(1-11) _The First Utterance. — The_ neglect of God’s House denounced, and declared to be the cause of the prevalent dearth. (1) DARIUS THE KING. — _Scil.,_ Darius I., son of Hystaspes, who became king of Persia in B.C. 521. The fact that there were still men living who had seen the First Temple (Ha... [ Continue Reading ]
THE TIME IS NOT COME. — Better (unless we alter the received text), _It is not yet time to come_ — _i.e.,_ it is not yet time to assemble and commence preparations for building. It is not stated on what grounds the people based this assumption; but probably they palliated their indifference to relig... [ Continue Reading ]
IS IT TIME FOR YOU... — Literally, _Is it time for you to dwell in your houses, and those ceiled? — i.e.,_ probably with cedar and other costly woods. A crushing retort. If the adverse decree of Artaxerxes, which disallowed the building of Jerusalem (Ezra 4:21), had not hindered them from erecting m... [ Continue Reading ]
CONSIDER YOUR WAYS. — A common expression in this prophet. The results of their conduct are set forth in Haggai 1:6 : they are left to infer from these what its nature has been.... [ Continue Reading ]
YE HAVE SOWN MUCH... — Literally, _Ye have been sowing much and bringing in little; eating, and it was not to satisfaction; drinking, and it was not to fulness; clothing yourselves, and it was not for any one_’_s being warm,_ &c. This description of course merely implies that, notwithstanding all th... [ Continue Reading ]
THE MOUNTAIN. — No _one_ mountain is thought of. The term implies the high lands generally, as growing the most suitable timber for building purposes.... [ Continue Reading ]
YE LOOKED FOR MUCH. — Literally, _There has been a turning about for much._ I DID BLOW UPON IT — _scil.,_ for the purpose of dispersing it. Even the little that was brought into the garner was decimated by God’s continued disfavour.... [ Continue Reading ]
OVER YOU. — Better, _on your account._ — _Scil.,_ because of the neglect of God’s House, mentioned in Haggai 1:9.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND I CALLED FOR A DROUGHT UPON. — Better, _And I invoked a desolation upon._ Similarly in 2 Kings 8:1, Elisha announces to the Shunammite. “The Lord hath called a famine, and it shall also come upon the land seven years.”... [ Continue Reading ]
WITH ALL THE REMNANT OF. — The word may mean either “the remnant” restored from Babylon, or merely “the remainder” of the people. Similarly in Haggai 1:14; Haggai 2:2.... [ Continue Reading ]
(12-15) _THE SECOND UTTERANCE_. — The people turn a willing ear to Haggai’s exhortation, and the prophet is now charged to inform them of the return of God’s favour, in the gracious utterance, “I am with you, saith the Lord.”... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE LORD’S MESSAGE. — Or, _on the Lord_’_s mission. _... [ Continue Reading ]
It must be supposed that the intervening three weeks had been spent in collecting timber in the upland region, as was ordered in Haggai 1:8, and resuming the “work of the house of God.”... [ Continue Reading ]