In a span of four months, Yahweh uses the prophet Haggai to speak to his people who have returned from Babylonian exile. The word of the Lord comes in four distinct oracles, addressing Judah’s leaders (governor, high priest, and priests) and the population at large. Although two of the messages contain significant corrective elements, the overall outlook is quite positive.

In the first oracle Yahweh reprimands his people for neglecting to rebuild the temple. They have made their own dwellings comfortable but have left God’s house in ruins. As a result, he has limited the productivity of their labor. The challenge is to secure materials and rebuild the Lord’s house, and the people promptly take up the work. The second oracle addresses the remnant’s inclination to view the second temple as inferior to Solomon’s. Yahweh assures his people that his presence and power are with them, and that he will confer on the house great glory and peace.

The third oracle begins by posing questions to the priests about ritual purity. Inattentive contact between objects and/or persons tends to compromise rather than spread purity, and so it is with the nation’s neglect of the temple: it has caused them to experience covenant curses. Nevertheless, Yahweh pledges that their obedience in rebuilding the temple will lead to near-term blessings. The final oracle speaks directly to the governor. The Lord will soon triumph over earthly kingdoms and affirm that he has chosen Zerubbabel as his servant.

According to Wolf, “The book of Haggai is rare among the prophetic books because it has no poetic lines” (“Haggai” 595). However, this is not to imply that it lacks stylistic depth. Its literary features include use of rhetorical questions, repetition, parallelism, and allusions (595; Ryken, Wilhoit, and Longman 358).

Haggai’s final oracle likens Zerubbabel to a signet ring (2:23), an image that bears messianic significance. Generations earlier, Zerubbabel’s family line had been barred from the Davidic throne through a curse that employed similar imagery (Jer. 22:24-30). The promise of Haggai 2:23 seems to reverse the effects of the curse, as Matthew 1:13 lists Zerubbabel as an ancestor of Jesus (Austel 685-86; Wolf, “Haggai, Theology of” 323-24).

Haggai 2:7 (ESV) prophesies that “the treasures of all nations shall come in.” The Hebrew word rendered as treasures can also mean desired, as reflected in the KJV, NIV, and NKJV. Some interpreters see this as a reference to the Messiah, a view that is reflected in the lyrics of more than one Christmas hymn. For discussion, see NET Bible (note on 2:7), Wolf (“Haggai” 595), and Constable (note on 2:7).

Austel, Hermann J. “Haggai.” Baker Commentary on the Bible, edited by Walter A. Elwell, Baker Books, 2000, pp. 682-86.

Beale, G. K., and D. A. Carson, eds. Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament. Baker Academic, 2007.

Constable, Thomas L. Notes on Haggai. http://lumina.bible.org/bible/ Haggai+2#constablesNotesHolder

Geisler, Norman L. A Popular Survey of the Old Testament. Baker Book House, 1977.

Merrill, Eugene H. Kingdom of Priests: A History of Old Testament Israel. Baker Books, 1996.

NET Bible. http://lumina.bible.org/bible/Haggai+2

Ryken, Leland, James C. Wilhoit, and Tremper Longman III. Dictionary of Biblical Imagery. InterVarsity, 1998.

Wolf, Herbert M. “Haggai.” The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, edited by Geoffrey W. Bromiley, fully revised, vol. 2, Eerdmans, 1982, pp. 594-96.

---. “Haggai, Theology of.” Baker Theological Dictionary of the Bible, edited by Walter A. Elwell, Baker Books, 2000, pp. 323-24.