Haggai.
Haggai.
§ 165. Haggai (
) means “festal” or “celebrating a feast” or “diligent.” He began to prophesy after the Babylonian captivity, in the second year of King Darius of the Persians, as is evident from Ezra 5:1 and Hag. 1:1. The greatest historians say that this Darius was the son of Hystaspes. The predecessor of this Darius, King Cambyses (whom Ezra calls Ahasuerus and Artaxerxes [Arthasasta]), had hindered the restoration of the temple. This Darius, however, finally gave the Jews the power to rebuild the temple. Because the Jews were remiss and lazy in this work and were more concerned about rebuilding their own private dwellings than the temple, God summoned up this prophet, Haggai, and two months later his colleague, Zechariah, both of whom rebuked this yawning of the people and prophesied about the excellence of the second temple that would be gained for it through the coming of the Messiah.
This book has two chapters, the first of which is an exhortation to go through with the building of the temple, and the second of which is a consolation regarding the preservation of this temple until the coming of the Messiah.