J The parallel account in Ezr 312 refers to the sec&nd year of the Return. But as Ezr 38-13 was written long after the events recorded (see above), it is not impossible that the ' weeping of the old men ' re.ally belongs to thU occasion (so the contem- porary authorities. Hag 23, Zee 4^0), and has been transferred to the earlier date under a misapprehension.
§ The first part of v.* down to * Eg^-pt ' scarcely makes grammar (RVm has to insert 'Remember'), and interrupts the context. LXX omits. Prob. a marginal gloss, which has crept into the text. ' fily spirit abideth in the midst of you' (Zee 46) will thus follow 'I am with you.'
I In V.7 translate ' and the desirable things of all the nations shall come.' The word n*]"n is sing., but collective in mean- ing, and so construed with a plur. vb.; cf. Is (ii'6. The con- struction is rightly understood by LXX xa.\ r^u t« ixKixTo., Pesh. Targ. Ital. Old interpreters referred the verse directly Ui the Jlessiah. e.n. Vulg. et veniet desideratus cunctix ifenli- bus, and Jerome, Comment, in Inc. This tr" is not correct, but the verse is Messianic, in the same sense as Is 60.
t SuchasiIic4i-2, Is 22- s f,05-r. u. 13. 17 616, Jer 3'7; cf. Zee 2" S22, To 145. Apparently, Haggai's idea is that the Messianic era will begin nnraediately after the great upheaval which is to follow the completion of the temple. In v. 9 LXX begins a new sentence with 'And in this place . . .,' adding xxi i,>^*»)»
^v^^f us TleiTCir.ff-t» wctvii iu «Ti^ovT* Tou x^ctf-niffcct TO* *a«v toutoh,
which Wellh. {Sh. u. Vorarb. v. 169) ingeniously reproduces by nin ^D-nn csip'' lin''"! ''3 rivn) asi n\)a\ (cf. 1 Ch lis. Ex 9ia, Ps 1227), 'and rest of soul, to repair all' the foundation, to raise up this temple.' The sentence is so peculiar that it is difficult to regard it as a mere addition of LXX ; at the same time it is not easy to see why it should have dropped out of the ilT. It is not required to complete the sense of the passage.
besides the discouraging comparisons of those who couUl not Ktok beyttnd the glories of the jtast. Nothing as yet had taken place to correspond with the inspiring hopes of the prophet. The general state was one of misery, not far from fiimine. The drought lasted so long that it seemed hopeless to expect any produce from the land. The seed lay useless in the barns ; it was im- possible to sow it in the sun-parched earth ; the vines and liLj-trees had borne no fruit (v.'"). And yet, said the jieople, is not the laud holy, the favoured soil of .J"? Has He not pledged His promise to it? Is not His altar here?
To show the falseness of this reasoning, which argued that bectiuse the land w.is holy therefore it must be fruitful, Haggai a.sks the priests for in- struction (turn/i) on a ceremonial ijoint ; their reply suggests the true principle. The contagion of holiness is transmitted only slightly, if at all (Lv ()-''), while uncleanness has a far-reaching effect (Lv 7-', Nu 19-"). Altar* and sacrifices avail nothing while the people neglect their lirst duty. To allow the temple to lie in ruins is the guilt which taints everything ; the blight which rests upon the land is a proof and punishment of their uncleanness.t But now that they have set to work in earnest, and laid the foundation of the temple (v.'"), J better d.ays will follow. The seed is in the barns — it shall yield a htirvest ; the vines and the fig-trees, as yet unfruitful, shall yield their wine and oil ; and God's blessing shall descend upon His land (v.'").
iv. Fourth prophecji : same date as iii. The prophet turns from the people to the prince, and addresses Zerubbabel alone. In the vast upheaval which is to accompany the approaching judgement, § Zerubbabel will remain unshaken. As the repre- sentative of the Davidic dynast)', and therefore the object of patriotic hopes, || he receives au assurance of the divine protection and the per- petuity of his race. II Under Persian domination the prophet dare not promise more.
There can be little doubt that the prophecies of Haggai have come down to us in a very abbrevi- ated form. It is the main heads of his aiscourses, rather than the discourses themselves, that have been preserved. Compared with Amos and Hosea, the style of Haggai is monotonous and prosaic. He is fond of repetitions, e.g. the reiterated ' Con-
* In V.14 ' there' points to the altar erected immediately after the Return (Ezr 33). L.\X adds at the end of the verse utxiv Ti»
aurair, xai ifmrCTI in viikaitt tXi>';);oyTctC. So Ital. But first clause
is a corrupt reading of int? Drinc^ |V' as nrp DO^i?^ \]1\ and does not belong to this place ; the second clause is a gloss adapted to the context ; the third is taken from Am 510 (Wellh. in toe). t V.1& ' From this day and upwards ' ; the latter word points to the future (cf. 1 S 1G13 etc.) ; but before giving a promise for the future (v. 19) the prophet recalls, in a parenthesis, the sufferings of the past 16 years (vv.iti. 17) as a warning. In v.l' the words ''^N crnx ['X are untranslatable and corrupt. Read '^N cnnc' nSi ' and ye did not turn unto me ' (Am 4^, from which other expressions in this verse are taken).