Haggai 1
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.1 ¶ In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying,   Second year of Darius 520/519 B.C.
  First day Feast of the new moon. nu2811ff.
  Zerubbabel ezr0308.
  Governor His authority was subject to a pagan satrap.
  Joshua Not the judge who followed Moses. He is frequently mentioned by Zechariah whose book follows this one.
.2  Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD'S house should be built.
.3  Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying,
 4  Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?
.5  Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
6  Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
  2 - This people say Apparently they were waiting for the 70 years predicted by Jeremiah to end. je2511,12. The temple was destroyed in 587/586. They were selfish.
  4 - Ceiled houses Closed in or paneled with wood.
  6 - Bag with holes Certainly the Lord blesses those who are faithful, although not always with money. mal0310.
 7  Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
 8  Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.
.9  Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.
.10  Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.
 11  And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.
  7 - Consider An appeal to reason. See on is0118. See ne0208.
  9 - Looked for much ... little "literally 'looked' so as to turn your eyes 'to much.' The Hebrew infinitive here expresses continued looking. Ye hoped to have your store made 'much' by neglecting the temple. The greater was your greediness, the more bitter your disappointment in being poorer than ever." (JFB).
   9 - Blow upon it The harvest was scattered. People were interested in their homes and neglecting the temple. "his own house" is in emphatic antithesis form in Hebrew.
  9 - Ye run Expressing the eagerness in pursuing their selfish interests. ps11932, pr0116.
  10 - Heaven ... stayed literally "'stays itself.' Thus heaven or the sky is personified; implying that inanimate nature obeys Jehovah's will; and, shocked at His people's disobedience, withholds its goods from them (compare Jer 2:12,13)." (JFB).
.12 ¶ Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him, and the people did fear before the LORD.
.13  Then spake Haggai the LORD'S messenger in the LORD'S message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the LORD.
 14  And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the LORD of hosts, their God,
 15  In the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.
  12 - Remnant Only a few had come out of Babylon to rebuild.
  12 - Haggai the prophet He was sent to prophesy.
  15 - In the [24th]  day of the sixth month ... [v14] remnant ... came and did work Prompt, considering the time for gathering materials and for planning.
  15 - In the second year of Darius You likely didn't notice, but Ezra said it was the first year ezr0424. The problem is resolved considering that the two prophets used different calendars. For Ezra years would have begun in the fall and ended the next fall (Jewish civil calendar) and Haggai a spring-to-spring one.
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