon your fellow-men.
4. Consider the prospect of success. God has promised that every enemy shall be overcome—that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established upon the tops of the mountains—that he will cause peace and righteousness to prevail in all the earth, and that the world shall be given to Christ, and filled with the glory and power of his grace [James Parsons].
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Hag_1:1. Joshua, the high priest, was a type of Christ.
1. In his name, which signifieth a Saviour.
2. In his office of high priesthood.
3. In his partner-agency with Zerubbabel, in bringing the people home to their country [Trapp]. Together they are types of him, the true King and true Priest, Christ Jesus, who by the Resurrection raised again the true Temple, his body, after it had been destroyed [Pusey].
Hag_1:2. “This people,” instead of “My people.” The loss of God’s confidence.
1. Its occasions.
2. Its consequences.
3. Its retrieval [Lange]. “This people say.” Words then have their weight; neither are men’s tongues their own; but there is a Lord over them (Psa_12:4), that will call them to a strict account of all waste words (Mat_12:36), and hard speeches (Jud_1:15). He that weighs his words before he utters them, shall prevent an after-reckoning for them [Trapp].
The time is not come.
1. An indication of the wrong spirit.
2. A misinterpretation of Divine providence.
3. A manifestation of disobedience.
4. An expectation of times without difficulty. Never lay by present duty, for which you have positive command, in anticipation of plainer providence or better days—
“The primal duties shine aloft, like stars.” [Wordsworth.]
Hag_1:2-4. There is a time for everything with men; but they should consider—
1. Who it is that claims their first and most devoted service.
2. The means and methods of serving him best [Lange]. Men are very ingenious when they wish to hide their delinquencies [Calvin]. Many have plenty of money when they build houses for themselves, but great scarcity of it when it is wanted for churches, schools, or anything to promote God’s glory [Cramer].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 1
Hag_1:1. In its very first day, when the grief for the barren years was yet fresh, Haggai was stirred to exhort them to consider their ways; a pattern for Christian preachers to bring home to people’s souls the meaning of God’s judgments. God directs the very day to be noted in which he called the people anew to build his temple, both to show the readiness of their obedience, and a precedent to us to keep in memory days and seasons in which he stirs our souls to build more diligently his spiritual temple in our souls [Pusey.]
Hag_1:2-4. The disingenuousness of their plea is self-evident, and is assumed in the following discourse, which is intended to awaken in them a sense of their ingratitude to God. It is represented to them most impressively, with an allusion to the very language of their pretext, that while they held their own wants, and even their luxuries, to be matters of pressing moment, they thought any time suitable to attend to the claims of their God; that while their own houses had been regained, there was yet no habitation for the God of Israel; that while their wealthy members were using their superfluous means to adorn and beautify their dwellings, God’s dwelling-place still lay desolate, appealing in vain to their piety and patriotism, which had been overborne by selfishness and supineness. The allusion, moreover, could not fail to expose the insincerity of their excuses. If some of them had now the command of such resources as enabled them to live in princely splendour, they might surely have reserved a portion for the requirements of the temple, when the work of building it should be resumed, if that work had been giving them the least concern [Lange].
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 A Call to Begin Building the Temple
A Call to Begin Building the Temple
1-11. Haggai repeatedly urges the leaders of Judah and the people to bend their energies to the rebuilding of the ruined Temple (August, 520 b.c.).
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1. Darius the king] This was unquestionably Hystaspes, who was raised to the Persian throne after the death of the impostor, Smerdis.
Sixth month] the 6th of the Jewish year, i.e. the month Elul (August-September).
Zerubbabel] A prince of the royal line of Judah, and the accepted civil leader of the people, just as Joshua was the religious leader. He ruled Judah as a Persian province.
2. This people] Haggai, like other prophets, did not need to create a sense of wrongdoing, but only to awaken conscience. He challenged their idle excuses. The time is not come] Evidently this was no sincere desire to await some specified date, but a wilful delaying of duty. In the interests of religion it demanded attention.
4. Time for you, O ye] lit. 'for you, you,' the repeated pronoun being very emphatic, so as to make a sharp contrast between them and the God they dishonoured.
Cieled houses] houses panelled with costly cedar planks. They could seem to afford luxuries for themselves, but were indifferent to the ruined state of the Temple.
5. Consider your ways] lit. 'Set your heart on your ways,' i.e. consider thoughtfully the situation in which you find yourselves. An appeal made four times by the prophet.
6. Ye eat, but ye have not enough] lit. 'but not to satisfy.' This v. formulates a series of vigorous comparisons, indicating that their labour had been ill rewarded. They had experienced failures of crops, continuous poverty, and lessening of physical vigour. Bag with holes] No one gets ahead, but seems to lose his money as fast as he accumulates it. A vivid picture of alluring hopes and baffling disappointments.
8. Go up to the mountain] They were to act at once. The prophet was in earnest. The mountain would be 'the hill-country of Judah,' the mountainous neighbourhood. Compare Neh_2:8 and Neh_8:15. Bring wood] i.e. timber suitable for building. The house] the Temple of Jehovah, which had been lying in ruins since being destroyed at the command of Nebuchadrezzar (2Ki_25:9). And I will be glorified] better, 'and that I may display my glory.' Here the prophet first interprets these calamities as being due to God's anger at their selfishness. The two following vv. emphasise this explanation. The people were zealous enough over their own affairs, but wholly neglectful of their obligations to God.
12-15. The leaders and people, their consciences awakened, encouraged by Haggai, begin work upon the Temple (September, 520 b.c.).
12. The remnant of the people] i.e. the rest of the people; those who had returned from Babylon were but a fraction of the once numerous nation. Did fear] It was a real religious change that came over them. They obeyed, not because of terror, but from a new sense of reverence for God.
13. The Lord's messenger] This v. is rejected by many scholars as superfluous. They also question this title as needless. It is the only instance in Scripture where a prophet uses such a title concerning himself. Nevertheless, it is not incongruous. I am with you] This encouraging word assured the people that they were acting as God would have them do.
14. Stirred up the spirit] The first result of Haggai's unsparing sermon was a spiritual change in the hearts of his hearers. A zealous purpose was once more kindled. The second result was practical. Within three weeks from the date of his first appeal the work upon the Temple had begun, with unanimity and heartiness. What more searching test could a preacher have or what more convincing proof of his power?
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v1 sixth month
sixth month
i.e. September, also Hag 1:15.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 Analysis and Annotations
Analysis and Annotations
CHAPTER 1:1-11 Haggai’s First Address
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1. The introduction (Hab 1:1)
2. The reproof (Hab 1:2-6)
3. Consider your ways (Hab 1:7-11)
Hab 1:1. Darius Hystaspes had been king one year and had entered upon the second year, 520 B.C., when, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, the word of the Lord was given by Haggai. It was addressed to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of josedech, the high-priest. Zerubbabel and Joshua were the prominent civic and religious leaders of that day. Zerubbabel was the son of Shealtiel (which means asking of God in prayer). Zerubbabel (sown in Babylon) was of royal seed, in direct line of descent from David. In Ezra this princely leader is called by his Persian name Sheshbazzar. In the genealogy of Luk 3:27 he is called a son of Neri, a descendant of David through his son Nathan; he is also called a son of Pedaiah. These divergent statements have been satisfactorily explained by the law of the Levirate marriage Deu 25:10.
Joshua is mentioned several times in Zechariah. He was the first high-priest after the captivity, and is called in Ezra and Nehemiah Jeshua, the name Joshua transcribed into Greek. He and Zerubbabel are prophetic types of our Lord as the King-Priest. Joshua was the son of Josedech (Jehozadak) the high-priest who was taken by the Babylonians into captivity 1Ch 6:15, and was the grandson of Seraiah, who was put to death by Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah, after the capture of Jerusalem.
Hab 1:2-6. His message starts with the excuse which the people offered for the apathy in the things of God. “This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD’S house should be built.” The Lord does not address them as “My people,” but in a way which is deprecatory. It was an empty excuse, that His time had not yet come; in reality they were cold towards the cause of the Lord, and sought their own things in place of it. In their indifferent spirit they probably took the relation to Persia, produced by the Samaritan interference, as the ground of their opinion, that it was not the time to come and finish the task. They were an ungrateful people and should have known better. The Lord, who had announced through Isaiah that Cyrus should be born and say, “Let Jerusalem be built,” who raised up Cyrus, whom the prophet had named so many years before he was born; the Lord who had brought them back to the land and prospered them, would certainly give them the victory over all their enemies and make the building of the house possible. They hid behind the unreasonable excuse, it is not the time. How often the same excuse has been used by the professing people of God in our age!
Then the Lord answers them. “is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your ceiled houses, while this house lieth waste?” They had begun well, as we read in Ezr 3:1-13, when they set the altar upon its bases. But now they had departed from their endeavor; the interest in the one thing had waned, and selfish aims were substituted. They were living in luxurious houses, while His house was completely neglected, it was in a waste condition. The insincerity of their vain excuse was therefore exposed.
Then comes the exhortation to consider their ways (literally: set your heart upon your ways). Had it been profitable for them? No. Ever since they left off building His house bitter disappointment had been their lot. All their self-seeking brought them no gain, but steady loss. The Lord’s blessing, given to His earthly people concerning earthly things, had been withholden. They had sown much seed; there was a scanty return. They had not been satisfied in eating or drinking. Their clothing was insufficient. The wages they earned may have been good wages, but it was as if they put them in a bag with holes; the great part of them was lost. While all this must be considered on the ground of the Jew, the principle nevertheless holds good for us as well. “But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” Mat 6:33, also refers primarily to the believing Jew, yet it has its application for us. The heart of the believer must always seek Him first. The life of a child of God must always be devoted to Him and the things of God. Our business is to care for His things; His gracious business is to care for us in all things. Neglect of the things of God always brings the same bitter disappointment.
Hab 1:7-11. Consider your ways; the Lord spoke again. And now He commands them to go to the mountains and fetch wood and to build the house. He declares that He will take pleasure in it and that He will be glorified. How graciously He craves the whole-heartedness of His people and their full devotion to Himself. It is in worship, indicated by the building of the house, that we glorify Him. It is worshippers the Father seeketh, worshippers in spirit and in truth Joh 4:1-54.
On account of their neglect, neglect of Himself and the honor of His Name, as centered in the house, He could not give the blessing He is so willing to bestow upon His people. He withheld the dew and the rain; He prevented the fruitfulness of the fields, and all else was stunted, on account of their attitude toward Him.
“It was Jehovah who blighted their selfish efforts. He was dealing with them on account of their unbelief and neglect. It was not because He loved them not, but because He did. ‘Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.’ When the Lord allows persons to go away without rebuke, it is the sure sign that all practical bond is broken--if any bond did exist--that He now disowns them, for a time at least. Hence these very chastenings of the Jewish remnant were the proof that His eyes were still over them, and that He felt their negligence of Him and resented--in divine faithfulness--the failure of His people in the care of His glory” (William Kelly) .
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v1 The Indifference of the People Rebuked.
The Indifference of the People Rebuked.
When the exiles, under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Joshua, had returned to Jerusalem, they had begun the work of rebuilding the Temple with great eagerness. But when the Samaritans and others had placed various obstacles in their way, they had discontinued their efforts, making no determined effort to remove the difficulties. A few years after, when a certain measure of prosperity was found in Judea, they grew indifferent to the project, and so the situation continued for some sixteen years. It was then that the Lord selected Haggai as His messenger to rebuke the people.
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v. 1. In the second year of Darius, the king, the year 520 B. C. in the sixth month, that is, of the Jewish year, corresponding roughly to our September, in the first day of the month, came the word of the Lord by Haggai, the prophet, who was therefore simply the medium through which the Lord communicated His message and in no way presented his own ideas, unto Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Josedech, the high priest, Cf Ezr 3:2, saying,
v. 2. Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, the prophet employing this formula in order to bring out the importance of his message, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built, that being the lame excuse with which the people tried to cover their indifference, for they had reached a stage in which they were ready to let matters take their course, allow them to drift along.
v. 3. Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai, the prophet, saying,
v. 4. Is It time for you, O ye, to dwell In your celled houses, for yourselves to dwell in wainscoted houses, paneled in the most expensive manner, showing that they lived not only in comfort, but in luxury, and this house lie waste? since it had never gotten beyond the foundations, only the altar of burnt offerings standing on the top of Moriah.
v. 5. Now, therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts, Consider your ways, literally, "Set your hearts upon your ways," contemplating the consequences of their late behavior and upon the manner in which the Lord had regarded it, as His treatment of them showed.
v. 6. Ye have sown much, or have been sowing much, in the expectation of big crops, and bring in little, the harvest being small in spite of all their efforts; ye eat, but ye have not enough, they were not really satisfied in spite of the apparent abundance; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, seemingly having enough clothes, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put It Into a bag with holes, that is, they found themselves unable to save anything. All this indicated that there could be no real prosperity without the blessing of the Lord, and that was evidently lacking, as it always is when people think only of themselves and not of Him.
v. 7. Thus saith the Lord of hosts Consider your ways, think them over very carefully, for the matter was urgent,
v. 8. Go up to the mountain, to the great forests of the country, and bring wood, timber for building, and build the house; and I will take pleasure In It, glad to regard it as the house where He might be worshiped, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord, receiving the honor which was due to Him, which had been withheld on account of their indifference to the state of His house.
v. 9. Ye looked for much, expecting still greater crops and a corresponding prosperity, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, believing that at least the little which they had gotten was safe, I did blow upon it, thus dissipating and scattering it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts. He Himself undertakes to explain this condition to the people in order to explain it to them more impressively. Because of Mine house that is waste, still unfinished and desolate, and ye run every man unto his own house, in a base selfishness, which regarded only their own interests.
v. 10. Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, withholding the moisture necessary to insure full crops, and the earth is stayed from her fruit, it does not yield even its ordinary harvest.
v. 11. And I called for a drought upon the land, upon the cultivated fields, and upon the mountains, with their rich meadows, and upon the corn, the grain products, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, all the chief products of the country. and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labor of the hands, His blessing being withheld from all animate and inanimate beings. This earnest rebuke was heeded by the people.
v. 12. Then Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua, the son of Josedech, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, all the rest of the returned exiles, obeyed the voice of the Lord, their God, and the words of Haggai, the prophet, as the Lord, their God, had sent him, probably an additional discourse or a further explanation which was not recorded, and the people did fear before the Lord, with reverence and awe.
v. 13. Then, when the people showed such obvious signs of repentance, spake Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, in the Lord’s message unto the people, the fact that his mission was that of Jehovah being brought out time and again, saying, I am with you, saith the Lord, He accepted their repentance as genuine and acted accordingly.
v. 14. And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua, the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people, and they came and did work, they took steps to continue building operations, in the house of the Lord of hosts, their God,
v. 15. in the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, twenty-three days after the first message of Haggai, in the second year of Darius, the king. When people are filled with the spirit of repentance and of the fear of the Lord, it is an easy matter for them to take up any part of the work which the Lord has entrusted to them, and to bring it to a successful issue, with His blessing.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3 In the second year of Darius the king
In the second year of Darius the king
"In the second year of the reign of Darius the king" or "After Darius had been king for more than a year" (See: Ordinal Numbers)
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Darius ... Haggai ... Zerubbabel ... Shealtiel ... Joshua ... Jehozadak
These are all names of men. (See: How to Translate Names)
in the sixth month, on the first day of the month
"on the first day of the sixth month." This is the sixth month of the Hebrew calendar. The first day is near the middle of August on Western calendars. (See: Hebrew Months and Ordinal Numbers)
the word of Yahweh came
This idiom is used to introduce a special message from God. AT: "Yahweh gave a message" or "Yawheh spoke this message" (See: Idiom)
Yahweh
This is the name of God that he revealed to his people in the Old Testament. See the translationWord page about Yahweh concerning how to translate this.
by the hand of Haggai
Here the word "hand" refers to Haggai himself. Yahweh used Haggai as the agent to deliver his command. See how you translated this in Haggai 1:1. AT: "through Haggai" (See: Synecdoche)
Yahweh's house
the temple
translationWords
year
Darius
king
day
Yahweh
prophet
govern
Judah
high priest
Joshua
Yahweh of hosts
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 2, 4, 5 1:1-15 The first message calls the people of Jerusalem…
1:1-15 The first message calls the people of Jerusalem to focus on restoring proper worship of God.
1:1 This introductory statement (superscription) identifies the author, the audience, the date, and the occasion prompting the prophecy. • the second year: King Darius I (Hystaspes) ruled Persia 521–486 BC, early in the Persian Empire (539–331 BC). The messages of Haggai are among the most precisely dated prophecies in the Old Testament. • Prophet (Hebrew nabi’) designates Haggai as a representative of God who speaks with the authority of God, who sent him. • Zerubbabel led one group of Hebrews back to Palestine after the Babylonian exile and was the Persian-appointed governor of Judah at the time of Haggai’s ministry (see Ezra 2:1-2; 3:2; Neh 7:7). • Jeshua was the high priest at that time. Under his supervision, the altar was rebuilt and the second Temple was dedicated (Ezra 3:2; 5:2; 6:15).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.