📖 Biblical Definition
Haggai was a post-exilic prophet active in 520 BC alongside Zechariah. His brief two-chapter book contains four dated oracles delivered between August (1 Elul) and December (24 Chislev) of 520 to rouse the returned exiles to finish rebuilding the temple they had begun in 538 BC and then neglected for sixteen years while building their own paneled houses. "Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? ... Consider your ways" (Haggai 1:4-5). The people responded; the work resumed; the second temple was completed in 516 BC. Haggai promised: "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former" (2:9) — fulfilled when Christ Himself entered it.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
520 BC post-exilic prophet who roused the temple-rebuild.
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Post-exilic prophet active in 520 BC, contemporary of Zechariah. His brief two-chapter book contains four dated oracles delivered between August and December 520 to rouse the returned exiles to finish rebuilding the second temple they had been neglecting for sixteen years. Famous "consider your ways" twice in chapter 1; the diagnostic of agricultural and economic frustration tied to the neglected temple-work; and the eschatological promise that "the glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former" (2:9) — ultimately fulfilled when Christ Himself entered it.
📖 Key Scripture
Haggai 1:4-5 — "Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways."
Haggai 2:9 — "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts."
Haggai 2:23 — "In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the LORD, and will make thee as a signet."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Often skipped as obscure; the priority-realignment lesson and the "latter-house glory" prophecy are essential.
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Haggai's lesson is sharply applicable: the returned exiles were busy with their own paneled houses while God's house lay neglected, and their prosperity was leaking. The diagnostic still works: when life is leaking, consider your ways — especially the priority of God's house in your time and energy.
Recover the prophecy: the latter house was greater because Christ walked in it. The prophecy was fulfilled centuries later when the prophet was long dead. God keeps His word across centuries.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Hebrew Chaggai.
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['Hebrew', 'H2292', 'Chaggai', 'Haggai, festal']
Usage
"Consider your ways."
"Latter house's glory greater than former."
"Priority-realignment when life is leaking."