Book of Haggai

The Book of Haggai is a book in the Bible Old Testament and Jewish Tanakh, written by the prophet Haggai.

It consists of two brief, comprehensive chapters. The object of the prophet was generally to urge the people to proceed with the rebuilding of the second Jerusalem temple in 520 BC after the return of the deportees. Haggai attributes a recent drought to the peoples' refusal to rebuild the temple, which he sees as key to Jerusalem’s glory. The book ends with the prediction of the downfall of kingdoms, with one Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, as the Lord’s chosen leader. The language here is not as finely wrought as in some other books of the minor prophets, yet the intent seems straightforward.

The first chapter first contains the first address (2-11) and its effects (12-15). The second chapter contains:

1. The second prophecy (1-9), which was delivered a month after the first.
2. The third prophecy (10-19), delivered two months and three days after the second; and
3. The fourth prophecy (20-23), delivered on the same day as the third.

These discourses are referred to in Ezra 5:1; 6:14; Hebrews 12:26. (Compare Haggai 2:7, 8, 22.)

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Initial text from Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897 -- Please update as needed