Annotations for Haggai

1:1 second year of King Darius. Darius was the third king of the Persian Empire and came into power under difficult conditions, as a major rival for the throne contested Darius’s rule. Cambyses, son of the empire’s founder, Cyrus the Great, died under mysterious circumstances in 522 BC while in Syria. About the time of his death, a figure named Bardiya had claimed the throne in Persia. A group of Persian aristocrats joined with Darius to defeat Bardiya, but while the central portion of the empire was consumed in the question of who would succeed Cambyses, many outlying parts of the empire rebelled against Persian rule. It was not until the second year of Darius’s rule that he was able to consolidate his control over the far-flung ends of the empire (from Egypt to the borders of modern India). Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah. One of the major changes for the Jewish community in this period was the imposition of a “governor” over the community, appointed by the Persian king. Eventually under Darius the Persian Empire developed a system that broke down the empire into large regions (“satrapies”), and the satrap was the primary supervisor of the “governors” of the smaller districts (“medina”). Having a royal appointee as the primary administrator over the community underscored the lack of political self-determination of the community. While Zerubbabel bears a Babylonian name, he was in all likelihood Jewish. A Zerubbabel appears in the list of descendants of David at 1Ch 3:19, but in that list Zerubbabel is the son of Pedaiah, who was a son of Shealtiel. Numerous suggestions have been offered for this difference between genealogies, none of which has the consensus of scholars. The prophet Haggai makes it clear that Zerubbabel was the legitimate political figurehead. Zerubbabel’s role in invigorating the effort to rebuild the temple is also recounted in Ezr 3. Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest. This “word of the LORD” is addressed to the entire community but more directly to its primary leaders, the governor representing the political sphere and the high priest representing the religious sphere. Since the subject is the temple, both leaders needed to work jointly to insure the rebuilding, since both governmental funds and gifts for the temple would be used to pay for the effort. Joshua’s lineage is more fully described in 1Ch 6:14–15, where Jozadak’s father is given as Seraiah, who was high priest at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem. Seraiah was executed by Nebuchadnezzar following the sacking of the city (2Ki 25:18–21), and Jozadak, presumably Seraiah’s eldest son and next in succession to the high priesthood, was taken into exile. Joshua would have been born in captivity but raised with the expectation of functioning as high priest should the temple be rebuilt.

1:2 LORD Almighty. Usually this Hebrew title is rendered “LORD of hosts” in English, the “hosts” representing the vast powers God has at his disposal. A classic example of this aspect of God’s character can be seen in 2Ki 6:15–17. This title for God, repeatedly used in Haggai, serves as a reminder that, while the community may feel powerless in the control of a great empire, God commands unimaginable forces.

1:4 paneled. The Hebrew term presents some difficulty. Paneled buildings would have been extraordinary in the ancient Near East, and they certainly would have been rarely used in most private homes of this period. On the other hand, the use of “your” may indicate that the charge is intended for the governor and high priest, two high-status officials who may well have enjoyed some touches of luxury in their private dwellings. Some suggest the term has more of a sense of “finished,” that the prophet’s concerns here relate more to the idea that the leading officials have ensured that their personal homes be finished while not taking the steps that would have ensured that the temple (God’s house) be finished.

1:6 You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes. Though coinage was introduced under the Persian Empire, it was not at all common in the region around Jerusalem until late in the empire’s history. Wages in Haggai’s day were likely paid in grain, and the reference to persons who earn wages may well relate to those working for the government in various public works projects. The image being offered is an intensification of the earlier phrases: not only are primary producers, farmers, unable to satisfy their basic needs, but those earning steady pay only see it eroded by higher costs for goods and services in tight market conditions.

1:8 Go up into the mountains and bring down timber. Indications are clear that the temple was rebuilt with cut stone (Ezr 5:8). Timber beams would be used as additional support elements and for spanning the interior for a roof. There is some ambiguity here in terms of what “mountains” the timber is to be obtained from. Structural elements for stone buildings were usually of cedar, gained from the mountains of Lebanon (1Ki 5:6–9). Some suggest the “timber” of this command relates to local resources that would be employed as scaffolding or other apparatus.

1:13 Haggai, the LORD’s messenger. The use of “messenger” here is very unusual, since the Hebrew term is not often used to refer to a prophet (Isa 42:19; 44:26 are two noteworthy parallel examples). In Jewish tradition, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi are often grouped together. This may be due in part to Haggai’s title here as well as Malachi’s statement that God is sending his “messenger” to prepare the way of the Lord (Mal 3:1)—these unusual terms serving to frame the works of these three prophets. I am with you. In the ancient Near East, it was common for prophets to encourage the king in fulfilling important religious duties such as building temples. The god could be “with” the king or leadership by giving them success in building the temple. More important, at the completion of this project, Yahweh would be with Israel in the sense that he would again be dwelling in their midst in the temple.

1:15 twenty-fourth day of the sixth month. In comparing the opening date formula (v. 1) with this date, it appears the community actually acted on Haggai’s message within three weeks. This would seem to suggest a fairly quick response to Haggai’s word on the part of the community leadership, since allocating resources and budgeting for building materials would normally take some time.

2:3 Who of you is left . . . ? Those who may have seen the temple prior to its destruction by the Babylonians would be few in number since some 67 years have passed to this point in the narrative. The question may be intended as a rhetorical point: no one is able to compare the previous temple with the one under construction.

2:6 I will once more shake. Shaking is a typical expression in the ancient Near East for a manifestation of the deity. The connection of this expression with a manifestation of God, combined with Haggai’s mention of the exodus in v. 5, points toward the prophet making a deliberate parallel to the self-disclosure of God to Israel at Sinai (Ex 19). So the “once more” is making a parallel between what God did for Israel at Sinai and what he will do for the postexilic community.

2:10 twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. The prophet is receiving a new word about two months after his last oracle. It is not clear to whom the oracle is addressed, though the use of second person plural references in what follows would suggest the community as a whole.

2:12 consecrated meat. Once a sacrifice is offered to God, it is considered to be set aside; it is devoted to the person of God and thus shares in God’s holiness. As such there are specific rules governing who may and who may not partake of the meat (Lev 7:20). Here, the point is that other items do not automatically become holy by contact with something that is consecrated: it takes an intentional action of devoting something to God to impart holiness.

2:16 wine vat. When grapes were brought in from the harvest, they were crushed and the resulting juice stored in a large vat in order for the sediments and pieces of grape to settle out. It would begin fermentation in the vat, but its final processing would occur when it was drawn off into storage jars or skins. The image here relates to the processing of the harvest for future use.

2:19 the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree. These are all late summer crops whose harvest would be long past by the ninth month (also known as Kislev, approximately November-December). They would be dormant plants at the point of Haggai’s proclamation. But the promise of the oracle is that—though at this point these crops are not currently bearing—with the restoration of the temple, the community can anticipate abundance in the coming agricultural cycle. I will bless you. In the ancient Near East, people believed there was a direct connection between honoring the deity and agricultural productivity. By establishing a permanent place where regular sacrifices would be offered to a god, the community could assume the honored god would respond with prosperity in the form of abundant crops. Israel shares in this perspective, seeing obedience to God as a means to economic prosperity (see, e.g., Dt 7:12–15).

2:22 chariots and their drivers; horses and their riders. One of the innovations of the Persian army was the extensive use of cavalry in battle, something no other force could match until the coming of Alexander the Great.

2:23 my signet ring. In the ancient Near East, a signet ring was an engraved stone bearing a mark that was unique to the individual. Such signets were used as signatures to contracts and/or legal documents or to emboss seals of scrolls, and they could be entrusted to a trusted servant.