Gods people had returned from exile in persia in 539 19 years earlier. Haggai spoke of him as the glory of the latter house, and zechariah as the man, the branch. It is a short book, consisting of only two chapters. King cyrus of persia had issued an edict in 53837 bc for the jews to return to judah.
Leviticus chapter 23 lists the seven festivals and annual holy days, arranged in order of occurrence throughout each year. This summary of the book of haggai provides information about the title, author s, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the book of haggai. Most scholars claim that because haggais name appears in the book he could not be its author. Haggai definition and meaning collins english dictionary. Key personalities are haggai, zerubbabel, and joshua. Aggaeus was a hebrew prophet during the building of the second temple in jerusalem, and one of the twelve minor prophets in the hebrew bible and the author of the book of haggai.
Introduction the prophets to the returned remnant were haggai, zechariah, and malachi. Written about 520 bce by the prophet haggai, the book contains four oracles. Haggai may, however, be a shortened form of haggiah 1 chronicles 6. Haggais prophecy condemned the jewish people for living in nice homes, asking, is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins. The book of haggai, also called the prophecy of aggeus, the 10th of 12 old testament books that bear the names of the minor prophets. It was written to people like us, who would say that god must be first. In them the light of that morning star shone more brightly than in the foregoing prophecies, as they lived nearer the time of the rising of the sun of righteousness, and now began to see his day approaching. In hebrew the book is titled ygj after the name of the prophet which probably meant my feast 1. His message was largely positive, encouraging his hearers. The book of haggai is narrative history and prophetic oracle. He is known for his prophecy in 520 bce, commanding the jews to rebuild the temple. Ackroyd, studies in the book of haggai, jjs 2 1951.
Haggai then delivered two messages on the same day, which moved the jews to resume and finish their project. The book of haggai is a reminder of the problems the people of god faced at this time, how the people courageously trusted in god. Summary of the book of haggai the story of the bible. Haggai and zechariah appear to have been two of the returnees who accompanied sheshbazzar, as was joshua the high priest, though haggai s name does not appear in the lists of returnees in the opening chapters of. He was the author of the book of haggai, which urges the exiles returning from babylonia to rebuild the temple in jerusalem. Because his name means festal one, it is suggested that haggai was born on a feast day. He called them to reverence and glorify god by building the temple in spite of local and official opposition. In greek haggaios, in latin, aggaeus or aggeus, sometimes haggaeus. It comes from the hebrew word used to picture festive, joyous occasions and is a reference to gods festivals and holy days described in both the old and new testaments. The first oracle calls for zerubbabel, the governor of judaea, and. Aug 15, 2018 at the end of the book, haggai delivered gods personal message to zerubbabel, telling the governor of judah he would be like gods signet ring. In greek the book is titled aggaios, a transliteration from the hebrew, from which we get our english spelling of haggai. His words contain a strong message of encouragement to the. Haggai probably had returned from the 70 year babylonian captivity with the first group to return in 537536 bc.
Haggai was a postexile, returnee to the land of israel, whose main ministry was to encourage the people to rebuild the temple in jerusalem, and to let them know that god was with them and would help them. The historical setting dates around 520 bc before the temple has been rebuilt. A large emigration had taken place from the land of captivity to jerusalem. With the fall of babylon about 19 years earlier in 539 b. Dec 01, 2016 haggai is unique among the prophets of god. The great purpose which the returning exiles had in view was the rebuilding of the temple, as the centrepoint of the restored nation. Translators could also find the translated bible text useful, as the writer translated from the hebrew text. He also pointed out when the people turned away from god, their needs. Haggai commentary, meaning, pronunciation, summary. Haggai synonyms, haggai pronunciation, haggai translation, english dictionary definition of haggai. These people say, the time has not yet come to rebuild the lords house. Haggai definition, a minor prophet of the 6th century b. May 02, 2020 the book of haggai is a reminder of the problems the people of god faced at this time, how the people courageously trusted in god, and how god provided for their needs. These events that build the historical background of the book of haggai are described in detail in the book of ezra.
In this second shortest book of the old testament after obadiah, haggai scolded his countrymen for living in paneled houses while the lords house had fallen into disarray. This is one of the twelve minor prophets of the old testament. He was sent to stir up gods people to return to building the temple that lay in runs. Haggai, the writer of this short book, is mentioned in ezra 5. These people say, the time has not yet come to rebuild the lord s house. Haggai, whose name means something like festive or festival, appears apart from selfreferences in this treatise only in ezra 5.
They came for one major purpose to rebuild the temple that had been. Haggai sought to challenge the people of god concerning their priorities. Haggai with book summary versebyverse bible commentary. The book of haggai, the 10th book of the twelve minor prophets, is a brief work of only two chapters. Some have understood the prophets question as teaching against christians having nice homes. The name haggai is assigned to only one person in the bible, although the name haggi is pretty much identical to haggai. The book of haggai was written in approximately 520 b. This is where we learn that the work of rebuilding the temple was interrupted for around 14 years but taken up again as a result of the prophetic ministry of haggai and zechariah in. In the second year of king darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the lord came by haggai the prophet to zerubbabel the son of shealtiel, governor of judah, and to joshua the son of jehozadak, the high priest, saying. The book of haggai introduction to the book of haggai in the bible. Jan 22, 2019 means festive in hebrew, from the root. His message was largely positive, encouraging his hearers to not be concerned that the temple was not as.
Haggai may, however, be a shortened form of haggiah, meaning festival of yahweh, as mattenai is an abbreviation of mattaniah ezr 10. The book of haggai is composed of messages the prophet haggai preached to a remnant of the jews who returned to jerusalem after the exile to babylon. Information and translations of book of haggai in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions resource on the web. Book of haggai overview insight for living ministries. In greek the book is titled aggaios, a transliteration from the hebrew, from. Today we study the prophet haggai and discover yhwhs passion about his house.
Haggai is among the most carefully and precisely dated books in the entire bible. An easyenglish translation and commentary 1200 word vocabulary on the book of haggai. In this case haggai would have been much older than 70 years when he wrote his book. From these facts, the picture of haggai begins to come into focus. Haggai definition is a hebrew prophet who flourished about 500 b. In ancient times, signet rings functioned as an official seal when pressed into hot wax on a document. Haggai is the 10th in the order of the twelve prophets. The book of haggai, also known as the book of aggeus, is a book of the hebrew bible or tanakh, and has its place as the thirdtolast of the minor prophets. They came for one major purpose to rebuild the temple that had been destroyed by babylon in.
He was the first of the three zechariah, his contemporary, and malachi, who was about one hundred years later, being the other two whose ministry belonged to the period of jewish history which began after the return from captivity in babylon. The book of the twelve prophets was originally on one parchment roll because of the brevity of the text, and together formed one book of the 24 books of hebrew scripture. He exhorted them to turn from the uncleanness of their ways and to trust in gods sovereign power. Haggai called them not to be discouraged because this temple would not be quite as richly decorated as solomons. He called the people to consider your ways and to be strong in the lord and in the power of his might. The first oracle calls for zerubbabel, the governor of judaea, and joshua. A call to build the house of the lord in the second year of king darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the lord came through the prophet haggai to zerubbabel son of shealtiel, governor of judah, and to joshua son of jozadak, the high priest.
Haggai is a minor prophet of israel who wrote around 520 bc, the time when israel had returned from exile and was recreating the country. Haggai is the tenth of the twelve prophets in the book of the twelve in hebrew scripture. Haggai wrote for jews who were rebuilding the temple in jerusalem, following the exile. Haggai definition of haggai by the free dictionary. Haggai zechariah malachi matthew the year was 520 bc. The persian king cyrus encouraged the captive people to return to their country of origin and to rebuild the jerusalem temple so that their god would once again have a house to live in ezra 1. They returned to rebuild the temple, but they became discouraged and gave up the project.
At the end of the book, haggai delivered gods personal message to zerubbabel, telling the governor of judah he would be like gods signet ring. Information about book of haggai in the dictionary, synonyms and antonyms. The meaning of the words the desirable things is clearly indicated in the verse. The reason god preserved this book for all time and for all humanity is its permanent value, which is twofold. Haggai commentary introduction lets open our bibles to the book of haggai. Proper usage and audio pronunciation of the word book of haggai. Haggai is a minor prophet of israel who wrote around 520 bc, the time when israel had returned from exile and was recreating the country haggai 1. Meaning, origin and history of the name haggai behind. He is given no introduction other than the prophet cf. God rebukes the returning remnant for their misplaced priorities.
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