Haggai: Introduction-Authorship and Recipients

Although the prophet Haggai is not identified as the author of the book which bears his name, unanimous tradition assigns it to him.

Both Jewish and Christian interpreters assign the prophet Haggai as the author of this book.

Furthermore, this is not an unreasonable conclusion since the contents of the book provide evidence that this is the case.

It is only the last century that the authenticity of particular parts of the book of Haggai have been seriously questioned by scholars.

G. A. Smith, writing in 1898, could say, “The authenticity of all these four sections [of Haggai] was doubted by no one, till ten years ago” (The Book of the Twelve Prophets Commonly Called the Minor, 2d ed., EBC (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1898), 2:226.[1]

The life and ministry of Haggai are a mystery since the Scriptures do not identify his parentage or genealogy.

In fact, there are only two reference to him outside of his own book (cf. Ezra 5:1; 6:14).

He is also alluded to in Zechariah 8:9.

This sets him apart from most of the prophets of Israel since most provide in their prophecies a personal genealogy or geographical origin or royal contemporaries (Isa 1:1; Jer 1:1–3; Ezek 1:1–3; Hos 1:1; Joel 1:1; Amos 1:1; Jonah 1:1; Mic 1:1; Nah 1:1; Zeph 1:1; Zech 1:1.).

Thus, the book of Haggai is similar to the books of Obadiah, Habakkuk and Malachi.

We also have no idea of when and where he died.

It would appear that he was not exiled to Babylon or was born during this captivity since his name is not provided in the list of returnees found in Ezra 2.

However, this is not itself sufficient ground for making this conclusion.

Haggai’s name means “festive” or “festal,” which derived from the Hebrew word ḥāḡ (“a festival”).

Some scholars believe the name means “my feast,” while others the ending as being Aramaic.

There are those who believe the name is an abbreviation of the name “Haggiah,” which means “Yahweh’s feast.”

Still others contend that the name indicates that the prophet was born on a feast day.

There are at least nine individuals in the Old Testament who are attested who are attested on seals with this name.

Haggai himself and the prophet Ezra simply refer to him as “the prophet Haggai” (Hag. 1:1; Ezra 5:1; 6:14).

However, he is the first prophet to be used by the God of Israel to address the postexilic Judean community.

The contents of Haggai also identify the specific dates of each of his four messages to this community, namely 520 B.C. during the second year of the reign of Darius I.

Ezra also asserts that Haggai was joined by the prophet Zechariah (cf. Ezra 5:1-2; 6:14).

The prophet was unique among the prophets of Israel in that his words were listened and obeyed.

The remnant of Israel immediately obeyed what he exhorted them to do in rebuilding the temple.

The book of Haggai is one of the “Minor Prophets,” which are called the Book of the Twelve in the Hebrew Bible.

Haggai is the tenth book in the Masoretic ordering of the Twelve or Minor Prophets.

These twelve books cover a period of approximately three hundred years, from 760 B.C. to approximately 450 B.C., ending with Malachi.

Except for the book of Jonah, these books all identify the author in a heading.

They are arranged in the biblical canon chronologically with the exception of Joel and Obadiah.

Hosea, Amos, Jonah and Micah were written in the eighth century B.C.

Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah were penned in the seventh century B.C.

Joel, Obadiah, Haggai and Zechariah were composed in the sixth century B.C. while Malachi was written in the fifth century B.C.

In the Hebrew Bible, the Minor Prophets were treated as a unity.

Though they share similar themes, each are distinct literary units with distinct messages.

These twelve books are called “minor” not because they are less important in inspiration and reliability than the “major” prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel, but rather mainly because they are short in length in comparison to the latter books.

In fact, as we noted Haggai is the second shortest book in the Old Testament with Obadiah being the shortest.

The Old Testament was divided into three sections: (1) The Torah (2) The Prophets (Nabhiim) (3) The Writings (Kethubim).

The first section is called the Torah meaning “the Law” contained: (1) Genesis (2) Exodus (3) Leviticus (4) Numbers (5) Deuteronomy.

The second section was the Prophets which were divided into two sections: (1) The Former Prophets (2) The Latter Prophets.

The Former Prophets: (1) Joshua (2) Judges (3) Samuel (4) Kings.

The Latter Prophets were divided into two categories: (1) Major (2) Minor.

Major Prophets: (1) Isaiah (2) Jeremiah (3) Ezekiel.

The Minor Prophets were also called the Twelve because they were all contained one book: (1) Hosea (2) Joel (3) Amos (4) Obadiah (5) Jonah (6) Micah (7) Nahum (8) Habakkuk (9) Zephaniah (10) Haggai (11) Zechariah (12) Malachi.

The third and last section was called the Writings: (1) The Poetical Books: Psalms, Proverbs and Job (2) The Five Rolls (Megilloth): Song of Solomon, Ruth, Ecclesiastes, Esther and Lamentations (3) The Historical Books: Daniel, Ezra and Nehemiah (1 book) and Chronicles.

As we noted, the first and second messages were addressed to Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah and Joshua the high priest.

The third message delivered by Haggai to the priests of the Law and the fourth and final message was delivered to Zerubbabel only.

Zerubbabel was the governor of Judah following the Babylonian exile.

He is identified as a descendant of king David (Hag. 1:1) and grandson of King Jehoiachin and is listed in the genealogies of Jesus found in Matthew and Luke (Matt. 1:12-13; Luke 3:27).

He is named in Ezra 2:2 as one of the leaders of the Jewish remnant returning from Babylon. Joshua the high priest was taken into exile by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C.

He then returned to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel in approximately 537 B.C.

The descendants of his family also returned (Ezra 2:36; cf. 2:40).

Together, Zerubbabel and Joshua the high priest led the remnant of Judah in rebuilding the altar and restoring sacrifices in Jerusalem (Ezra 3:2-6).

They also began building the temple but quit when they were faced with strong opposition.

They appealed to King Artaxerxes (Ezra 3:8-4:24).

They later corresponded with King Darius in order to recover Cyrus’ proclamation authorizing the rebuilding of the temple.

This was after Joshua followed the instructions of Zechariah and Haggai.

They finally renewed efforts to rebuild the temple (Ezra 5:2-6:15; Hag. 1:1, 12-14; 2:4).

They completed the task in 515 B.C.

EBC Expositor’s Bible Commentary

[1] Taylor, R. A., & Clendenen, E. R. (2004). Haggai, Malachi (Vol. 21A). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.