Haggai 1:13 Kommentar

In this chapter, after the preamble of the prophecy, we have, I. A reproof of the people of the Jews for their dilatoriness and slothfulness in building the temple, which had provoked God to contend with them by the judgment of famine and scarcity, with an exhortation to them to resume that good work and to prosecute it in good earnest (Hag 1:1-11). II. The good success of this sermon, appearing in the people's return and close application to that work, wherein the prophet, in God's name, animated and encouraged them, assuring them that God was with them (Hag 1:12-15).

This chapter contains the first sermon of the Prophet Haggai to the people of the Jews, directed to Zerubbabel the governor, and Joshua the high priest; the date of which is fixed, Hag 1:1. It begins with a charge against that people; saying the time to build the house of the Lord was not come, Hag 1:2 which is refuted by the prophet; arguing, that, if the time to panel their dwelling houses was come, then much more the time to build the Lord's house, Hag 1:3. They are urged to consider how unsuccessful they had been in their civil employments and labours, which was owing to their neglect of building the temple; wherefore, if they consulted their own good, and the glory of God, the best way was to set about it in all haste, and with diligence, Hag 1:5 yea, even the famine, which they had been afflicted with for some time, and which affected both man and beast, sprung from the same cause, Hag 1:10. This discourse had such an effect upon the governor, high priest, and people, that they immediately rose up, and went about the work they were exhorted to; upon which the prophet, by a special message from the Lord, promises his presence with them, Hag 1:12.

Then spoke Haggai the Lord's messenger,.... Which some render "angel"; hence sprung that notion, imbibed by some, that he was not a man, but an angel; whereas this only respects his office, being sent of God as an ambassador in his name with a message to his people: he now observing what effect his prophecy had upon the people; they being convinced of their sin, and terrified with the judgments of God upon them, and fearing that worse still would attend them; in order to revive their spirits and comfort them, spake the words unto them which follow: and this he did in the Lord's message unto the people; not of his own head, nor out of the pity of his own heart merely; but as a prophet of the Lord, having a fresh message from him to carry a promise to them for their comfort and encouragement: saying, I am with you, saith the Lord; to pardon their sins; to accept their persons; to remove his rod from them; to assist them in the work of building the temple, they were now willing to engage in; to protect them from their enemies, and to strengthen them to go on with the work till they had finished it; a short promise, but a very full one: it was saying much in a little, and enough to remove all their fears, to scatter all their doubts, and to bear them up, and through all discouragements.

In the whole sequence of Scripture, at any one time they are said to be men and at another time angels. But the one who thinks this will say that just as there are angels among those who are admittedly men, as Zechariah, who says, “I am with you as an angel of God, says the Lord almighty,” and John, of whom it has been written, “Behold, I send my angel before your face,” so also the angels of God, when they are called “men,” are called this because of their work and not because of their nature.

(Verse 13) And Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel heard, and Joshua son of Jehozadak the high priest, and all the remnant of the people, the voice of their God (the Vulgate adds 'the Lord') and the words of the prophet Haggai, as the Lord their God had sent him to them. And the people feared before the Lord's presence. Pay close attention, because of the two understandings of the Savior in Zerubbabel as leader and Joshua as priest (for he is both king and priest), that it did not say Zerubbabel and Joshua feared, but when Zerubbabel and Joshua and the people heard the words of the prophet Haggai, which are the words of the Lord, only the people feared before the Lord's presence, that is, only the multitude, which had not yet come together into one complete man, nor deserved to be united to the Spirit what the Spirit is. But the people were afraid of the face of the Lord, knowing that the face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off their memory from the earth (Psalm 34).

(Verse 13.) And the messenger of the Lord, Haggai, said to the people: I am with you, says the Lord. Some believe that both John the Baptist and Malachi, who is interpreted as the Angel of the Lord, and Haggai, whom we now have in our hands, were angels and that by the dispensation and command of God they assumed human bodies and lived among men. It is not surprising that this is believed about angels, since for our salvation even the Son of God assumed a human body. And for this reason, they also provide testimony from the apocrypha, where it is said: Jacob, who was later called Israel, was an angel and therefore he supplanted his brother in the womb of his mother (Gen. 25 and 32). And also John, at the voice of Mary the mother of the Lord, leaped for joy in the womb of Elizabeth (Luke 1); and that there is one nature of all rational beings; and for this reason, men who have pleased God become equal to angels. Let them feel this. However, let us receive simply what the announcer of the Lord, that is, the angel, who is called Malachi in Hebrew, has said as a prophet, because he has announced the will of God to the people, either because in many places our Lord and Savior is called the angel of God, as in this passage: The Angel of Great Counsel (Isaiah 9:6), we say has prefigured the Savior in Haggai. Furthermore, what he says, the messenger of the Lord, concerning the messages of the Lord, is like he was saying, a prophet about prophets. What he says, the messenger of the Lord speaking to the people, saying: 'I am with you,' says the Lord, does not speak to Zerubbabel and Joshua, with whom and in whom the Lord always was (for once we said that they should be understood according to various interpretations as the person of the Savior), but to the people who had feared the face of the Lord. For the people were not yet close to the love of God, which casts out fear. Therefore, the people receive reward for the fear of God, so that the Lord may be with them, and there is the understanding: I will be your helper, build my house, which is destroyed in you: I will place myself in your midst, no one will be able to hinder your construction.

Then spake Haggai - He was the Lord's messenger, and he came with the Lord's message, and consequently he came with authority. He is called מלאך יהוה malach Yehovah, the angel of Jehovah, just as the pastors of the seven Asiatic churches are called Angels of the Churches, Rev 1:2. I am with you, saith the Lord - Here was high encouragement. What may not a man do when God is his helper?

HAGGAI CALLS THE PEOPLE TO CONSIDER THEIR WAYS IN NEGLECTING TO BUILD GOD'S HOUSE: THE EVIL OF THIS NEGLECT TO THEMSELVES: THE HONOR TO GOD OF ATTENDING TO IT: THE PEOPLE'S PENITENT OBEDIENCE UNDER ZERUBBABEL FOLLOWED BY GOD'S GRACIOUS ASSURANCE. (Hag 1:1-15) second year of Darius--Hystaspes, the king of Medo-Persia, the second of the world empires, Babylon having been overthrown by the Persian Cyrus. The Jews having no king of their own, dated by the reign of the world kings to whom they were subject. Darius was a common name of the Persian kings, as Pharaoh of those of Egypt, and CÃ&brvbrsar of those of Rome. The name in the cuneiform inscriptions at Persepolis is written Daryawus, from the root Darh, "to preserve," the Conservator [LASSEN]. HERODOTUS [6.98] explains it Coercer. Often opposite attributes are assigned to the same god; in which light the Persians viewed their king. Ezr 4:24 harmonizes with Haggai in making this year the date of the resumption of the building. sixth month--of the Hebrew year, not of Darius' reign (compare Zac 1:7; Zac 7:1, Zac 7:3; Zac 8:19). Two months later ("the eighth month," Zac 1:1) Zechariah began to prophesy, seconding Haggai. the Lord--Hebrew, JEHOVAH: God's covenant title, implying His unchangeableness, the guarantee of His faithfulness in keeping His promises to His people. by Haggai--Hebrew, "in the hand of Haggai"; God being the real speaker, His prophet but the instrument (compare Act 7:35; Gal 3:19). Zerubbabel--called also Shesh-bazzar in Ezr 1:8; Ezr 5:14, Ezr 5:16, where the same work is attributed to Shesh-bazzar that in Ezr 3:8 is attributed to Zerubbabel. Shesh-bazzar is probably his Chaldean name; as Belteshazzar was that of Daniel. Zerubbabel, his Hebrew name, means "one born in Babylon." son of Shealtiel--or Salathiel. But Ch1 3:17, Ch1 3:19 makes Pedaiah his father. Probably he was adopted by his uncle Salathiel, or Shealtiel, at the death of his father (compare Mat 1:12; Luk 3:27). governor of Judah--to which office Cyrus had appointed him. The Hebrew Pechah is akin to the original of the modern Turkish Pasha; one ruling a region of the Persian empire of less extent than that under a satrap. Joshua--called Jeshua (Ezr 2:2); so the son of Nun in Neh 8:17. Josedech--or Jehozadak (Ch1 6:15), one of those carried captive by Nebuchadnezzar. Haggai addresses the civil and the religious representatives of the people, so as to have them as his associates in giving God's commands; thus priest, prophet, and ruler jointly testify in God's name.

the Lord's messenger--so the priests (Mal 2:7) are called (compare Gal 4:14; Pe2 1:21). in the Lord's message--by the Lord's authority and commission: on the Lord's embassage. I am with you-- (Mat 28:20). On the people showing the mere disposition to obey, even before they actually set to work, God passes at once from the reproving tone to that of tenderness. He hastens as it were to forget their former unfaithfulness, and to assure them, when obedient, that He both is and will be with them: Hebrew, "I with you!" God's presence is the best of blessings, for it includes all others. This is the sure guarantee of their success no matter how many their foes might be (Rom 8:31). Nothing more inspirits men and rouses them from torpor, than, when relying on the promises of divine aid, they have a sure hope of a successful issue [CALVIN].

This penitential state of mind on the part of the people and their rulers was met by the Lord with the promise of His assistance, in order to elevate this disposition into determination and deed. Hag 1:13. "Then spake Haggai, the messenger of Jehovah, in the message of Jehovah to the people, thus: I am with you, is the saying of Jehovah. Hag 1:14. And Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, and the spirit of Joshua, and the spirit of all the remnant of the nation; and they came and did work at the house of Jehovah of hosts, their God." The prophet is called מלאך in Hag 1:13, i.e., messenger (not "angel," as many in the time of the fathers misunderstood the word as meaning), as being sent by Jehovah to the people, to make known to them His will (compare Mal 2:7, where the same epithet is applied to the priest). As the messenger of Jehovah, he speaks by command of Jehovah, and not in his own name or by his own impulse. אני אתּכם, I am with you, will help you, and will remove all the obstacles that stand in the way of your building (cf. Hag 2:4). This promise Jehovah fulfilled, first of all by giving to Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the people, a willingness to carry out the work. העיר רוּח, to awaken the spirit of any man, i.e., to make him willing and glad to carry out His resolutions (compare Ch1 5:26; Ch2 21:16; Ezr 1:1, Ezr 1:5). Thus filled with joyfulness, courage, and strength, they began the work on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, in the second year of king Darius (Hag 1:15), that is to say, twenty-three days after Haggai had first addressed his challenge to them. The interval had been spent in deliberation and counsel, and in preparations for carrying out the work. In several editions and some few mss in Kennicott, in Tischendorf's edition of the lxx, in the Itala and in the Vulgate, Hag 1:15 is joined to the next chapter. But this is proved to be incorrect by the fact that the chronological statements in Hag 1:15 and Hag 2:1 are irreconcilable with one another. Hag 1:15 is really so closely connected with Hag 1:14, that it is rather to be regarded as the last clause of that verse.