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1. Historical and chronological introduction. 2–4. The reason for the stop in the construction of the church and the inconsistency of this reason. 5–8a. The disastrous consequences of the people's negligence in building the church. 8b-11. An exhortation to resume construction. 12–15. A historical note about the success of the prophet's first speech - about the beginning of work on the construction of the church. Agg.1:1 . In the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came through Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jozedek, the great priest: According to the predominantly historical nature of the book of the prophet Haggai, it begins with an exact and definite chronological date of the first speech of the prophet, just as all his subsequent speeches are precisely dated by the time of utterance (Hagg 2.1, 10, 20). The dating method reveals a noticeable influence of the Babylonian time calculation on the Judean one: it is clear that the Babylonian calendar and the Chaldean time calculation were generally well adopted during the captivity by the Jews, as evidenced by similar dates in the books of the prophets Daniel (Dan 10.1) and Zechariah (Zechariah 1:7, 7:1), as well as Nehemiah (Neh 1:1, 2:1). The difference from the ancient Hebrew method of dating here lies, first of all, in the fact that if earlier the sacred writers dated events according to the years of the three native Jewish, Judah and Israelite kings (for example, Jer 25:1, 26:1, 28:1), then from the time of the captivity and after it, when calculating events, the sacred writers take the years of the reign of the foreign kings who conquered Jews “Before the captivity,” says Blessed Theodoret, “the prophets inscribed the years of the kings of Judah and Israel, but upon returning from captivity, since the Jews no longer had their own kings, the divine Haggai puts forward the year of the king of Persia, and mentions not only the year, but also the month and day, wanting to show not only the speed of construction, but also the wealth of bounties with which the God of all kinds gives His blessing to those who create” (p. 58). In the name of Darius, Heb. Daryavesh, ancient Persian. Darayavaus, Babylon. Darijamus 1, here, as in the book of Ezra (1 Ezra 4:24, 5:5-7, 6:1, 12-15), is generally accepted as Darius Hystaspes, who occupied the royal throne of Persia from 521 to 485 BC; therefore, the second year of his reign was the year 520 (BC). This year, according to the reckoning of Blessed Jerome, was the seventieth from the destruction of the church - according to the prophecy of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 25.12) and according to the testimony of the prophet Zechariah (Zechariah 1:7, 12) - a significant coincidence, because it shows the accuracy of the fulfillment of the predictions of the prophet Jeremiah about the desolation of the Holy Land, in particular the church, for seventy years; that it was the church that remained desolate from 520, Heb. charea, this is mentioned in Agg I. 4. If the prophet Haggai designates the year of his appearance to the prophetic ministry as the year of the modern reign, then he dates the month and day of this event - in the spirit of both pre-exilic (Eze 1.1) and post-exilic (Zechariah 1:7, 7:1) timekeeping practices - by the calendar year - the Hebrew, during the captivity and after the captivity, which received names for each of the 12 months. The sixth month, later called Elul (Neh 6.15), according to this calendar, corresponds to the second half of our August and the first - September. Thus, the prophet’s appearance fell on the second half of August 520, precisely on the new moon, or the first day of the month, which was always considered a holiday, first only a church holiday (Numbers 28.11–14), and then a civil one (1 Kings 20.5 et c., Am 5.8; especially according to the Talmud). – In expressions: through (Heb. Beyad, LXX: ἐν χειρὶ, Vulg in manu) Haggai, as well as in the addition to the prophet’s own name, the name of his ministry nabi - prophet, some commentators unfairly saw an indication of the too late origin of the book: for both features one can find parallels from more ancient, supplemented prophetic writing - for the first, for example, in Isa. 20.2; OS 1.2; for the second - in Hab 1.1 (see our remark to the last place). Transmission of the first expression in the LXX, in the Vulgate and Slavic. must be recognized as too literal, and the Russian should be preferred: “through”. LXX glory. contain a pleonastic addition: λέγων εὶπῶν, slav. verb: rtsy. But this addition, apparently, was borrowed only from the analogy of other speeches of the prophet, see Agg 2.1, 10, 20. The Vulgate, however, renders one of these words: dicens. The Word of the Lord through the prophet Haggai was addressed to the secular head of the Jewish community in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel, and its spiritual representative, the High Priest Jesus. Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel, LXX: Ζοροβάβελ, descendant of David, son of Salathiel, and in many other biblical places appears to be the leader of the first caravan of Jews who returned from captivity, the founder of the church and the ruler of Judah (see 1 Ezra 2:2, 3:2, 4:2; Neh. 7.7; Zech 4.6,9). But on the other hand, in the book of Ezra the same activity is assigned to a certain Sheshbazzar, also called “the prince (nasi) of Judah” and the ruler or regional commander (peha) of Judea (1 Ezra 1:8, 11:5, 14–15). The question that arises from this about the relationship of Zerubbabel to Sheshbazzar is resolved by the majority of Western biblical scholars in the sense of the difference between these persons (see Marti, s. 382, Andre, pp. 48–63), and in Sheshbazzar they see either a Persian official (Stade, Smend), appointed as a representative of the Persian government by the head of the Jewish province, or a Jew with similar functions (Meyer, Renan, etc.), who was, perhaps, a distant relative of the royal house. But the opinion of biblical scholars, who see in the names Zerubbabel and Sheshbazzar only two names, Jewish and Chaldean, of the same person - namely the descendant of David, the son of Shealtiel (1 Chr. 3.19), one of the prophets of the Lord Savior according to the flesh (Matt. 1.12-13), must be recognized as closer to the truth, although not excluding objections to itself. (See “Explanatory Bible” vol. III p. 624.) “This Zerubbabel,” says Blessed Jerome, “by descent from the tribe of Judah, that is, from the family of David, is a prototype of the Savior, who truly built the destroyed church, that is, the Church, and again led the people out of captivity. He created the Church, either from the old stones of the temple, or from new ones, which had not been dressed before, that is, he created the tabernacle for God the Father, either from the remnants of Israel, or from many pagan nations” (p. 320). According to word production, the most likely Hebrew. Zerubbabel can be rendered: “born (properly: sown) in Babylon.” By blessed Jerome, this word “can mean either: a nearby stream, ρεῦ:σις παρα κειμένη, – or: born in Babylon, or: a prince from Babylon ... According to Jewish legend, this name consists of three completely independent words: zo - that, rob, teacher, or: elder, and babel, Babylonian ... "(p. 320-321). Both the first meaning (“nearby stream”) and the last, supposedly traditionally Hebrew word production of the name Zerubbabel, undoubtedly cannot be accepted. The further rapprochement being made by the blessed one deserves all the more attention. Jerome: “like this; just as Joshua the son of Nun, who was also a prototype of the Savior, led the people from the desert into the land of promise, so this (Zerubbabel) was born in Babylon, so that those who were in Babylon could be returned again to the land of promise, from which they had been taken captives” (p. 321). The official title of Zerubbabel in the book of the prophet Haggai: peha, more fully: pahat - Yehuda (Hag 1:1, 2:1, 21). The name of the infantry with the meaning: “governor” is found back in the time of Solomon (1 Kings 10.15; 2 Chronicles 9.14), and is then repeated in the commanders, plowmen, Syrians (1 Kings 20.24). As the name of a governor or leader, simultaneously with the power of civil and military infantry, it was found among the Assyrians (2 Kings 18.24, Isa 36.9), among the Chaldeans (Eze 23.6, 23; Jer 51:23, 28, 57) and among the Persians (Esther 3:12, 8:9, 9:3), in particular - in the application to the commanders of Euphrates provinces (1Ezra 8.36: Neh. 2:7–9, 3:7). The word comes from the Assyrian pahatu, actually: bel-pahatu, chief of the district; its modification is represented by the Turkish “pasha”. Next to the secular head or prince of the Jewish community, the prophet Haggai, as in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, names the spiritual head of the post-exilic Jews - the high priest Jesus, the son of Joseph (Zech 3.1 f. 1 Ezra 2.2 et c., Neh. 7:7, 12:1, 7, 10, 26). Such a division of the highest power among the Jewish people into secular and spiritual is completely natural and fully corresponds to historical reality. And if some Protestant biblical scholars (Marti, Stade) deny the existence of high priestly dignity among Jews in the pre-exilic period and the very name cohengadol “high priest,” then, for example, the testimony of 2 Kings 12:11, 22:4, 8 speaks against this. But, in addition to the historical significance of both powers, they could also have a representative significance, which Blessed Jerome points to when he says: “In relation to history, one, Zerubbabel, is from the royal tribe, the other, Jesus, is from the priestly tribe, and in relation to spiritual understanding, here we mean one and the same Lord and our Savior, the King and the Great Priest, whose prototype in his royal service Zerubbabel bore (in himself), and in high priestly service - His name is Jesus, which means salvation, Jao, that is, the salvation of the Lord..." (p. 322). Agg.1:2. Thus said the Lord of hosts: This people say: “The time has not yet come, it is not the time to build the house of the Lord.” Agg.1:3. And the word of the Lord came through Haggai the prophet: Agg.1:4. Is it time for you to live in your adorned houses, while this house is desolate? In view of the fact that as the persons to whom the first speech of the prophet is addressed, in Art. 1, only Zerubbabel and Jesus are named, the people are not named, as they are named (Sheerit Haam, the remnant of the people) below in Hagg 2.2, some commentators (Lei, Andre) believed that the first speech was addressed exclusively to the ruler Zerubbabel and the high priest Jesus, and the reproaches expressed in it for indifference to the construction of the church were only applied to them. In fact, both the general meaning of the speech and some of its particular features say that it is directed to the whole people and contains both reproaches and accusations specifically to the people: the very beginning of the speech: “this people says...” (v. 2) shows that the prophet condemns the actions of an entire people: the reproach for caring about decorating one’s own houses, neglecting the House of the Lord (v. 4) also applies to entire national groups; the main thing is those natural disasters that, according to the prophet, struck and still have to strike the people in case of their inertia (Hag. 1: 6, 9-11), as it goes without saying, can only apply to the entire people who returned to Palestine and settled in it. The fault of Zerubbabel and Jesus, if there was any at all, was solely in their insufficiently energetic compulsion of the people to build. This guilt was rather indirect, and when accusing the people, Zerubbabel and Jesus were witnesses to the accusation rather than accused. “Think carefully,” says the blessed one. Jerome, - that it is not Zerubbabel and not Jesus who say: “The time has not yet come to build the house of the Lord,” but the people who, being under the authority of King Darius, have not yet cast off the yoke of slavery” (p. 322). “When,” notes the blessed one. Theodoret, “Jesus was the bishop and Zerubbabel the ruler of the people, God before them, as if before some judges, accuses the people through the prophet and says: how much intense care they take about their houses, not only build, but also decorate them, but they do not want to build the house of God, for the sake of which they all participate in their common salvation, claiming that time is not favorable to creation” (p. 59). The initial words of the speech: “Thus said the Lord of hosts” (2a) are very common in prophetic usage, as an introductory formula when the prophets proclaim Divine revelation. Most often, this formula, precisely with the inclusion of the name of hosts, is found, in addition to the prophet Haggai, in the prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah, Malachi. It is necessary, therefore, to reject Marty’s opinion that by frequently repeating the above-mentioned formula, the prophet Haggai reveals the weakness or obscurity of the consciousness of his Divine messenger and wants to give his words the Divine authority that was intensely inherent in the ancient prophets (p. 382). Undoubtedly, on the contrary, this formula was very common among the former prophets, for whom, according to Marty’s assumption, the consciousness of their messenger from God was especially vivid. The essence of the reproach made by the prophet on behalf of Jehovah to the people in Art. 2 and 4 is to indicate the sharp contrast that was created by the people’s exaggerated concern for their own private dwellings and complete neglect of the creation of the church, which presented a spectacle of desolation: the Jews themselves, at least the richest of them, lived “in houses decorated and well-appointed, and intended not so much to satisfy needs as for luxury, while the dwelling of God, in which was the Holy of Holies, cherubim and the table of offering bread: watered by rains, polluted from lack of supervision and exposed to the scorching rays of the sun” (Blessed Jerome, p. 323). Hag.1:5. Therefore now thus saith the Lord of hosts: Turn your hearts unto your ways. Hag.1:6. You sow much and reap little; eat, but not to the point of satiety; drink, but don't get drunk; getting dressed, but not warming up; he who earns wages earns for a leaky wallet. Hag.1:7. Thus says the Lord of hosts: Turn your hearts to your ways. The Prophet, with his very common appeal to the people (v. 5 cf. v. 7), calls for reflection on the consequences above (Hag. 1: 2, 4) of the depicted behavior of the people in relation to the construction of the church. The prophet says something like this: “be guided by common sense, be judges of your undertakings, and find out how much difference there is between zeal for the divine and negligence” (Blessed Theodoret, p. 59). “Then he says that, having wasted a lot of seeds, they collected very few fruits, which is why they always suffer from hunger and thirst, and are never satisfied, but live in poverty and are in poverty, so that they do not have the necessary clothing” (ibid.). “No work of those who built their houses and treated the house of God carelessly was successful” (Blessed Jerome, p. 325). Hag.1:8. Go up the mountain and carry wood and build a church; and I will be pleased with him, and I will be glorified, says the Lord. Now the prophet, in a direct and positive form, expresses to the leaders of the people and to the whole people a definite demand to make a decision to begin construction and begin work, the reward for which will be every success in their affairs, given by the blessing of God. The prophet’s demand expressed in the first half of the verse has the general character of a call to begin construction work; therefore there is no reason to see in grief, Heb. loons, which the prophet invites to climb, a certain mountain (the church - Moriah, as some interpreters believed, or Mount Lebanon, as others thought), nor to see in the call to carry trees an indication of the nature of the construction itself, i.e. to think that only wooden, forest material was needed, whereas, on the contrary, it is known (Agg 2.15; 1 Ezra 4.4) that for the construction of the foundation, and other parts of the second The Jerusalem temple required and used a lot of stone. Thus, "mountain", loons, means in Art. 8 is a general, generic concept of a mountain and can be attributed to each of the Palestinian mountains, which in this era still abounded in forest (Neh. 2:8, 8:15), and “trees”, “forest”, Heb. Ets, express the idea of ​​building material for the church in general. Second half of Art. 8 speaks of those saving, beneficial consequences that the people can expect from God’s favor towards them as a result of a change or their attitude in the important matter of church building. Hag.1:9. You expect a lot, but little comes out; and whatever you bring home, I will scatter. - For what? says the Lord of hosts: For my house, which is desolate, while you flee, every one to his own house. Agg.1:10. Therefore the heaven is closed and does not give you dew, and the earth does not give its produce. Hag.1:11. And I called drought on the land, on the mountains, on the bread, on the grape juice, on the oil, and on everything that the earth produces, both on man and on livestock, and on all manual labor. Having expressed in Art. 8th, a positive demand to the people - to begin building the church, the prophet now, in the final verses (9-11) of his first speech, expresses his retrospective view of the failures the Jews have already experienced and their true reason - neglect of the construction of the church. At the same time, the idea expressed by the prophet (vv. 10, 11) about the dependence of the fertility or sterility of the earth and the success or failure of human labor is undoubtedly a biblical thought (cf. Deut. 28.22–23), has support in the biblical teaching about the Providence of God, and therefore it will be equally fair whether the content of the verses under consideration is attributed to the past or the future, as they do, for example, Blessed. Jerome and Blessed Theodorite. The latter conveys the content of the verses in question in the following paraphrase: “How careless you are about serving Me, and how much you take care of your houses; So I will forbid the clouds to irrigate the earth and I will command the earth to become barren, and I will direct punitive force, like a certain sword, not only on the fruits of the earth, but also on the people cultivating the land, with them their livestock, created by them for service, will suffer punishment. The God of all threatens to do this for negligence about the house of God, not because he has a need for it (the Creator of all things has no need for heaven, but created everything out of one love for mankind); but caring for them themselves, providing for their salvation, he commands that a church be created, so that they, fulfilling the law in the church, will benefit from this, and perform legal worship, until, according to the word of the Apostle, the Heir comes” (Rom 8.17) (p. 60). Hag.1:12. And Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jozedek, and all the rest of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as one sent by the Lord their God, and the people feared the Lord. Hag.1:13. Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, sent from the Lord, said to the people: I am with you! says the Lord. Hag.1:14. And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, ruler of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jozedek, the great priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people, and they came and began to work in the house of the Lord of hosts their God, Hag.1:15. on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, in the second year of King Darius. The simple and unartificial, but strong and convincing speech of the prophet produced the desired effect not only on Zerubbabel and Jesus, but also on the entire mass of the people: under the name: “all the rest of the people,” Heb. kol-sheritgaam, in fact: “the entire remnant of the people”, Vulg.: omnes religuiae populi, - of course, “the entire totality of that part of the Jewish nation that returned from captivity and, in comparison with the former people and state, could really be called the “remnant”; this expression then became very common, a current term to designate (cf. Zech 8.6) those who returned from captivity and did not die at all in the Jerusalem catastrophe and in captivity” (Marti, s. 334). The word of the prophet Haggai had a serious influence on all his listeners, forcing them to think about the revelation given through him. But this action still could not be the same in relation to Zerubbabel and Jesus, on the one hand, and the people, on the other. “Diligently,” says the blessed one. Jerome, - pay attention to the fact that, according to the double type of the Savior in the person of Zerubbabel the leader and Jesus the priest (for He Himself is both the King and the High Priest), the book does not say: “Zerubbabel and Jesus were afraid,” but it says that although Zerubbabel, Jesus and the people listened to the words of the prophet Haggai, which are the words of the Lord, only the people, that is, only one, feared from the presence of the Lord a crowd that has not yet been converted into a perfect man” (p. 333). In response to the fear and confusion of the people (12b), and to prevent further hesitation in the matter of building the church, the prophet Haggai solemnly proclaims, v. 13, comfort and encouragement to the people on behalf of Jehovah, as if saying to the people: “Do not lose courage, I am your helper and helper” (Blessed Theodoret, p. 61). The extreme importance of the moment, the need to immediately raise the spirit of the people, also explains the somewhat unusual title in the Bible of the prophet as the Angel of the Lord, Heb. maleah Jehovah (the use of this term in application to the prophets still cannot be considered completely exclusive in the Bible; on the contrary, all prophets in general are named after Angels in 2 Chronicles 36.15–16; cf. Isa 44.26). We have already spoken about the unacceptability of the explanation of Hagg 1.13, widespread in Christian antiquity, in the sense of indicating the Angelic nature of the prophet in the introduction to our commentary. The exhortations and encouragements of the prophet, and then the special, deliberate action of God to uplift the spirit of the builders, v. 14, finally overcame all the hesitations of the people in the matter of building the church, and they actively began work on its construction, so that the beginning of the resumption of these works in Art. 15 is called the 24th day of the sixth month, i.e. the construction of the church resumed just three weeks after the first speech of the prophet Haggai (cf. Haggai 1.1). Blessed Jerome (pp. 317–313) conveys the meaning of Heb. Daryavesh is a household name. “generationes factae, former births.” The philological consistency of this translation is more than doubtful, but Blessed. Jerome in this case meant those moral and allegorical conclusions that he draws from the mentioned translation You might be interested in: