@Hag 1:1-15. HAGGAI CALLS THE PEOPLE TO CONSIDER THEIR WAYS IN NEGLECTING TO BUILD GOD'S HOUSE: THE EVIL OF THIS NEGLECT TO THEMSELVES: THE HONOR TO GOD OF ATTENDING TO IT: THE PEOPLE'S PENITENT OBEDIENCE UNDER ZERUBBABEL FOLLOWED BY GOD'S GRACIOUS ASSURANCE.
1. second year of Darius--Hystaspes, the king of Medo-Persia, the
second of the world empires, Babylon having been overthrown by the
Persian Cyrus. The Jews having no king of their own, dated by the reign
of the world kings to whom they were subject. Darius was a common name
of the Persian kings, as Pharaoh of those of Egypt, and Cæsar of those
of Rome. The name in the cuneiform inscriptions at Persepolis is written
Daryawus, from the root Darh, "to preserve," the Conservator
[LASSEN].
HERODOTUS [6.98] explains it Coercer. Often opposite
attributes are assigned to the same god; in which light the Persians
viewed their king. @Ezr 4:24 harmonizes with Haggai in making this year
the date of the resumption of the building.
sixth month--of the Hebrew year, not of Darius' reign (compare
@Zec 1:7 7:1,3 8:19). Two months later
("the eighth month," @Zec 1:1) Zechariah began to prophesy,
seconding Haggai.
the Lord--Hebrew,
JEHOVAH: God's covenant title, implying His
unchangeableness, the guarantee of His faithfulness in keeping His
promises to His people.
by Haggai--Hebrew, "in the hand of Haggai"; God being the real
speaker, His prophet but the instrument (compare @Ac 7:35 Ga 3:19).
Zerubbabel--called also Shesh-bazzar in @Ezr 1:8 5:14,16, where
the same work is attributed to Shesh-bazzar that in @Ezr 3:8 is
attributed to Zerubbabel. Shesh-bazzar is probably his Chaldean name;
as Belteshazzar was that of Daniel. Zerubbabel, his Hebrew name,
means "one born in Babylon."
son of Shealtiel--or Salathiel. But @1Ch 3:17,19 makes Pedaiah his
father. Probably he was adopted by his uncle Salathiel, or Shealtiel,
at the death of his father (compare @Mt 1:12 Lu 3:27).
governor of Judah--to which office Cyrus had appointed him. The
Hebrew Pechah is akin to the original of the modern Turkish Pasha; one ruling a region of the Persian empire of less extent than that under
a satrap.
Joshua--called Jeshua (@Ezr 2:2); so the son of Nun in
@Ne 8:17.
Josedech--or Jehozadak (@1Ch 6:15), one of those carried captive
by Nebuchadnezzar. Haggai addresses the civil and the religious
representatives of the people, so as to have them as his associates in
giving God's commands; thus priest, prophet, and ruler jointly testify
in God's name.
2. 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 time for building the temple. Two out of the
seventy predicted years of captivity (dating from the destruction of the
temple, 558 B.C.,
@2Ki 25:9) were yet unexpired; this they make
their plea for delay
[HENDERSON]. The seventy years of captivity were
completed long ago in the first year of Cyrus, 536
B.C. (@Jer 29:10);
dating from 606 B.C., Jehoiakim's captivity (@2Ch 36:6). The seventy
years to the completion of the temple (@Jer 25:12) were completed
this very year, the second of Darius
[VATABLUS]. Ingenious in excuses,
they pretended that the interruption in the work caused by their enemies
proved it was not yet the proper time; whereas their real motive was
selfish dislike of the trouble, expense, and danger from enemies. "God,"
say they, "hath interposed many difficulties to punish our rash haste"
[CALVIN]. Smerdis' interdict was no longer in force, now that Darius the
rightful king was on the throne; therefore they had no real excuse for
not beginning at once to build.
AUBERLEN denies that by "Artaxerxes" in
@Ezr 4:7-22 is meant Smerdis. Whether Smerdis or Artaxerxes Longimanus
be meant, the interdict referred only to the rebuilding of the city, which the Persian kings feared might, if rebuilt, cause them trouble to
subdue; not to the rebuilding of the temple. But the Jews were
easily turned aside from the work. Spiritually, like the Jews, men do
not say they will never be religious, but, It is not time yet. So the
great work of life is left undone.
4. 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 between their concern for themselves, and their unconcern
for God [MAURER]. Compare a similar repetition in @1Sa 25:24 Zec 7:5.
ceiled--rather, "wainscoted," or "paneled," referring to the walls as
well as the ceilings; furnished not only with comfort but luxury, in sad
contrast to God's house not merely unadorned, but the very walls not
raised above the foundations. How different David's feelings
(@2Sa 7:2)!
5. Consider your ways--literally, "Set your heart" on your ways. The plural implies, Consider both what ye have done (actively, @La 3:40) and what ye have suffered (passively) [JEROME]. Ponder earnestly whether ye have gained by seeking self at the sacrifice of God.
6. Nothing has prospered with you while you neglected your duty to
God. The punishment corresponds to the sin. They thought to escape
poverty by not building, but keeping their money to themselves; God
brought it on them for not building (@Pr 13:7 11:24 Mt 6:33).
Instead of cheating God, they had been only cheating themselves.
ye clothe . . . but . . . none warm--through insufficiency of clothing;
as ye are unable through poverty from failure of your crops to purchase
sufficient clothing. The verbs are infinitive, implying a
continued state: "Ye have sown, and been bringing in but little;
ye have been eating, but not to being satisfied; ye have
been drinking, but not to being filled; ye have been putting on clothes, but not to being warmed"
[MOORE]. Careful consideration
of God's dealings with us will indicate God's will regarding us. The
events of life are the hieroglyphics in which God records His feelings
towards us, the key to which is found in the Bible
[MOORE].
wages . . . put . . . into a bag with holes--proverbial for labor and
money spent profitlessly (@Zec 8:10; compare @Isa 55:2 Jer 2:13).
Contrast, spiritually, the "bags that wax not old, the treasure in
heaven that faileth not" (@Lu 12:33). Through the high cost of
necessaries, those who wrought for a day's wages parted with them at
once, as if they had put them into a bag with holes.
8. Go up to the mountain--Moriah
[ROSENMULLER]; Lebanon
[HENDERSON].
Rather, generally, the mountains around, now covered with wood, the
growth of the long period of the captivity. So @Ne 8:15, "Go forth
unto the mount," that is, the neighboring hills
[MAURER].
wood--Haggai specifies this as being the first necessary; not to the
exclusion of other materials. Stones also were doubtless needed.
That the old walls were not standing, as the Hebrew interpreters quoted
by JEROME state, or the new walls partly built, appears from @Hag 2:18,
where express mention is made of laying the foundations.
I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified--I will be
propitious to suppliants in it (@1Ki 8:30), and shall receive the honor
due to Me which has been withheld. In neglecting the temple, which is
the mirror of My presence, ye dishonor Me
[CALVIN]; in its being built,
ye shall glorify Me.
9. Ye looked for much--literally "looked" so as to turn your eyes
"to much." The Hebrew infinitive here expresses continued looking. Ye hoped to have your store made "much" by neglecting the
temple. The greater was your greediness, the more bitter your
disappointment in being poorer than ever.
when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it--even the little crop
brought into your barns I dissipated. "I did blow upon," that is, I
scattered and caused to perish with My mere breath, as scattered and
blighted corn.
mine house . . . his own house--in emphatic antithesis.
ye run--expressing the keenness of everyone of them in pursuing their
own selfish interests. Compare "run," @Ps 119:32 Pr 1:16, contrasted
with their apathy about God's house.
10. heaven . . . is stayed from dew--literally "stays itself." Thus heaven or the sky is personified; implying that inanimate nature obeys Jehovah's will; and, shocked at His people's disobedience, withholds its goods from them (compare @Jer 2:12,13).
11. I called--what the "heaven" and "earth," the second causes, were
said to do (@Hag 1:10), being the visible instruments, Jehovah,
in this verse, the invisible first cause, declares to be His doing. He
"calls for" famine, &c., as instruments of His wrath
(@2Ki 8:1 Ps 105:16). The contrast is striking between the prompt
obedience of these material agencies, and the slothful disobedience of
living men, His people.
drought--Hebrew, Choreb, like in sound to Chareeb, "waste"
(@Hag 1:4,9), said of God's house; implying the correspondence
between the sin and its punishment. Ye have let My house be waste, and
I will send on all that is yours a wasting drought. This would
affect not merely the "corn," &c., but also "men" and "cattle," who
must perish in the absence of the "corn," &c., lost by the drought.
labour of the hands--all the fruits of lands, gardens, and vineyards,
obtained by labor of the hands (@De 28:33 Ps 78:46).
12. remnant of the people--all those who have returned from the exile
(@Zec 8:6).
as . . . God sent him--according to all that Jehovah had enjoined him
to speak. But as it is not till @Hag 1:14 after Haggai's second
message (@Hag 1:13) that the people actually obeyed,
MAURER
translates here, "hearkened to the voice of the Lord," and instead
of "as," "because the Lord had sent him." However, English Version rightly represents their purpose of obedience as obedience in God's
eyes already, though not carried into effect till @Hag 1:14.
13. the Lord's messenger--so the priests (@Mal 2:7) are called
(compare @Ga 4:14 2Pe 1:21).
in the Lord's message--by the Lord's authority and commission: on
the Lord's embassage.
I am with you--(@Mt 28:20). On the people showing the mere
disposition to obey, even before they actually set to work, God passes
at once from the reproving tone to that of tenderness. He hastens as it
were to forget their former unfaithfulness, and to assure them, when
obedient, that He both is and will be with them: Hebrew, "I with
you!" God's presence is the best of blessings, for it includes all
others. This is the sure guarantee of their success no matter how many
their foes might be (@Ro 8:31). Nothing more inspirits men and
rouses them from torpor, than, when relying on the promises of divine
aid, they have a sure hope of a successful issue
[CALVIN].
14. Lord stirred up the spirit of, &c.--God gave them alacrity and
perseverance in the good work, though slothful in themselves. Every good
impulse and revival of religion is the direct work of God by His Spirit.
came and did work--collected the wood and stones and other materials
(compare @Hag 1:8) for the work. Not actually built or "laid the
(secondary) foundations" of the temple, for this was not done till three
months after, namely, the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month
(@Hag 2:18)
[GROTIUS].
15. four and twentieth day--twenty-three days after the first message of Haggai (@Hag 1:1).