Haggai 2:18

2:18 ‘Think carefully about the past: ¹  from today, the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, ²  to the day work on the temple of the Lord was resumed, ³  think about it. ⁴ 

Haggai 1:15

1:15 This took place on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month of King Darius’ second year. ⁵ 

Haggai 2:20

Zerubbabel the Chosen One

2:20 Then the Lord spoke again to Haggai ⁶  on the twenty-fourth day of the month: ⁷ 

Haggai 2:10

The Promised Blessing

2:10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month of Darius’ second year, ⁸  the Lord spoke again to the prophet Haggai: ⁹ 

Haggai 2:15

2:15 Now therefore reflect carefully on the recent past, ¹⁰  before one stone was laid on another in the Lord’s temple. ¹¹ 

Haggai 2:1

The Glory to Come

2:1 On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, ¹²  the Lord spoke again through the prophet Haggai: ¹³ 

Haggai 2:19

2:19 The seed is still in the storehouse, isn’t it? And the vine, fig tree, pomegranate, and olive tree have not produced. Nevertheless, from today on I will bless you.’”

Haggai 1:1

Introduction

1:1 On the first day of the sixth month ¹⁴  of King Darius’ ¹⁵  second year, the Lord spoke this message through the prophet Haggai ¹⁶  to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak: ¹⁷ 

Haggai 2:23

2:23 On that day,’ ¹⁸  says the Lord who rules over all, ‘I will take you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, my servant,’ ¹⁹  says the Lord, ‘and I will make you like a signet ring, ²⁰  for I have chosen you,’ says the Lord who rules over all.” ²¹ 

Haggai 2:16

2:16 From that time ²²  when one came expecting a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten; when one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty measures from it, there were only twenty.

¹ tn Heb “set your heart.” A similar expression occurs in v. 15.

² sn The twenty-fourth day of the ninth month was Kislev 24 or December 18, 520. See v. 10. Here the reference is to “today,” the day the oracle is being delivered.

³ sn The day work…was resumed. This does not refer to the initial founding of the Jerusalem temple in 536 b.c. but to the renewal of construction three months earlier (see 1:15). This is clear from the situation described in v. 19 which accords with the food scarcities of that time already detailed in Hag 1:10-11.

⁴ tn Heb “set your heart.” A similar expression occurs in v. 15 and at the beginning of this verse.

⁵ sn The twenty-fourth day of the sixth month of King Darius’ second year was September 21, 520 b.c., twenty-three days after the original command by Haggai to rebuild (1:1). The text does not state the reason for the delay, but it may have resulted from the pressing need to bring in the late summer harvest.

⁹ tn Heb “and the word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai.” This Hebrew expression is like the one in 2:10 and is slightly different from the one in 1:1, 3; 2:1.

¹⁰ sn Again, the twenty-fourth day of the month was Kislev 24 or December 18, 520 b.c. See v. 10.

¹³ sn The twenty-fourth day of the ninth month of Darius’ second year was Kislev 24 or December 18, 520 b.c.

¹⁴ tn Heb “the word of the Lord came to Haggai the prophet, saying.” This Hebrew expression is slightly different from the one in 1:1, 3; 2:1.

¹⁷ tn Heb “and now set your heart from this day and upward.” The juxtaposition of מָעְלָה (ma’lah, “upward”) with the following מִטֶּרֶם (mitterem, “before”) demands a look to the past. Cf. ASV “consider from this day and backward.”

¹⁸ sn Before one stone was laid on another in the Lord’s temple is best taken as referring to the laying of the present temple’s foundation, sixteen years earlier (536 b.c.; see Ezra 3:8). Cf. NCV “before you started laying stones”; TEV “before you started to rebuild”; NLT “before you began to lay (started laying CEV) the foundation.”

²¹ tn Heb “In the seventh [month], on the twenty-first day of the month.”

²² tc Heb “the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, saying.” The MT has בְּיַד (bÿyad, “by the hand of” = “through” [so NAB, NIV, NLT] as in 1:1, 3); the Murabba’at Dead Sea text reads אֶל (’el, “to”), perhaps because the following command is given to the prophet.

²⁵ sn The first day of the sixth month was Elul 1 according to the Jewish calendar; August 29, 520 b.c. according to the modern (Julian) calendar.

²⁶ sn King Darius is the Persian king Darius Hystaspes who ruled from 522-486 b.c.

²⁷ tn Heb “the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet” (בְּיַד־חַגַּי, bÿyad-khaggay). This suggests that the prophet is only an instrument of the Lord; the Lord is to be viewed as the true author (see 1:3; 2:1; Mal 1:1).

²⁸ tn The typical translation “Joshua (the) son of Jehozadak, the high priest” (cf. ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV) can be understood to mean that Jehozadak was high priest. However, Zech 3:1, 8 clearly indicates that Joshua was high priest (see also Ezra 5:1-2; cf. NAB). The same potential misunderstanding occurs in Hag 1:12, 14 and 2:2, where the same solution has been employed in the translation.

²⁹ sn The expression on that day appears as a technical eschatological term in a number of other OT passages (cf., e.g., Isa 2:11, 17, 20; 3:7, 18; Amos 8:3, 9; Hos 2:18, 21).

³⁰ sn My servant. The collocation of “servant” and “chosen” bears strong messianic overtones. See the so-called “Servant Songs” and other messianic texts in Isaiah (Isa 41:8; 42:1; 44:4; 49:7).

³¹ sn The noun signet ring, used also to describe Jehoiachin (Jer 22:24-30), refers to a ring seal worn by a king or other important person and used as his signature. Zerubbabel was a grandson of King Jehoiachin (1 Chr 3:17-19; Matt 1:12); God once pronounced that none of Jehoiachin’s immediate descendants would rule (Jer 22:24-30), but here he reverses that judgment. Zerubbabel never ascended to such a lofty position of rulership; he is rather a prototype of the Messiah who would sit on David’s throne.

³² tn The repetition of the formula “says the Lord who rules over all” in v. 23 emphasizes the solemn and divine nature of the promise.

³³ tn Heb “from their being,” idiomatic for “from the time they were then,” or “since the time.” Cf. KJV “Since those days were.”