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,
In the second year. See note on p. 1276.
Darius = Darius (Hystaspis). See App-67 ; and notes on Ezra and Nehemiah.
the king. In Aramaic and later books these words follow the name. In the earlier O.T. books they nearly always precede it. Compare "king David", "king Hezekiah", &c.
sixth month. Elul, our August-September.
the first day, &c. Therefore the feast-day or Sabbath of the full moon.
the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4 .
by = by the hand of. The Hebrew idiom for God speaking "by the prophets". Reference to Pentateuch, where the expression occurs thirteen times (Exodus 9:35 ; Exodus 35:29 . Leviticus 8:36 ; Leviticus 10:11 ; Leviticus 26:46 . Numbers 4:37 , Numbers 4:45 ; Numbers 9:23 ; Numbers 10:13 ; Numbers 15:23 ; Numbers 16:40 ; Numbers 27:23 ; Numbers 36:13 ). Compare the five occurrences in Joshua ( Hag 14:2 ; Hag 20:2 ; Hag 21:2 , Hag 21:8 ; Hag 22:9 ). Judges 3:4 . 2 Samuel 12:25 . 1Ki 8:53 , 1 Kings 8:56 ; 1 Kings 12:15 ; 1Ki 14:18 ; 1 Kings 15:29 ; 1 Kings 16:7 ; 1Ki 17:16 . 2 Kings 14:25 . 2 Chronicles 10:15 ; 2 Chronicles 23:18 ; 2 Chronicles 29:25 .Nehemiah 9:14 .Isaiah 20:2 .Jeremiah 37:2 , &c.
Haggai. Hebrew. Haggai from Hag = feast, or festival.
Zerubbabel. Hebrew = sown in Babylon; because he was of the royal seed of Judah born (or seed sown) in Babylon. Compare 1 Chronicles 3:19 . Ezra 2:2 ; Ezra 3:2 . See App-99 .
son. Put by Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Genus), App-6 , for grandson.
Shealtiel. Hebrew = asked for from God. The son of Jeconiah (= Jehoiachin), who was taken captive to Babylon (2 Kings 24:15 . 1 Chronicles 3:17 ). Compare Ezra 3:2 , Ezra 3:8 ; Ezra 5:2 .Nehemiah 12:1 .Matthew 1:12 .Luke 3:27 . See App-99 .
governor. Ruling Judea as a Persian province, with a Persian title pechah, from which we have the modern pasha = prefect, or satrap.
Joshua. The first high priest after the return. See Haggai 1:12 , Haggai 1:14 ; Haggai 2:2 , Haggai 2:4 .Zechariah 3:1 , Zechariah 3:3 , Zechariah 3:8 , Zechariah 3:9 ; Zechariah 6:11 . Spelled "Josuah" in the 1611 edition of the Authorized Version.
Josedech. Hebrew = Jehovah is righteous.
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.
the LORD of hosts. See note on 1 Samuel 1:3 .
This People. Not Zerubbabel or Joshua.
time. Repeated here and in Haggai 1:4 for emphasis.
not. Septuagint reads "not yet".
Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying,
Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?
you, O ye . Hebrew Figure of speech Epizeuxis ( App-6 ), for emphasis = you, even you, or that ye yourselves.
ceiled = panelled. Used of the lining of an arched roof. Occurs in 1Ki 6:9 ; 1 Kings 7:3 , 1 Kings 7:7 . Jeremiah 22:14 . Showing that their houses were not only roofed, but wainscotted or decorated. Hebrew = "in your houses [and that too] panelled". Compare David (2 Samuel 7:2 .Psalms 132:3; Psalms 132:3 ). This proves that the Temple had not then been commenced. Compare Haggai 1:9 . See notes on Nehemiah 7:4 , and longer note on Nehemiah 2:1 , Nehemiah 5:14 , Nehemiah 13:4 . Also App-58 .
Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
Consider = Set your heart on, or give your attention to. Occurs five times m this hook (Haggai 1:5 , Haggai 1:7 ; Haggai 2:15 , Haggai 2:18 , Haggai 2:18 ). Compare Job 1:8 ; Job 2:3 .Isaiah 41:22 .
your ways: i.e. the ways in which ye have been led, your experiences which are detailed in the next verse.
Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
Ye have sown, &c Reference to Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 28:38 , Deuteronomy 28:39 ). App-92 .
have not enough = are not satisfied. Reference to Pentateuch (Leviticus 26:26 ). App-92 .
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.
mountain = hill country.
take pleasure = he pleased therewith.
I will be glorified = I will get Me honour. Hebrew text has 'ekkabda. This is one in a list of twenty-nine words which are without the letter He (= H) at the end (see Ginshurg's Massorah, vol. I, p. 281). App-30 . This letter = five ( App-10 ), and later Talmudists regard it as betokening the fact that five things were lacking in the second Temple, viz.: (1) the ark; (2) the sacred fire; (3) the Shekinah; (4) the Urim and Thummim; and (5) the spirit of prophecy. This list is to safeguard ( App-93 ) the other occurrences of the word, which have this letter at the end, among them being Exodus 14:4 , Exodus 14:17 . These constitute a reference to Pent, with Leviticus 10:3 (which, like Haggai 1:8 , is without the). App-92 .
saith the LORD = hath said Jehovah.
Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.
saith the LORD of hosts = [is] the oracle of Jehovah Sabaioth.
Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.
the heaven, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Leviticus 26:19 . Deuteronomy 28:23 ). App-92 .
dew. See note on Psalms 133:3 .
and. Note the Figure of speech Polysyndeton ( App-6 ), emphasizing each item which is particularized here, and in Haggai 1:11 .
And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.
new wine. Hebrew. tirosh. App-27 .
that which. Some codices, with Aram, and Syriac, read "all which".
Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him, and the people did fear before the LORD.
the remnant: which had returned from Babylon. Compare Haggai 1:14 ; Haggai 2:2 , &c.
God. Hebrew. Elohim. App-4 .
as = according as. Some codices, with a special various reading called Sevir ( App-34 ), one early printed edition, and Syriac, read "with which".
sent him. Some codices, with Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulg, read "sent him unto them". Compare Jeremiah 43:1 .
Then spake Haggai the LORD's messenger in the LORD's message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the LORD.
the LORD'Smessenger, &c. = the messenger of Jehovah in the message of Jehovah.
message. Hebrew word Occurs only here.
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 in the house of the LORD of hosts, their God,
spirit. Hebrew. ruach. App-9 . Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Adjunct), App-6 , for the state of mind and feeling, &c. Compare 1 Chronicles 5:26 . 2Ch 21:16 ; 2 Chronicles 36:22 (= Ezra 1:1 ). Jeremiah 51:11 .
they came. See Ezra 3:1 , &c.
In the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.
In the, &c. This reads on from Haggai 1:14 , giving the date when Haggai's message took effect about three weeks later. It is not the commencement of another message, as some have supposed. See note on p. 1276.
