1 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 to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying,

2 Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD's house should be built.

3 Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying,

4 Is it time for you, O you, to dwell in your paneled houses, and this house lie waste?

5 Now therefore thus said the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.

6 You have sown much, and bring in little; you eat, but you have not enough; you drink, but you are not filled with drink; you clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earns wages earns wages to put it into a bag with holes.

7 Thus said the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.

8 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, said the LORD.

9 You looked for much, and, see it came to little; and when you brought it home, I did blow on it. Why? said the LORD of hosts. Because of my house that is waste, and you run every man to his own house.

10 Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.

11 And I called for a drought on the land, and on the mountains, and on the corn, and on the new wine, and on the oil, and on that which the ground brings forth, and on men, and on cattle, and on all the labor of the hands.

12 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.

13 Then spoke Haggai the LORD's messenger in the LORD's message to the people, saying, I am with you, said the LORD.

14 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,

15 In the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.

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 ( Exo 9:35; Exo 35:29. Lev 8:36; Lev 10:11; Lev 26:46. Num 4:37, Num 4:45; Num 9:23; Num 10:13; Num 15:23; Num 16:40; Num 27:23; Num 36:13). Compare the five occurrences in Joshua ( Hag 14:2; Hag 20:2; Hag 21:2, Hag 21:8; Hag 22:9). Jdg 3:4. 2Sa 12:25. 1Ki 8:53, 1Ki 8:56; 1Ki 12:15; 1Ki 14:18; 1Ki 15:29; 1Ki 16:7; 1Ki 17:16. 2Ki 14:25. 2Ch 10:15; 2Ch 23:18; 2Ch 29:25. Neh 9:14. Isa 20:2. Jer 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 1Ch 3:19. Ezr 2:2; Ezr 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 ( 2Ki 24:15. 1Ch 3:17). Compare Ezr 3:2, Ezr 3:8; Ezr 5:2. Neh 12:1. Mat 1:12. Luk 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 Hag 1:12, Hag 1:14; Hag 2:2, Hag 2:4. Zec 3:1, Zec 3:3, Zec 3:8, Zec 3:9; Zec 6:11. Spelled "Josuah" in the 1611 edition of the Authorized Version.

Josedech. Hebrew = Jehovah is righteous.

the LORD of hosts. See note on 1Sa 1:3.

This People. Not Zerubbabel or Joshua.

time. Repeated here and in Hag 1:4 for emphasis.

not. Septuagint reads "not yet".

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; 1Ki 7:3, 1Ki 7:7. Jer 22:14. Showing that their houses were not only roofed, but wainscotted or decorated. Hebrew = "in your houses [and that too] panelled". Compare David ( 2Sa 7:2. Psa 132:3). This proves that the Temple had not then been commenced. Compare Hag 1:9. See notes on Neh 7:4, and longer note on Neh 2:1, Neh 5:14, Neh 13:4. Also App-58.

Consider = Set your heart on, or give your attention to. Occurs five times m this hook ( Hag 1:5, Hag 1:7; Hag 2:15, Hag 2:18, Hag 2:18). Compare Job 1:8; Job 2:3. Isa 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, &c Reference to Pentateuch ( Deu 28:38, Deu 28:39). App-92.

have not enough = are not satisfied. Reference to Pentateuch ( Lev 26:26). App-92.

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 Exo 14:4, Exo 14:17. These constitute a reference to Pent, with Lev 10:3 (which, like Hag 1:8, is without the). App-92.

saith the LORD = hath said Jehovah.

saith the LORD of hosts = [is] the oracle of Jehovah Sabaioth.

the heaven, &c. Reference to Pentateuch ( Lev 26:19. Deu 28:23). App-92.

dew. See note on Psa 133:3.

and. Note the Figure of speech Polysyndeton (App-6), emphasizing each item which is particularized here, and in Hag 1:11.

new wine. Hebrew. tirosh. App-27.

that which. Some codices, with Aram, and Syriac, read "all which".

the remnant: which had returned from Babylon. Compare Hag 1:14; Hag 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 Jer 43:1.

the LORD’Smessenger, &c. = the messenger of Jehovah in the message of Jehovah.

message. Hebrew word Occurs only here.

spirit. Hebrew. ruach. App-9. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Adjunct), App-6, for the state of mind and feeling, &c. Compare 1Ch 5:26. 2Ch 21:16; 2Ch 36:22 (= Ezr 1:1). Jer 51:11.

they came. See Ezr 3:1, &c.

In the, &c. This reads on from Hag 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.