Zechariah 4, A Lampstand and Two Olive Trees

Zechariah has had four visions. The last one involved the High Priest Joshua, a stone with seven eyes and a future "Branch" that will redeem Israel. Here is Zechariah's fifth vision.

Zechariah 4:1-3, Golden lampstand

Then the angel who talked with me returned and wakened me, as a man is wakened from his sleep. He asked me, "What do you see?" 

I answered, "I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lights on it, with seven channels to the lights. Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left."

Zechariah is "awakened" as if he were sleeping. A supernatural being asks him to describe what he sees. A golden menorah of seven candles was to be placed in the temple (Exodus 25:31-40.) Here Zechariah sees a similar gold lampstand with seven lights and a bowl at its top, with "channels" to the lights. He also sees two olive trees, one on each side of the lampstand.

Zechariah 4:4-6, By His spirit

I asked the angel who talked with me, "What are these, my lord?"

He answered, "Do you not know what these are?" 

"No, my lord," I replied.

So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: `Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty.

Zechariah does not understand the meaning of these images. He is told to tell Zerubbabel that God will act out of the power of His Spirit (ruah), instead of some physical might. 

Zechariah 4:7-10, Zerubbabel lays a foundation
"What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of `God bless it! God bless it!'"

Then the word of the LORD came to me: 

"The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it. Then you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you.

"Who despises the day of small things? Men will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. "

(These seven are the eyes of the LORD, which range throughout the earth.)"

Zerubbabel is ordained to bring forward the capstone of the temple. Zerubbabel will lay the foundation of the temple and see it completed. There will be rejoicing when something as simple as the plumb line is being carried by Zerubbabel.

Apparently the Hebrew of verse 10 is difficult. This version of the NIV translates the Hebrew bedil (meaning "tin") as "plumb line". But a different edition of the NIV, here, translates that word as "capstone". The sentence about eyes is also confusing. This version of the NIV treats it as a parenthetical statement, appearing to come out of the blue. But one could also assume that the seven eyes (roaming the earth) are rejoicing at the capstone being laid. That fits with the previous vision in which there is a stone with seven eyes (3:9.)

Zechariah 4:11-14, Two Olive Trees

Then I asked the angel, "What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?" Again I asked him, "What are these two olive branches beside the two gold pipes that pour out golden oil?"

He replied, "Do you not know what these are?" 

"No, my lord," I said.

So he said, "These are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth."

The chiastic structure of the eight visions of Zechariah places emphasis on the middle two visions, the visions making up chapters 3 and 4 of the book. In those two chapters, God has chosen two men to bring forth His plans with the second temple in Jerusalem.  Apparently these anointed men are Joshua and Zerubbabel. They are represented, in this vision, as olive trees or olive branches. These two men have been anointed (with oil) to serve God, as both governor and high priest. 

Leaning on the explanation in 3:8, it is easy to see this passage as a continuation of earlier messianic messages and Zerubbabel and Joshua as forerunners of the future Messiah. Baldwin says that the Qumran community (of the Dead Sea Scrolls) expected two Messiahs, one a ruler in David's line, the other a high priest. Christians see these two roles carried out by the single Messiah Yeshua.

First published December 13, 2025; updated December 13, 2025

Zechariah 3, Another Joshua

Zechariah has described three visions, one of horses, one of four horns and the third a vision of Jerusalem being measured by a supernatural being. His fourth vision involves a local figure named Joshua.

Zechariah 3:1-5, Joshua and an Accuser
Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him.

The LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?"

Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. The angel said to those who were standing before him, "Take off his filthy clothes." 

Then he said to Joshua, "See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you."

Then I said, "Put a clean turban on his head." 

So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the LORD stood by.

Joshua is a high priest at the beginning of the Second Temple period, at the end of the exile. In Ezra 5:1-2. Joshua, Zerubbabel and Haggai form a partnership attempting to build this new temple.

In this vision, Joshua the High Priest, stands before an angel of YHWH and one called "the Accuser" (or "adversary", Hebrew satan) accuses Joshua. Yet YHWH defends Joshua and calls him a "burning stick". Joshua is honored, with dirty clothes replaced by clean ones. A clean turban is placed on his head. His filth is replaced by honor and righteousness. He is ready to lead Israel.

The burning stick snatched from the fire describes something precious, quickly saved from destruction in the fireplace. An earlier prophet, Amos (Amos 4:11) uses this same metaphor.

Zechariah 3:6-7, Return to Me
The angel of the LORD gave this charge to Joshua: "This is what the LORD Almighty says: 

`If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here.

 

Joshua is charged to lead a revival as people turn back to God.

Zechariah 3:8-10, The Branch

"`Listen, O high priest Joshua and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch. See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven eyes on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it,' says the LORD Almighty, `and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day.

 

"`In that day each of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and fig tree,' 

declares the LORD Almighty."

As Joshua is honored, we hear a message in which God promises to bring a Servant, the Branch, as a sign of things to come. Indeed, in this future Day, sin will be removed from the land. 

A stone with seven eyes (or openings) is in front of Joshua and an inscription will be placed on the stone. The rock may represent Israel or the coming Messiah or a foundation stone for the temple. The Hebrew word ayin, translated "eye" here, can be an eye, an opening, or even a spring of water. (A sudden explanatory comment is made on eyes in the next chapter, in 4:10.) The seven eyes may represent God's all seeing power or springs of water refreshing the land. Regardless, in a single day, sin will be removed from the land.

Sitting under one's own vine and fig tree was the image of peace and prosperity in the ancient Near East. The future Day will bring prosperity.

First published December 12, 2025; updated December 12, 2025

Zechariah 2, A City Without Walls

Zechariah, living in the reign of Darius the Great in Babylon, has dreamed of horses and horns, in relation to the future of Israel. We now have his third dream-vision.

Zechariah 2:1-5, Measuring line
Then I looked up--and there before me was a man with a measuring line in his hand!

I asked, "Where are you going?" 

He answered me, "To measure Jerusalem, to find out how wide and how long it is."

Then the angel who was speaking to me left, and another angel came to meet him and said to him: "Run, tell that young man, `Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the great number of men and livestock in it. And I myself will be a wall of fire around it,' declares the LORD, `and I will be its glory within.'

Jerusalem is being measured for a future. Some day it will be so large that it will be a city without walls, protected only by YHWH, who will Himself be a wall of fire. 

The "young man" in verse 4 is most likely Zechariah.

The Hebrew of verse 5 is emphatic. Hebrew rarely expressed the verb "to be", instead just putting equal nouns together. For example, a common Hebrew phrase for "I will be its glory" would be something like "I its glory." However in verse 5, twice ’eh·yeh, ("will be") appears. Baldwin quotes a commentator, Chary, who suggests that this emphasis echoes Exodus 3:14, that God says, "I AM, Myself" will be the wall and its glory."

The remainder of this chapter is a poem, Zechariah speaking to the exiles and then to the returning Jews (Baldwin.)

Zechariah 2:6-9, Flee!

"Come! Come! Flee from the land of the north," 

declares the LORD, "

for I have scattered you to the four winds of heaven," 

declares the LORD.

"Come, O Zion! Escape, you who live in the Daughter of Babylon!"

For this is what the LORD Almighty says: 

"After he has honored me and has sent me against the nations that have plundered you--for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye-- I will surely raise my hand against them so that their slaves will plunder them. Then you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me.

The people of Israel are to flee Babylon and return to Zion/Jerusalem, for Israel is the "apple" (pupil) of God's eye, getting God's full attention.

YHWH speaks of a warrior who raises his hand against the enemy nations. Is that warrior YHWH? Or the Messiah? This vision becomes increasingly messianic.

Zechariah 2:10-13, Live among us
"Shout and be glad, O Daughter of Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you," declares the LORD. 

"Many nations will be joined with the LORD in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you. The LORD will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem. Be still before the LORD, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling."

In a future day, YHWH will live among His people. And many nations will join and reside in Judah. This is most surely a messianic passage, for its speaks to a future time in which YHWH appears present (a "theophany") within the city. Christian writers see this future time beginning with the appearance of Yeshua/Jesus (see John 1:14.)

The Hebrew word has is translated "be still" (or "be silent".) Like the English word "hush", it is an onomatopoeia, imitating the sound it describes. In English, "hush!" is almost always said in a whisper, with a finger across the lips. In the Hebrew passage here, has is a command to settle down, be still and quietly listen to YHWH.

First published December 11, 2025; updated December 11, 2025

Zechariah 1, Horses and Horns

Zechariah ministers at the end of the Babylonian captivity, at the same time as the prophet Haggai. His prophecies begin in late 520 BC, within a month or so after the prophecies of Haggai. In a space of just over two years, Zechariah will have nine visions. It is possible that the first eight visions all occur within a single night.

Zechariah 1:1-6, Return to Me
In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo:

 

"The LORD was very angry with your forefathers. Therefore tell the people: This is what the LORD Almighty says: 

`Return to me,' declares the LORD Almighty, `and I will return to you,' says the LORD Almighty. Do not be like your forefathers, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed: This is what the LORD Almighty says: `Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices.' But they would not listen or pay attention to me, declares the LORD.

Where are your forefathers now? And the prophets, do they live forever?

But did not my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, overtake your forefathers? "Then they repented and said, `The LORD Almighty has done to us what our ways and practices deserve, just as he determined to do.'"

During the reign of Darius the Great, the people in exile were finally allowed to return to Judah. God, speaking through Zechariah, explains that the defeat and captivity was because the people of Israel had not followed God in the past. Now is a time to change. The people are called to return to YHWH and He then will return to them. (See Malachi 3:7 for this same message.)

Zechariah (whose name means "YHWH remembers") was the grandson of Iddo. Nehemiah 12:12-21, lists the heads of priestly family after the exile and in verse 16, gives Zechariah as the head of Iddo's family. (Presumably Berekiah, Zechariah's father, had died at an early age in Babylon?) Zechariah is presumably relatively young at this time, much younger, for example, than Haggai is prophesied just before him.

The later prophet Malachi quotes verse 3 in Malachi 3:7. Just as Malachi quotes Zechariah, in verse 4 Zechariah repeats a statement of Jeremiah's (Jeremiah 35:15.) The book of Zechariah begins with standard prophetic warning about straying from the Covenant. But after these introductory verses, the text changes, with a sequence of eight night visions....

Zechariah 1:7-11, Man on a red horse
On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo. During the night I had a vision--and there before me was a man riding a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in a ravine. Behind him were red, brown and white horses.

I asked, "What are these, my lord?" 

The angel who was talking with me answered, "I will show you what they are."

Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, "They are the ones the LORD has sent to go throughout the earth." And they reported to the angel of the LORD, who was standing among the myrtle trees, "We have gone throughout the earth and found the whole world at rest and in peace."

Zechariah dreams of a man on a red horse leading horses that are red, brown and white. A divine messenger explains that these horses are sent to go throughout the earth. Having done so, they have found rest and peace. (At this time, the vast Persian/Babylonian Empire had enforced a period of peace in the ANE.) The horses will return in 6:1-8. The color red is often associated with blood; in the New Testament Revelation 6:4, a red horse with a sword represents warfare and death.

The angel stands among myrtle trees , evergreen shrubs common to Jerusalem, sometimes used in the Feast of Tabernacles. The ravine, possibly east of Jerusalem, might have been the Kidron Valley. The angel will accompany Zechariah through his eight visions.

Zechariah 1:12-16, Return to Me
Then the angel of the LORD said, "LORD Almighty, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and from the towns of Judah, which you have been angry with these seventy years?"

So the LORD spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who talked with me. Then the angel who was speaking to me said, "Proclaim this word: This is what the LORD Almighty says: 

`I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion, but I am very angry with the nations that feel secure. I was only a little angry, but they added to the calamity.'

The angel asks God how long the towns of Judah will be empty and abandoned. The seventy years of Jeremiah's prophecy (see Jeremiah 25:8-14) are about up.

Zechariah 1:16-17, I will return with mercy
"Therefore, this is what the LORD says: 

`I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be rebuilt. And the measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem,' declares the LORD Almighty.

"Proclaim further: This is what the LORD Almighty says: 

`My towns will again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.'"

God will turn to Jerusalem and grant her mercy and have His house rebuilt there. A measuring line represents plans to build. (But the rebuilding of Jerusalem, including the completion of the walls will take  another eighty years, completed about 440 BC in the time of Nehemiah.) With YHWH's future protection, prosperity will return to Judah.

Zechariah 1:18-21, Four horns

Then I looked up--and there before me were four horns! I asked the angel who was speaking to me, "What are these?" 

He answered me, "These are the horns that scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem."

Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen.

I asked, "What are these coming to do?" 

He answered, "These are the horns that scattered Judah so that no one could raise his head, but the craftsmen have come to terrify them and throw down these horns of the nations who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter its people."

The horses have been now replaced by four horns. These horns represent kingdoms that have scattered the people of Israel. (Horns, representing kingdoms, play an important role in the visions of Daniel, see chapters 7 and 8 and especially 8:8.) The horns are followed by four craftsmen who will defeat the four horns. 

First published December 10, 2025; updated December 10, 2025

Haggai 2, Make It Holy

In two previous messages, the prophet Haggai has instructed governor Zerubbabel and high priest Joshua on the need to rebuild the temple. The people have responded with enthusiasm. A third message arrives a month later.

Haggai 2:1-3, Compared to former glory

On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: 

"Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them,`Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing?  

The third message to Haggai comes about a month and a half after the first message. The people have been working together on the temple for about a month. 

There may be some still alive who remember the first temple, destroyed about seventy years before. If so, they recall from their childhood the grandeur of Solomon's temple. To these elderly Jews -- Haggai might be one of them -- the simplicity of the new temple, now under construction, is sad and discouraging.

The seventh month would have been a month of many festivals (Baldwin, p. 46.) Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths) would have begun on the 15th day of the seventh month and then would have continued for 7 days, ending on the twenty-first day. As that feast celebrates the tent-living of the Exodus, it is an appropriate festival for God to speak through Haggai about rebuilding the Temple/Tabernacle.

Haggai 2:4-5, "Be strong"   

But now be strong, O Zerubbabel,' 

declares the LORD. `

Be strong, O Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,' 

declares the LORD,

`and work. For I am with you,' 

declares the LORD Almighty.  

`This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.' 

Just as YHWH brought Israel out of Egypt and had them build the first temple, so now they are to continue with a new one. They, like Joshua long before them (Joshua 1:6), are to be strong and do the required work.

Haggai 2:6-7, Shake the earth

"This is what the LORD Almighty says: 

`In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,' 

says the LORD Almighty.  

A time will come, "soon", in which YHWH's power will be revealed to all the nations. The Masoretic Text and the Septuagint differ slightly on the phase "the desired of all nations." Is the "desired" a prosperity of nations? Or is it a desired individual, the Desired Messiah? In the New Testament, Hebrews 12:25-29 certainly views this passage as messianic, quoting verse 6. 

Isaiah speaks of a new temple drawing all people to it (Isaiah 2:2-3) as does Micah (Micah 4:1-2.)

Haggai 2:8-9, Glory to come

`The silver is mine and the gold is mine,' 

declares the LORD Almighty.  

`The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,' 

says the LORD Almighty. 

`And in this place I will grant peace,' 

declares the LORD Almighty."  

In this future day, the new temple will have a glory greater than the old. It will be a time of peace (Hebrew, shalom), centered on Jeru-shalom, the city of peace. For many readers, this is a messianic statement, as this second temple will someday host the Messiah.

Haggai 2:10-14, Defilement

On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Haggai:  

"This is what the LORD Almighty says: `Ask the priests what the law says:  If a person carries consecrated meat in the fold of his garment, and that fold touches some bread or stew, some wine, oil or other food, does it become consecrated?'" 

The priests answered, "No."  

Then Haggai said, "If a person defiled by contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled?" 

"Yes," the priests replied, "it becomes defiled."  

Then Haggai said, 

"`So it is with this people and this nation in my sight,' 

declares the LORD. 

`Whatever they do and whatever they offer there is defiled.  

Haggai gives two cryptic questions to the priests. The questions focus on holiness and defilement. In the first case, holiness (or consecration) is apparently not transmitted to objects that it touches; it is not contagious (says Alden, p. 588.) But defilement is contagious; a defiled object can defile other things. (See Leviticus 22:4-6.) This is true, says Haggai, of the people. If they are defiled, then they defile what they touch. 

Haggai 2:15-19, "Give careful thought"

"`Now give careful thought to this from this day on --consider how things were before one stone was laid on another in the LORD's temple. When anyone came to a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten. When anyone went to a wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were only twenty. I struck all the work of your hands with blight, mildew and hail, yet you did not turn to me,' 

declares the LORD. 

`From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the LORD's temple was laid. Give careful thought: Is there yet any seed left in the barn? Until now, the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree have not borne fruit.

 

"`From this day on I will bless you.'"  

The people are to think carefully about their own defilement of the future temple and kingdom. They have been experiencing poverty: where they expect twenty measures of seed they only have ten; where they expect fifty measures of wine, they only have twenty. (Amos gave similar warnings: Amos 4:9.) The future prosperity of the people will turn on their commitment to God and His temple.

It is possible that the ruins of the temple still had foundations and stone walls. A description of the destruction 68 years before is given in 2 Kings 25:8-17.

The final verses of the book of Haggai shift to a future event.

Haggai 2:20-23, Signet ring

The word of the LORD came to Haggai a second time on the twenty-fourth day of the month: 

"Tell Zerubbabel governor of Judah that I will shake the heavens and the earth.  I will overturn royal thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms. I will overthrow chariots and their drivers; horses and their riders will fall, each by the sword of his brother.  

"`On that day,' 

declares the LORD Almighty, 

`I will take you, my servant Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel,' declares the LORD, `and I will make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you,' declares the LORD Almighty."      

     
In that future, when YHWH overthrows all the kingdoms, Zerubbabel will be treated as a special signet ring of YHWH! In this strange passage, Zerubbabel becomes a messianic symbol. Is the "signet ring" a future descendant of Zerubbabel? (The early Christian church seemed to have believed this -- see the lineage of Yeshua/Jesus in Matthew 1:12.) 

This story, says the Bible Project, is continued in Zechariah and Malachi. Indeed, the first prophecy of Zechariah (next blogpost) occurs a month after the visions of Haggai above.

First published December 9, 2025; updated December 9, 2025

Haggai 1, Rebuild the Temple!

Haggai is a prophet in Jerusalem at the end of the Babylonian exile. The date is 520 BC.

Haggai 1:1-2, "The people say..."

In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest: This is what the LORD Almighty says: 

"These people say, `The time has not yet come for the LORD's house to be built.'"  

Darius the Great ruled the Persian/Babylonian Empire from 522 to 486 BC. Alden and Baldwin give the date of this prophecy as late August, 520 BC. The people who have returned to Palestine give excuses for not restoring the temple. "But who are they to speak?" asks YHWH.

Zerubbabel is governor of Judah. He is in David's lineage (see 1 Chronicles 3, especially verse 19, and Matthew 1:12.) Joshua/Jeshua is high priest. These two leaders will play an important role, with Haggai, in rebuilding the temple. This reconstruction begins in Ezra 3 and is the theme of the book of Ezra. (See especially Ezra 5:1-2 for Ezra's mention of these three men.)

Haggai 1:3-6, The temple remains a ruin

Then the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: 

"Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?" 

Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: 

"Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it."  

It is indeed time for the temple to be rebuilt! The people have been happy to build nice houses but have ignored the temple. Haggai says that the lack of good crops and water are because the people have procrastinated in doing their duties to God.

Haggai's warning recalls the blessings and curses promised in Deuteronomy 28. The cursed ground is described in five pairs of parallel contrasts:

    "plant much but harvest little,

    eat but not enough,

    drink but not be satisfied

    dress in clothes but not be warm,

    earn wages but purse has holes,"

Haggai 1:7-9, "Bring down timber"

This is what the LORD Almighty says: 

"Give careful thought to your ways.  Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,"

says the LORD.  

"You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?"

declares the LORD Almighty.

"Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house.  

Both verses 5 and 7 begin with the instruction, "Give careful thought to your ways." The apathy of people are being challenged. Haggai then gives the main message of his prophecy -- the people are to go into the mountains to find good timber for God's house and rebuild it!

Haggai 1:10-11, Drought

Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the oil and whatever the ground produces, on men and cattle, and on the labor of your hands."  

God has alerted the people to the urgency of this need by withholding rain and dew. Like verse 6, the withheld abundance comes in pairs: 

    "field and mountains, 

    grain and new wine, 

    oil and what the ground produces, 

    men and cattle."

The pairs are broken at the end by a single summary line, "the labor of of your hands."

Baldwin sees wordplay in the use of ḥō·reḇ for "drought" and ḥā·rêḇ for "ruin" (of the temple); the consequence of ḥā·rêḇ is ḥō·reḇ.

Haggai 1:12, Obedience

Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD.  

Zerubbabel and Joshua respond in obedience. The people follow.

Haggai 1:13-15, Haggai speaks, Zerubbabel responds

Then Haggai, the LORD's messenger, gave this message of the LORD to the people: 

"I am with you," 

declares the LORD.  

So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the LORD Almighty, their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of King Darius.     

     
As the people respond, Haggai has one more message: God is with them. The entire community responds in enthusiasm, an enthusiasm "stirred up" by YHWH. They begin work on the temple three weeks after Haggai receives the first message from God.

Often the term "messenger" (Hebrew malak, Greek Septuagint angelos) is used to indicate a supernatural being. But here the word is used to describe Haggai; this passage is one of many in which that word is used for a human messenger.

First published December 8, 2025; updated December 8, 2025

Rebuild Now!, An Introduction to Haggai

Most of the minor prophets in the Old Testament spoke prior to the Babylonian captivity. But the last three prophets, those at the very end of the Old Testament, occurred after the exile, when the people of Israel have returned to Judah and are rebuilding the temple and the city. Haggai and Zechariah began their prophecies about 520 BC, as the temple was being rebuilt. (Haggai and Zechariah are explicitly mentioned in Ezra 5:1-2.) Malachi, the last Old Testament prophet, probably spoke around 460 BC, when Ezra and then Nehemiah were active.

Haggai's prophecy begins in the second year of King Darius, about 520 BC. He has one agenda -- the temple must be rebuilt! A theme verse might be 1:8:

Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord. 

For those reading the book much later, the message emphasizes putting God first, before other material needs.

Other important verses are 1:14:

So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God,

and 2:6-7:

This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty.

Little is known about Haggai. His name translates as "my feast", and so he may have been born on a feast day. The Septuagint gives him as author of Psalm 138 and Psalms 146-9. He may have been a priest, but commentators debate that. It is suspected that Haggai was elderly when he made his prophecies. Some read into 2:3 the suggestion that Haggai saw the original temple seventy years before. Whether or not this verse records Haggai's memories of Solomon's temple, Haggai does not appear again in history after the end of his prophecy in December 520 BC. But his prophetic voice is past on to a younger man, Zechariah, in the book immediately following the book of Haggai.

According to Joyce Baldwin (p. 32), much of the book of Haggai is found in the ancient Scroll of the Twelve from the caves of Murabba'at.

Outline

The short book of Haggai falls into four parts. 

• Haggai 1, Build now!
• Haggai 2:1-9, Encouragment for the longterm
• Haggai 2:10-19, Blessing
• Haggai 2:20-23, The Future Day

Each part is preceeded by a date. We know enough about the reign of Darius that we can translate those dates into the modern Julian calendar with a possible error of no more than a single day (says Baldwin.)

Resources and References

For the book of Haggai I have relied on the following resources:

• a commentary by Robert L. Alden in the seventh volume of the Expositor's Bible Commentary, Zondervan 1985.
• a commentary by Joyce Baldwin in Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi: An Introduction & Commentary (The Tyndale Old Testament Commentary Series) 1981.
• a commentary by J. Alec Motyer in The Minor Prophets: A Commentary on Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, edited by Thomas Edward McComiskey, 2018. 

If I refer to Alden, Baldwin or Motyer in the notes, it is in reference to the commentaries above. 

There are additional resources. The following are online.

• Amongst the online commentaries provided by EasyEnglishBible, is an online commentary on Haggai.
• The Gospel Coalition now has a set of online commentaries. Their commentary on Haggai is here.
• The Bible Project videos are always excellent. I recommend their video on Haggai.

I place hyperlinks in pink, created so that one can click on a link and see the linked site open in another window... and go down a rabbit hole if they wish!

Like most Old Testament writings, there is considerable wordplay. There is alliteration, punning, chiasmi, and so on. I do not know Hebrew and so I lean on the commentators to alert me to some of these.

Abbreviations

Anyone serious about study in the Old Testament must become aware of the ancient Near Eastern culture in which these works were written. If I discuss that culture in a blogpost, I will often fall back on the abbreviation ANE for "ancient Near East."