Haggai
Haggai 1
1In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, Yahweh’s word came by Haggai, the prophet, to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying, 2“This is what Yahweh of Armies says: These people say, ‘The time hasn’t yet come, the time for Yahweh’s house to be built.’ ”
3Then Yahweh’s word came by Haggai, the prophet, saying, 4“Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies waste? 5Now therefore this is what Yahweh of Armies says: Consider your ways. 6You have sown much, and bring in little. You eat, but you don’t have enough. You drink, but you aren’t filled with drink. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm, and he who earns wages earns wages to put them into a bag with holes in it.”
7This is what Yahweh of Armies says: “Consider your ways. 8Go up to the mountain, bring wood, and build the house. I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified,” says Yahweh. 9“You looked for much, and, behold, it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?” says Yahweh of Armies, “Because of my house that lies waste, while each of you is busy with his own house. 10Therefore for your sake the heavens withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit. 11I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on that which the ground produces, on men, on livestock, and on all the labor of the hands.”
12Then Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed Yahweh, their God’s voice, and the words of Haggai, the prophet, as Yahweh, their God, had sent him; and the people feared Yahweh.
13Then Haggai, Yahweh’s messenger, spoke Yahweh’s message to the people, saying, “I am with you,” says Yahweh.
14Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of Yahweh of Armies, their God, 15in the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.
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5 commentators · 49 notes on this chapter
Matthew Henry2
Writes as a pastor rather than a critic. Expect devotional and practical application over historical or linguistic analysis, read through a Reformed covenantal frame — and expect the Old Testament to be read forward toward Christ throughout.
Why this voice is here: The most widely read English commentary for three centuries. Included as a baseline: where Henry and a modern voice diverge, the divergence itself is usually the interesting part.
It was the complaint of the Jews in Babylon that they saw not their signs, and there was no more prophet (Psa 74:9), which was a just judgment upon them for mocking and misusing the prophets. We read of no prophets they had in their return, as they had in…
As an ear-ring of gold (says Solomon), and an ornament of fine gold, so amiable, so acceptable, in the sight of God and man, is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear, Pro 25:12. The prophet here was a wise but faithful reprover, in God's name, and he met with…
John Gill15
The most exhaustive and the most doctrinally committed here. Expect high — even supralapsarian — Calvinism applied consistently, and unusually heavy use of rabbinic and Talmudic sources for Jewish context. Where a passage bears on election or the will, Gill will read it in one direction, and knowing that in advance is the point.
Why this voice is here: The strongest Calvinist reading available in the public domain, and the best on Jewish background. Read alongside Clarke, not instead of him — between them you get both sides of the argument.
In the second year of Darius the King,.... That is, of Persia; he is spoken of as if he was the only king in the world; and indeed he was the then greatest king in it; and therefore is emphatically called "the king". This was not Darius the Mede, as…
Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts,.... Of armies above and below; whom all ought to reverence, honour, and obey; who was able to support his people in building his house, and protect them from their enemies, which should have been an encouragement to them; and…
Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet,.... This is a second prophecy, distinct from the former; that was delivered to the two governors, setting forth the sentiments and language of the people concerning the building of the temple, which was…
Adam Clarke12
The linguist of this set. Expect Hebrew and Greek word study, oriental custom, and geography — and an Arminian reading of grace and free will where Gill or Henry would read election. Note one real divergence: Clarke denied the eternal sonship of Christ, a position most of the tradition rejects, so read him closely on the person of Christ.
Why this voice is here: Where you want to know what a word actually says, Clarke is the one who will tell you — with the caveat above on Christ’s sonship.
In the sixth month - Called Elul by the Hebrews. It was the sixth month of the ecclesiastical year, and the last of the civil year, and answered to a part of our September. Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel - Who was son of Jeconiah, king of Judah, and of the…
The time is not come - They thought that the seventy years spoken of by Jeremiah were not yet completed, and it would be useless to attempt to rebuild until that period had arrived. But Abp. Usher has shown that from the commencement of the last siege of…
Is it time for you - If the time be not come to rebuild the temple, it cannot be come for you to build yourselves comfortable houses: but ye are rebuilding your houses; why then do ye not rebuild the house of the Lord? The foundation of the temple had been…
Keil & Delitzsch8
The technical one, and Old Testament only. Expect Hebrew grammar, textual argument, and direct engagement with nineteenth-century critical scholarship — closer to a scholarly apparatus than a devotional read. Where a modern critic claims a text is late or composite, this is where the conservative counter-argument was made.
Why this voice is here: Old Testament only, and heavy going — but the place to look when someone asserts a passage cannot mean what it appears to.
In Hag 1:1 this address is introduced by a statement of the time at which it had been delivered, and the persons to whom it was addressed. The word of Jehovah was uttered through the prophet in the second year of king Darius, on the first day of the sixth…
The prophet begins by charging the people with their unconcern about building the house of God. Hag 1:2. "Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: This people saith, It is not time to come, the time for the house of Jehovah to be built." העם הזּה, iste populus, not my…
The word of Jehovah is opposed in Hag 1:4 to this speech of the people; and in order to give greater prominence to the antithesis, the introductory formula, "The word of Jehovah came by Haggai the prophet thus," is repeated in Hag 1:3. In order to appeal to…
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown12
The concise option. Three authors split the canon, so the voice shifts between sections. Expect brief, sober, conservative notes that resolve difficulties rather than dwelling on them — useful for orientation, thinner than Gill or Clarke where a passage is genuinely contested.
Why this voice is here: The quickest way to see what the mainstream Reformed reading of a passage is. Start here, then go to Gill or Clarke when it matters.
the Lord of hosts--Jehovah, Lord of the powers of heaven and earth, and therefore requiring implicit obedience. This people--"This" sluggish and selfish "people." He does not say, My people, since they had neglected the service of God. The time--the proper…
Is it time--It is not time (Hag 1:2), ye say, to build Jehovah's house; yet how is it that ye make it a fit time not only to build, but to "dwell" at ease in your own houses? you, O ye--rather, for "you, you"; the repetition marking the shameful contrast…
Consider your ways--literally, "Set your heart" on your ways. The plural implies, Consider both what ye have done (actively, Lam 3:40) and what ye have suffered (passively) [JEROME]. Ponder earnestly whether ye have gained by seeking self at the sacrifice of…
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