Book of Haggai

Books of the Hebrew Bible

Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Joshua Judges Ruth 1–2 Samuel 1–2 Kings 1–2 Chronicles Ezra Nehemiah Esther Job Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes Song of Solomon (Song of Songs) Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Ezekiel Daniel other Minor Prophets

Tanakh Torah | Nevi'im | Ketuvim Books of Nevi'im
First Prophets
1. Joshua
2. Judges
3. Samuel
4. Kings
Later Prophets
5. Isaiah
6. Jeremiah
7. Ezekiel
8. 12 minor prophets Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi

The Book of Haggai is one of the Books of the Minor Prophets in the Hebrew Bible (Christian Old Testament), written by the eponymous prophet. It was composed in or around 520 B.C.E., some 18 years after King Cyrus' 538 B.C.E. decree that allowed the Jewish resettlement of Palestine. In the years after their return, the prophet saw the restoration of the temple as a necessary imperative for the rebuilding of national and ethnic identity, which he saw as intimately tied to the participation in traditional religious practices. The fact that the Second Temple was, in fact, completed by 515 B.C.E. is often attributed to the potent persuasions offered by the prophet.

Authorship, text and context

See also: Haggai

Like many other texts in the prophetic corpus, little is known of the author of the Book of Haggai. His name appears to be derived from the Hebrew stem (hgg), which "means 'make a pilgrimage' or 'observe a pilgrimage feast.' H. W. Wolff suggests that the name, found often in extra-biblical, post-exilic sources, was popular because it was 'an allusion to the birth on a feast day of the person named." Conversely, it could also be taken as "an abbreviated form of the noun Hággíyyah, [meaning] "my feast is Yahweh", a Jewish proper name found in ... 1 Chronicles 6:30." Regardless, these etymological possibilities are among the only information available on the author of the text, which lacks even the geographical/genealogical markers that often accompany prophetic accounts. As a result, the various suppositions concerning his character—that he was over seventy years old, that he may have been a temple prophet, or that he was a "Judahite farmer" — are simply that: educated guesses. The only other insight into the author that can be gleaned from the source text is that he was a man of some influence, either with the ruling authorities (i.e., Josuha, the high priest, and Zerubbabel, the governor) or with the general public, as the window between his initial prophecy and the completion of the temple is only five years. Indeed, regardless of the character of the prophet, it is undeniable that he knew how to efficiently disseminate his message.

<some guesses concerning his character>

<specificity in dating the text> <historical context (March is good here)> <ties into other texts (esp. Zephaniah)>

Chronological Dating of Passages in the Book of Haggai

Passage	Year of Darius	Month	Day	Equivalent Date BCE
Hag 1:1	2nd	6th	1st	29 Aug. 520
Hag 1:15	2nd	6th	24th	21 Sept. 520
Hag 2:1	2nd	7th	21st	17 Oct. 520
Hag 2:10	2nd	9th	24th	18 Dec. 520
Hag 2:20	2nd	9th	24th	18 Dec. 520

Note: the final two entries share dates, as the second is merely a summary of the first

Overview

<five sections (as noted above) based on their chronological superscriptions> It consists of two brief, comprehensive chapters. The object of the prophet is generally urging the people to proceed with the rebuilding of the second Jerusalem temple in 521 B.C.E. after the return of the deportees. Haggai attributes a recent drought to the peoples' refusal to rebuild the temple, which he sees as key to Jerusalem’s glory. The book ends with the prediction of the downfall of kingdoms, with one Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, as the Lord’s chosen leader. The language here is not as finely wrought as in some other books of the minor prophets, yet the intent seems straightforward.

The first chapter first contains the first address (2-11) and its effects (12-15). The second chapter contains:

1. The second prophecy (1-9), which was delivered a month after the first.
2. The third prophecy (10-19), delivered two months and three days after the second; and
3. The fourth prophecy (20-23), delivered on the same day as the third.

These discourses are referred to in Ezra 5:1; 6:14;(Compare Haggai 2:7, 8, 22.)

Haggai reports that three weeks after his first prophecy, the rebuilding of the Temple began on September 7, 521 B.C.E. "They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of King Darius.(Haggai 1:14-15) and the Book of Ezra indicates that it was finished on February 25, 516 B.C.E. "The Temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius." (Ezra 6:15)

Themes

<temple defines jewish society> <apocalyptic/eschatological understandings> <later christian interpretations>

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

Initial text from Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897 (a document which is now in the public domain)

• Bandstra, Barry L. Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (Second Edition). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1999. ISBN 0534527272.
• Freedman, David Noel (editor-in-chief). The Anchor Bible Dictionary. New York : Doubleday, 1992. ISBN 0385193513 (v. 1).
• Gigot, F. E. "Aggeus (Haggai)" in The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907.
• Hirsch, Emile G. "Haggai, Book of" in The Jewish Encyclopedia. 2002.
• Koch, Klaus. The Prophets: The Babylonian and Persian Periods. Philidelphia: Fortress Press, 1982. ISBN 0800617568.
• March, W. Eugene. "Haggai." The New Interpreter's Bible (Vol. VII). Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994-2004. ISBN 0687278201.
• Mason, Rex. Preaching the Tradition: Homily and Hermeneutics after the Exile: Based on the "Addresses" in Chronicles, the "Speeches" in the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah, and the Post-Exilic Prophetic Books. Cambridge [England]; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990. 0521383048.
• Meyers, Carol L. and Meyers, Eric M. Haggai, Zechariah 1-8: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1987. ISBN 0385144822.

External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Haggai

• Jewish translations:
  • Chaggai - Haggai (Judaica Press) translation with Rashi's commentary at Chabad.org

• Christian translations:
  • Online Bible at GospelHall.org (ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
  • Haggai at The Great Books (New Revised Standard Version)

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