AGGEUS (Hebrew Haggaj "Solemn"; Septuagint 'Αγγαῖος). - Prophet, tenth in the series of the "minor" prophets, the first among those after the exile. He is identical with the prophet of Ezra 5:1; 6:14. His brief activity, all of it taking place in 520 B.C., concerns the rebuilding of the Temple after the return from Babylon. H. delivered on this subject four oracles, transmitted in the two chapters of his book (1:2-11; 2:4-10; 2:12-20 and 22-24). Once a systematic resettlement of the families had taken place in the first six months, thought was given to the place of worship: the altar was restored on the spot where it had stood before the destruction (Ezra 3:2), then the foundations of the Temple were laid (Ezra 3:7 ff.). But because of various difficulties (Ezra 4) the work was soon abandoned, nor did there seem any prospect of resuming it. To shake souls out of their inertia, to revive the work and sustain its continuation was H.'s mission.
He rose to speak in the presence of the governor Zerubbabel and the high priest Joshua on the first day of the sixth month of the second year of Darius I (29 Aug. 520 B.C.), reproaching them for their neglect of the house of Yahweh in contrast with the care with which private dwellings had instead been rebuilt; a wretched harvest will be the punishment of such negligence (ch. 1). The prophet's message, perhaps supported by aid from new repatriates, was heeded and the work resumed from its beginnings (1:14), since of the little that had been done no trace was to remain (which would explain H.'s silence about the work done earlier, mentioned by Ezra). Applauding them (1:13), H. rekindled their enthusiasm with the address of the 21st of the seventh month (10 Oct.): the humble Temple risen again will surpass the glory of the first, because, once the Messiah has come, peace will be there (2:1-10). The third oracle (2:11-20) of the 24th of the ninth month (18 Dec.) promises that only the completion of the Temple will give true purity (cf. Lev. 6:27 ff.; Num. 19:22). Meanwhile to H.'s word was added that of the prophet Zechariah (v.).
The book is an important source for the post-exilic history of the small Jewish community, which struggled amid countless internal and external difficulties. The country, barren in its abandonment, was afflicted by drought (1:9 ff.; 2:17); trade was slow to get going, famine raged (1:6). Once the work had resumed, and dismay had crept into the minds of the Yahwists at the thought of the inferiority of the new building compared with the old, H. foretells salvation in the messianic advent: the nations will stream to the Temple in the universal divine Kingdom (2:7-10; v. 7 f. is cited and interpreted in Heb. 12:26-28).
The exegesis of the well-known messianic passage (2:8) is difficult, also because the Vulgate (et veniet desideratus cunctis gentibus) is not in agreement with the Hebrew text and with the ancient Greek and Syriac versions (Cf. A. Škrinjar, in Verbum Domini, 15 [1935], pp. 356-62; J. Knabenbauer, Comm. in Proph. Minores, II, 2nd ed., Paris 1924, pp. 183-99; J. Corluy, Spicilegium dogmatico-biblicum, I, Ghent 1884, pp. 515-24). A messianic sense (perhaps typical) is attributed also to the concluding prophecy about the election of Zerubbabel as a "sign" amid the ruin of the nations (2:22-24; cf. Knabenbauer, op. cit., p. 206 f.).
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Giovanni Rinaldi