Q: In Hag, what is an outline of the book?
An outline is very straightforward. Haggai had four visions.
Hag 1 Why have you not rebuilt the temple?
Hag 2:1-9 This temple versus Solomon’s Temple
Hag 2:10-19 Explanation of clean and unclean
Hag 2:20-23 God gives His blessing
Q: In Hag 1:1, how do you pronounce Haggai?
A: The Wycliffe Bible Dictionary, the New International Bible Dictionary, Cruden’s Concordance, and Harper’s Bible Dictionary pronounce it identically. It has three syllables (HAG-a-i) with the first a short, and the second a and i long. The accent is on the first syllable.
Q: In Hag 1:1, who was Haggai?
A: Nothing is known of Haggai except what is mentioned here. The Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1153 speculates that since Haggai’s name means "festal", perhaps Haggai was born on a Jewish holiday.
Q: In Hag 1:1, when was Haggai written?
A: According to what was written in Haggai 1, this would be about 520 B.C. The skeptical work Asimov’s Guide to the Bible p.661 says the same. Here were the kings of Persia during this time period.
-530 B.C. Cyrus II (killed in battle)
530-522 B.C. Cambyses II
522-521 B.C. Artaxerxes (an imposter who reigned 7 months. He is called Pseudo-Smerdis by the Greeks and historians today) (He wrote the letter in Ezra 4:7-23 stopping the building)
522/521-486 B.C. Darius I (Killed the imposter king. Fought the Scythians and Greeks, defeated at Marathon in 490 B.C. Esther was his queen)
520 B.C. Haggai and Zechariah gave their first prophecies
486-465/464 B.C. Xerxes I (murdered) (same as Ahasuerus in Ezra 4:6 and Esther)
464-336 B.C. Artaxerxes I (called I to erase the memory of the imposter Artaxerxes.
445 B.C. Nehemiah came to Jerusalem to build the city wall
336-331 B.C. Darius III (defeated by Alexander of Macedon)
Q: In Hag 1:2, did the people’s apathy prevent building of the Temple, or did foreign opposition prevent it as Ezra 4:7-23 says?
A: Both had a role. Here is the sequence of events.
1. In 538 B.C., Cyrus issues a decree allowing the Jews to go home and build their Temple.
2. In 536 B.C., the Jews started laying the foundation for the Temple.
3. Judah’s enemies (Samaritans, Ammonites, Arabs and others) wrote a letter to the king (titled Artaxerxes, but whom modern historians call Pseudo-Smerdis 522-521 B.C.). He issued a decree stopping the building.
4. In 520 B.C., (Ezra 5:1) God used Haggai to rebuke the people for not rebuilding. The Jews then started rebuilding.
5. The enemies questioned their authorization for rebuilding.
6. The Jews pointed out in a letter to King Darius the previous decree from King Cyrus, and after a search, that decree was found. Esther 1:19 and Daniel 6:8 say that the laws of the Persian kings could not be repealed.
7. The temple was finally completed around 516 B.C.
See When Critics Ask p.319 for more info.
Q: In Hag 1:2-4, what is the main point?
A: The people were diligent about building their houses, but they had neglected to build God’s Temple. Unlike the pre-Exile prophets, Haggai in his message is not rebuking them for terrible things they are doing wrong. He is rebuking them for not doing right. They were caught up in the cares of this world while neglecting good.
Q: In Hag 1:4 (KJV), what is a "cieled house"?
A: The NIV and NKJV translate this as a "paneled house". Jay P. Green’s Literal Translation says "roofed house".
Q: In Hag 1:5-7,11,16-17, why does God sometimes choose not to bless His own people?
A: The answer to this question is the main lesson of the book of Haggai. When God’s people are not honoring Him like they should, and they are not fully obedient, God will arrange circumstances to encourage their obedience. We often do the same to our children as discipline. Discipline is not always physical punishment. The type of punishment God is using here people sometimes call "logical consequences discipline."
Q: In Hag 2:3,7,9 how was the glory of the Temple greater than the glory of Solomon’s Temple?
A: Jesus came to this temple. Some are more concerned with "glorious" material things such as gold, while God seems more concerned with people than material things.
Q: In Hag 2:6-7, when were the earth and heaven shaken?
A: When Christ died on the cross, the sun was darkened (Matthew 27:45-46; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:45), and there was an earthquake (Matthew 27:51-52). The non-Christian Palestinian historian Thales (52 A.D.), also recorded that darkness accompanied Jesus’ crucifixion.
In addition to a physical earthquake, Jesus’ death, visit to those dead, and resurrection certainly shook everything up in spiritual realms.
Q: In Hag 2:7, who is the desired of all the nations?
A: First some Hebrew grammar, and then two views.
The Hebrew noun "desire" is in singular feminine form. Walt Kaiser in Hard Sayings of the Bible p.341-342 points this out, but adds that a similar construction refers to Saul as the desire of Israel in 1 Samuel 9:20, the male idol Tammuz as "one desired by women" in Daniel 11:37. In plural form, Daniel is the highly esteemed one in Daniel 9:23 and 10:11,19. Now, here are the three views.
1. The Desired One is the Messiah: Early Christians interpreted it this way. Since the feminine form can refer to Saul, Tammuz, and Daniel as mentioned previously, nothing keeps this from referring to Christ. This fits the context of Haggai perfectly. It is saying that while this temple does not look as nice as the previous one, it will be better because Jesus will enter this new temple. (As a side note, in Jesus’ time the temple was called "Herod’s Temple", not because Herod built a new temple, but because he paid to fix up this temple. The KJV and NIV translate this as the "desired one".
2. The desired one is the wealth/treasure of nations: This is the interpretation given in the NRSV and NASB. Kaiser says this interpretation is followed because of the singular feminine noun.
3. The People shall come to the desired one of all nations: Kaiser mentions this as a valid possibility, and the NKJV adopts this view.
See the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1155 and 735 Baffling Bible Questions Answered p.216 for more info.
Q: In Hag 2:7, when will this house be filled with glory?
A: This refers to God the Son, Jesus entering the Temple when he walked on this earth. However, 1001 Bible Questions Answered p.300 says it refers to Jesus coming into the Temple during the Millennium.
Q: In Hag 2:11-14, what is the point here about clean and unclean?
A: One could think of cleanness as purity, and uncleanness as contamination. A consecrated thing touching against an ordinary thing does not make both consecrated. However, a contaminated thing touching an ordinary thing make both contaminated. Then God told Haggai that to him the whole nation was contaminated. There are at least three applications we can learn from this passage.
1. You cannot do an equal amount of good and bad things and expect things to balance out in God's’ eyes. Some call this erroneous view the "Robinhood Syndrome", since according to legend, Robinhood thought that one bad deed (such as robbing some one), would be balanced by one good deed (such as giving a portion of the loot to the poor.)
2. We can defile, but only God can purify. Defilement spreads. Proverbs compares this to a dead fly in perfume. Holy things, or people, do not make more consecrated things or people. It is God who makes things and people Holy.
3. God often takes collective action against a nation or people. Even though there may be a few righteous people in a nation, God sometimes punishes the entire nation because of the sins of the majority. This does not mean the righteous people are guilty, but in this life, they still are caught up in the consequences of others sins.
As Donald Campbell put it, "work and worship do not sanctify sin, but sin contaminates work and worship." See the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1155 for more info.
Q: In Hag 2:15, was this temple built around 520 B.C., or was it built around 536 B.C. as mentioned in Ezra 3:8-13, or was it built during the time of Darius (521-486 B.C.) as mentioned in Ezra 4:24?
A: All of the above at true. The work was started when the Jews first came back in 536 B.C.. However, a decree was issued stopping the work. The work was restarted around 520 B.C.
See the discussion on Haggai 1:1 for the chronology of the kings, and the discussion on Haggai 1:2 for the sequence of events of the temple. See When Critics Ask p.214-215,319 for more info.
Q: In Hag, what are some of the earliest manuscripts that still exist today?
A: Dead Sea scrolls: (c.1 B.C.) There is one copy of Haggai among the Dead Sea scrolls, called 4Q77 (The Dead Sea Scrolls Translated p.479).
Nahal Hever is a cave near Engedi, that has a fragment of the minor prophets in Greek (8 Hev XIIgr). According to Manuscripts of the Greek Bible p.34, was written between 50 B.C. and 50 A.D.. It was hidden during the Bar Kokhba revolt against Rome. It is a revision of the Septuagint, made in Judea, and almost identical to the Massoretic text.
Christian Bible manuscripts, from about 350 A.D., contain the Old Testament, including Haggai. Two of these are Vaticanus (325-250 A.D.) and Alexandrinus (c450 A.D.), where the books of the twelve minor prophets were placed before Isaiah. Haggai is complete in both Vaticanus and Alexandrinus.
Sinaiticus (340-350 A.D.) also has the entire book.
The early church accepted Nahum as scripture. One example is Cyprian was a bishop of Carthage from 248 to his martyrdom in 258 A.D.. He quotes from "Haggai" in Treatise 12 The Third Book 20.
Q: In Hag, what are some of the translation differences between the Hebrew and Greek Septuagint?
A: Focusing on chapter 1, the first phrase is the Massoretic text, the second is the Septuagint, unless otherwise noted.
Hag 1:1 "by" vs. "by the hand of"
Hag 1:2 "governor of Judah" vs. "of the tribe of Judah"
Hag 1:9 "I blew on it" vs. "I blew it away"
Hag 1:9 "Why" vs. "Therefore"
Hag 1:11 "drought" vs. "sword"
Hag 1:13 "spoke the message" vs. "spoke among the messengers"
Bibliography for this question: the Hebrew translation is from Jay P. Green’s Literal Translation and the Septuagint rendering is from Sir Lancelot C.L. Brenton’s translation of The Septuagint : Greek and English. The Expositor's Bible Commentary and the footnotes in the NASB, NIV, NKJV, and NRSV Bibles also were used.
