Haggai 1:1

In Hag 1:1 this address is introduced by a statement of the time at which it had been delivered, and the persons to whom it was addressed. The word of Jehovah was uttered through the prophet in the second year of king Darius, on the first day of the sixth month. דּריושׁ answers to the name Dâryavush or Dârayavush of the arrow-headed inscriptions; it is derived from the Zendic dar, Sanskrit dhri, contracted into dhar, and is correctly explained by Herodotus (vi. 98) as signifying ἑρξείης = corcitor. It is written in Greek Δαρεῖος (Darius). The king referred to is the king of Persia (Ezr 4:5, Ezr 4:24), the first of that name, i.e., Darius Hystaspes, who reigned from 521 to 486 b.c. That this is the king meant, and not Darius Nothus, is evident from the fact that Zerubbabel the Jewish prince, and Joshua the high priest, who had led back the exiles from Babylon to Judaea in the reign of Cyrus, in the year 536 (Ezr 1:8; Ezr 2:2), might very well be still at the head of the returned people in the second year of the reign of Darius Hystaspes, i.e., in the year 520, but could not have been still living in the reign of Darius Nothus, who did not ascend the throne till 113 years after the close of the captivity. Moreover, in Hag 2:3, Haggai presupposes that many of his contemporaries had seen the temple of Solomon. Now, as that temple had been destroyed in the year 588 or 587, there might very well be old men still living under Darius Hystaspes, in the year 520, who had seen that temple in their early days; but that could not be the case under Darius Nothus, who ascended the Persian throne in the year 423. The prophet addresses his word to the temporal and spiritual heads of the nation, to the governor Zerubbabel and the high priest Joshua. זרבּבל is written in many codd. ז…

It was the complaint of the Jews in Babylon that they saw not their signs, and there was no more prophet (Psa 74:9), which was a just judgment upon them for mocking and misusing the prophets. We read of no prophets they had in their return, as they had in their coming out of Egypt, Hos 12:13. God stirred them up immediately by his Spirit to exert themselves in that escape (Ezr 1:5); for, though God makes use of prophets, he needs them not, he can do his work without them. But the lamp of Old Testament prophecy shall yet make some bright and glorious efforts before it expire; and Haggai is the first that appears under the character of a special messenger from heaven, when the word of the Lord had been long precious (as when prophecy began, Sa1 3:1) and there had been no open vision. In the reign of Darius Hystaspes, the third of the Persian kings, in the second year of his reign, this prophet was sent; and the word of the Lord came to him, and came by him to the leading men among the Jews, who are here named, Hag 1:1. The chief governor, 1. In the state; that was Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, of the house of David, who was commander-in-chief of the Jews, in their return out of captivity. 2. In the church; and that was Joshua the son of Josedech, who was now high priest. They were great men and good men, and yet were to be stirred up to their duty when they grew remiss. What the people also were faulty in they must be told of, that they might use their power and interest for the mending of it. The prophets, who were extraordinary messengers, did not go about to set aside the ordinary institutions of magistracy and ministry, but endeavoured to render both more effectual for the ends to which they were appointed, for both ought to be supported. Now observe, I. What the…

1:1-15 The first message calls the people of Jerusalem to focus on restoring proper worship of God. 1:1 This introductory statement (superscription) identifies the author, the audience, the date, and the occasion prompting the prophecy. • the second year: King Darius I (Hystaspes) ruled Persia 521–486 BC, early in the Persian Empire (539–331 BC). The messages of Haggai are among the most precisely dated prophecies in the Old Testament. • Prophet (Hebrew nabi’) designates Haggai as a representative of God who speaks with the authority of God, who sent him. • Zerubbabel led one group of Hebrews back to Palestine after the Babylonian exile and was the Persian-appointed governor of Judah at the time of Haggai’s ministry (see Ezra 2:1-2; 3:2; Neh 7:7). • Jeshua was the high priest at that time. Under his supervision, the altar was rebuilt and the second Temple was dedicated (Ezra 3:2; 5:2; 6:15).