About Haggai

Haggai urged the returned exiles to rebuild the temple, promising that its future glory would exceed its past.

Author: HaggaiWritten: c. 520 BCReading time: ~2 minVerses: 15
PrioritiesTempleObedienceBlessingGloryCourage

King James Version

Haggai 1

15 verses with commentary

A Call to Rebuild the Temple

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 unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying, by: Heb. by the hand of governor: or, captain

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>In the second year of Darius the king</strong>—the precise dating (August 29, 520 BC by our calendar) establishes Haggai as one of Scripture's most precisely dated books. <strong>Came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet</strong> (בְּיַד־חַגַּי הַנָּבִיא/<em>beyad-Chagay hannavi</em>)—literally 'by the hand of Haggai,' emphasizing the prophet as instrument through whom God's word com...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(1-11) *The First Utterance.—The* neglect of God’s House denounced, and declared to be the cause of the prevalent dearth. (1) **Darius the king.**—*Scil.,* Darius I., son of Hystaspes, who became king of Persia in B.C. 521. The fact that there were still men living who had seen the First Temple (Haggai 2:3), which fell in B.C. 586, sufficiently disproves the absurd theory that Darius Nothus is mea...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**22. Ancient of days came--**The title applied to the Father in Da 7:13 is here applied to the Son; who is called "the everlasting Father" (Is 9:6). The Father is never said to "come"; it is the Son who comes. **judgment was given to ... saints--**Judgment includes rule; "kingdom" in the end of this verse (1Co 6:2; Re 1:6; 5:10; 20:4). Christ first receives "judgment" and the "kingdom," then th...
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2

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.

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KJV Study Commentary

The Hebrew phrase 'eth ha-am ha-zeh' ('this people,' not 'My people') signals divine displeasure with Israel's spiritual apathy. Their claim 'the time has not come' (lo eth bo) reveals rationalization—prioritizing personal comfort over God's house. This mirrors the human tendency to delay obedience when immediate sacrifice is required. Theologically, this demonstrates how unbelief manifests not th...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(2) **The time is not come.**—Better (unless we alter the received text), *It is not yet time to come*—*i.e.,* it is not yet time to assemble and commence preparations for building. It is not stated on what grounds the people based this assumption; but probably they palliated their indifference to religion by a pretended dread of Persian hostility. Darius, however, unlike his predecessor Artaxerxe...
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3

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

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet</strong> (וַיְהִי דְבַר־יְהוָה בְּיַד־חַגַּי הַנָּבִיא/<em>vayehi devar-YHWH beyad-Chagay hannavi</em>)—the formulaic phrase 'word of the LORD came' (דְבַר־יְהוָה/<em>devar-YHWH</em>) authenticates prophetic authority. This isn't Haggai's opinion but divine revelation. The repetition of this phrase throughout the book (1:1, 1:3, 2:1, 2:1...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**24. ten horns--**answering to the ten "toes" (Da 2:41). **out of this kingdom--**It is out of the fourth kingdom that ten others arise, whatever exterior territory any of them possess (Re 13:1; 17:12). **rise after them--**yet contemporaneous with them; the ten are contemporaries. Antichrist rises after their rise, at first "little" (Da 7:8); but after destroying three of the ten, he becomes...
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4

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

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?</strong> Through the prophet Haggai, God confronts the returned exiles with a penetrating rhetorical question exposing their misplaced priorities. The contrast is stark: they live in "cieled houses" (בָּתִּים סְפוּנִים/<em>batim sephunim</em>)—paneled, decorated, finished homes—while God's house lies in rui...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(4) **Is it time for you** . . .—Literally, *Is it time for you to dwell in your houses, and those ceiled?—i.e.,* probably with cedar and other costly woods. A crushing retort. If the adverse decree of Artaxerxes, which disallowed the building of Jerusalem (Ezra 4:21), had not hindered them from erecting magnificent residences for themselves, how could it reasonably excuse an utter neglect of God’...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

25. Three attributes of Antichrist are specified: (1) The highest worldly wisdom and civilization. (2) The uniting of the whole civilized world under his dominion. (3) Atheism, antitheism, and autotheism in its fullest development (1Jo 2:22). Therefore, not only is power taken from the fourth beast, as in the case of the other three, but God destroys it and the world power in general by a final ju...
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5

Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. Consider: Heb. Set your heart on your ways

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways</strong> (וְעַתָּה כֹּה־אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת שִׂימוּ לְבַבְכֶם עַל־דַּרְכֵיכֶם/<em>ve'attah koh-amar YHWH Tzeva'ot simu levavkhem al-darkhekem</em>)—after exposing their misplaced priorities (v.4), God commands self-examination. 'Consider' (שִׂימוּ לְבַבְכֶם/<em>simu levavkhem</em>) literally means 'set your heart upon'—not ca...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(5) **Consider your ways.**—A common expression in this prophet. The results of their conduct are set forth in Haggai 1:6 : they are left to infer from these what its nature has been.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**26. consume ... destroy--**a twofold operation. Antichrist is to be gradually "consumed," as the Papacy has been consuming for four hundred years past, and especially of late years. He is also to be "destroyed" suddenly by Christ at His coming; the fully developed man of sin (2Th 2:3) or false prophet making a last desperate effort in confederacy with the "beast" (Re 16:13, 14, 16) or secular po...
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6

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. with holes: Heb. pierced through

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>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.</strong> God diagnoses the futility that had gripped the people's economic life—despite hard work and reasonable efforts, nothing satisfied. The Hebrew structure em...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(6) **Ye have sown much** . . .—Literally, *Ye have been sowing much and bringing in little; eating, and it was not to satisfaction; drinking, and it was not to fulness; clothing yourselves, and it was not for any one*’*s being warm,* &c. This description of course merely implies that, notwithstanding all their labours, there was not much to eat, drink, or put on. Compare the use of the phrase “ye...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**27. greatness of the kingdom under ... whole heaven--**The power, which those several kingdoms had possessed, shall all be conferred on Messiah's kingdom. "Under ... heaven" shows it is a kingdom on earth, not in heaven. **people of ... saints of ... Most High--**"the people of the saints," or "holy ones" (Da 8:24, Margin): the Jews, the people to whom the saints stand in a peculiar relation. ...
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7

Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. Consider: Heb. Set your heart on your ways

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways</strong> (כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת שִׂימוּ לְבַבְכֶם עַל־דַּרְכֵיכֶם/<em>koh amar YHWH Tzeva'ot simu levavkhem al-darkhekem</em>)—God repeats His command from verse 5 with heightened emphasis. The repetition isn't redundant but insistent: self-examination is urgent. <strong>Consider</strong> (שִׂימוּ לְבַבְכֶם/<em>simu levavkhem</em>), lit...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**28. cogitations ... troubled me--**showing that the Holy Spirit intended much more to be understood by Daniel's words than Daniel himself understood. We are not to limit the significance of prophecies to what the prophets themselves understood (1Pe 1:11, 12).
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, saith the LORD.

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house</strong> (עֲלוּ הָהָר וַהֲבֵאתֶם עֵץ וּבְנוּ הַבָּיִת/<em>alu hahar vahavetem etz uvnu habayit</em>)—After diagnosis comes prescription: specific, actionable obedience. <strong>Go up</strong> (עֲלוּ/<em>alu</em>) requires physical effort—climbing the nearby mountains to harvest timber. <strong>Bring wood</strong> (הֲבֵאתֶם עֵץ/<em>...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(8) **The mountain.**—No *one* mountain is thought of. The term implies the high lands generally, as growing the most suitable timber for building purposes.
9

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. blow: or, blow it away

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little</strong> (פָּנֹה אֶל־הַרְבֵּה וְהִנֵּה לִמְעָט/<em>panoh el-harbeh vehineh lim'at</em>)—God exposes the gap between expectation and reality. They worked hard, planted extensively, anticipated abundance, yet harvested scarcity. <strong>And when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it</strong> (וַהֲבֵאתֶם הַבַּיִת וְנָפַחְתִּי בוֹ/<em>vahavetem h...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(9) **Ye looked for much.**—Literally, *There has been a turning about for much.* **I did blow upon it**—*scil.,* for the purpose of dispersing it. Even the little that was brought into the garner was decimated by God’s continued disfavour.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

CHAPTER 8 Da 8:1-27. Vision of the Ram and He-Goat: The Twenty-three Hundred Days of the Sanctuary Being Trodden Down. With this chapter the Hebrew part of the book begins and continues to be the language of the remainder; the visions relating wholly to the Jews and Jerusalem. The scene here narrows from world-wide prophecies to those affecting the one covenant-people in the five centuries betwe...
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10

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

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit</strong> (עַל־כֵּן עֲלֵיכֶם כָּלְאוּ שָׁמַיִם מִטָּל וְהָאָרֶץ כָּלְאָה יְבוּלָהּ/<em>al-ken aleikhem kalu shamayim mittal veha'aretz kal'ah yevulah</em>)—God explains the mechanism of His discipline. <strong>Therefore</strong> (עַל־כֵּן/<em>al-ken</em>) connects consequence to cause (v.9): because the...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(10) **Over you.**—Better, *on your account.*—*Scil.,* because of the neglect of God’s House, mentioned in Haggai 1:9.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**2. Shushan--**Susa. Though then comparatively insignificant, it was destined to be the capital of Persia after Cyrus' time. Therefore Daniel is transported into it, as being the capital of the kingdom signified by the two-horned ram (Ne 1:1; Es 1:2-5). **Elam--**west of Persia proper, east of Babylonia, south of Media. Daniel was not present there personally, but in vision. **Ulai--**called ...
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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.

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>And I called for a drought upon the land</strong> (וָאֶקְרָא חֹרֶב עַל־הָאָרֶץ/<em>va'ekra chorev al-ha'aretz</em>)—God explicitly claims responsibility: <strong>I called</strong> (קָרָא/<em>kara</em>) for this drought (חֹרֶב/<em>chorev</em>, dryness, desolation). This wasn't impersonal fate or bad luck but personal, purposeful divine action. The comprehensive scope follows: <strong>upon t...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(11) **And I called for a drought upon.**—Better, *And I invoked a desolation upon.* Similarly in 2Kings 8:1, Elisha announces to the Shunammite. “The Lord hath called a famine, and it shall also come upon the land seven years.”

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**3. two horns--**The "two" ought not to be in italics, as if it were not in the original; for it is expressed by the Hebrew dual. "Horn" in the East is the symbol of power and royalty. **one ... higher than ... other ... the higher came up last--**Persia, which was of little note till Cyrus' time, became then ascendant over Media, the more ancient kingdom. Darius was sixty-two years old (Da 5:3...
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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.

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>Then Zerubbabel... and Joshua... with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet</strong> (וַיִּשְׁמַע זְרֻבָּבֶל... וִיהוֹשֻׁעַ... וְכֹל שְׁאֵרִית הָעָם בְּקוֹל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיהֶם וְעַל־דִּבְרֵי חַגַּי הַנָּבִיא/<em>vayishma Zerubbavel... viYehoshua... vekhol she'erit ha'am bekol YHWH Eloheihem ve'al-divrei Chaggai hanavi</em>...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(12-15) ***The Second Utterance**.*—The people turn a willing ear to Haggai’s exhortation, and the prophet is now charged to inform them of the return of God’s favour, in the gracious utterance, “I am with you, saith the Lord.” (12) **With all the remnant of.**—The word may mean either “the remnant” restored from Babylon, or merely “the remainder” of the people. Similarly in Haggai 1:14; Haggai 2:...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**4. ram pushing westward--**Persia conquered westward Babylon, Mesopotamia, Syria, Asia Minor. **northward--**Colchis, Armenia, Iberia, and the dwellers on the Caspian Sea. **southward--**Judea, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya; also India, under Darius. He does not say eastward, for the Persians themselves came from the east (Is 46:11). **did according to his will--**(Da 11:3, 16; compare Da 5:19).
13

Then spake Haggai the LORD'S messenger in the LORD'S message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the LORD.

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>Then spake Haggai the LORD'S messenger in the LORD'S message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the LORD</strong> (וַיֹּאמֶר חַגַּי מַלְאַךְ יְהוָה בְּמַלְאֲכוּת יְהוָה לָעָם לֵאמֹר אֲנִי אִתְּכֶם נְאֻם־יְהוָה/<em>vayomer Chaggai mal'akh YHWH bemal'akhut YHWH la'am lemor ani ittekhem ne'um-YHWH</em>)—Haggai is called <strong>the LORD'S messenger</strong> (מַלְאַךְ יְהוָה/<em>mal...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(13) **In the Lord’s message.**—Or, *on the Lord*’*s mission.*

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**5. he-goat--**Græco-Macedonia. **notable horn--**Alexander. "Touched not ... ground," implies the incredible swiftness of his conquests; he overran the world in less than twelve years. The he-goat answers to the leopard (Da 7:6). Caranus, the first king of Macedonia, was said to have been led by goats to Edessa, which he made the seat of his kingdom, and called Æge, that is, "goat-city."
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,

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel... and the spirit of Joshua... and the spirit of all the remnant of the people</strong> (וַיָּעַר יְהוָה אֶת־רוּחַ זְרֻבָּבֶל... וְאֶת־רוּחַ יְהוֹשֻׁעַ... וְאֶת־רוּחַ כֹּל שְׁאֵרִית הָעָם/<em>vaya'ar YHWH et-ruach Zerubbavel... ve'et-ruach Yehoshua... ve'et-ruach kol she'erit ha'am</em>)—the verb עוּר (<em>ur</em>) in Hiphil stem means to ro...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**6. standing before the river--**Ulai. It was at the "river" Granicus that Alexander fought his first victorious battle against Darius, 334 B.C.
15

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

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>In the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king</strong> (בְּיוֹם עֶשְׂרִים וְאַרְבָּעָה לַחֹדֶשׁ בַּשִּׁשִּׁי בִּשְׁנַת שְׁתַּיִם לְדָרְיָוֶשׁ הַמֶּלֶךְ/<em>beyom esrim ve'arba'ah lachodesh bashishi bishnat shetayim leDaryavesh hamelekh</em>)—precise dating (September 21, 520 BC by our calendar) marks the people's response. Haggai's first message ca...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(15) It must be supposed that the intervening three weeks had been spent in collecting timber in the upland region, as was ordered in Haggai 1:8, and resuming the “work of the house of God.” **Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission. **Bible Hub

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**7. moved with choler--**Alexander represented the concentrated wrath of Greece against Persia for the Persian invasions of Greece; also for the Persian cruelties to Greeks, and Darius' attempts to seduce Alexander's soldiers to treachery [Newton]. **stamped upon him--**In 331 B.C. he defeated Darius Codomanus, and in 330 B.C. burned Persepolis and completed the conquest of Persia. **none ......
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