A Prophecy concerned with the re-building of the Temple

He began to prophesy two months before Zacharias, i.e., in the sixth month of the second year of Darius the Great (Hystaspis), viz. 519 B.C. According to the LXX, followed by the Vulgate, Psalms 145-148 were composed by him in conjunction with Zacharias. These two Prophets were raised up by God to arouse the people who had given way to discouragement after the re-building of the Temple had been interdicted in the days of Cyrus, cf. Esdras 3:8-10, and in 4:4-6; "this people saith: the time is not yet come for building the temple of the Lord," Haggai 1:2. In 1 Esdras 5:1-2, the work of the two Prophets is mentioned.

The prophecy is addressed to Zorobabel and Josue, the former of the stock of David, the latter of the stock of Levi. The conjunction of the two is of the greatest importance in the series of Messianic prophecies. They represented two aspects of the Messiah, the one the kingly, the other the priestly. These two features were to be combined in the one person of the Messiah, cp. Psalm 114. Hence it is that, while the whole prophecy is concerned with the re-building of the Temple, it also touches on the upraising of the apparently fallen and accursed House of David. Ezechiel 11:23, had seen "the Glory of the Lord" quitting the Temple of Solomon; Jeremiah had pronounced the curse of sterility on Jechonias the son of David, 22:30. Hence Haggai insists that the Temple will be built and that its glory will be greater than that of Solomon's Temple, though its material splendor will not be so great, because "the Desired of all nations shall come" into it, cf. Malachi 3:1-3. He also insists on the glory of Zorobabel: "My servant ... I will make thee as a signet, for I have chosen thee," Haggai 2:24, words which are quoted in Ecclesiasticus 49:13-14; for of him should be born "David's Greater Son."

Divisions of the Prophecy

Haggai 1:1-11. The people are blamed for their neglect

Haggai 1:12 -to- 2:1. They set to work to restore the temple, (note that the chapter-division in the Vulgate and Douay is faulty, the date given in 2:1 refers to the last words of chapter 1)

Haggai 2:2-10. The new Temple is small; its glory, however, shall be far greater than that of the old Temple.

Haggai 2:11-20. The People are defiled by reason of their neglect, yet they shall now be blessed.

Haggai 2:21-24. The glory of Zorobabel and Josue.

Composition of the Prophecy

In the prophecy as it now stands, we have four prophecies of Haggai, one in the sixth month of the second year of Darius Haggai 1:1; another in the seventh month, 2:2; again two in the ninth month, 2:11 and 2:21. It is, of course, inconceivable that we have in these written prophecies all that Haggai said, and hence it is probable that the prophecy, as it now stands, represents but the fragments of a continuous preaching.

Theology of the Prophecy

God is always "the Lord of Hosts." It will be of interest here to point out the peculiar distribution of this title for God in the later Old Testament books: it occurs first in 1 Samuel 1:11, and seems gradually to become the dominant title; thus it occurs 14 times in Haggai, 48 times in Zechariah, 25 times in Malachi. We should notice, too, the expression "for I am with you," Haggai 1:13, 2:5, it is, perhaps, a reminiscence of Isaiah 14:7, though the Hebrew word is not quite the same. The teaching of the prophecy regarding the Messiah has already been touched upon.


by
Very Rev. Hugh Pope, O.P., S.T.M.
Doctor in Sacred Scripture,
Member of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, and
late Professor of New Testament Exegesis at the Collegio Angelico, Rome.