The people are reproved for neglecting to build the temple. They are encouraged to set about the work.
The Iewes building to themselues excellent houses, are iustly reprehended for not building the Temple of God. 10. VVhich is the cause of the barrennes sicknes, and other euils. 12. VVherupon they vndertake the holie worke.
1In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Aggeus the prophet, to Zorobabel the son of Salathiel, governor of Juda, and to Jesus the son of Josedec the high priest, saying:L'anno secondo del re Dario, il sesto mese, il dì primo del mese, il Signore parlò per mezzo di Aggeo profeta a Zorobabele figliuolo di Salathiel principe di Giuda, e a Gesù Figliuolo di Josedec sommo sacerdote, ed egli disse:IN THE second yeare of Darius the king, the sixth moneth, in the first day of the moneth: the word of our Lord was made in the hand of Aggeus the prophet, to Zorobabel the sōne of Salathiel, duke of Iuda, & to b Iesus the sonne of Iosedec the grandpriest saingIn anno secundo Darii regis, in mense sexto, in die una mensis, factum est verbum Domini in manu Aggæi prophetæ, ad Zorobabel, filium Salathiel, ducem Juda, et ad Jesum, filium Josedec, sacerdotem magnum, dicens: 2Thus saith the Lord of hosts, saying: This people saith: The time is not yet come for building the house of the Lord.Queste cose dice il Signore degli eserciti: Questo popolo dice: Non è ancor venuto il tempo di rifabbricare la casa del Signore.Thus sayth the Lord of hostes, saying: This people sayth: The time is not yet come of building the house of our Lord.Hæc ait Dominus exercituum, dicens: Populus iste dicit: Nondum venit tempus domus Domini ædificandæ. 3And the word of the Lord came by the hand of Aggeus the prophet, saying:Ma il Signore ha parlato ad Aggeo profeta, ed ha detto:And the word of our Lord was made in the hand of Aggeus the prophete, saying:Et factum est verbum Domini in manu Aggæi prophetæ, dicens: 4Is it time for you to dwell in ceiled houses, and this house lie desolate?È egli adunque tempo per voi di abitare in case di belle soffitte, e questa casa è deserta?Why is it time for you to dwel in embowed houses, and this house desert?Numquid tempus vobis est ut habitetis in domibus laqueatis, / et domus ista deserta ? 5And now thus saith the Lord of hosts: Set your hearts to consider your ways.Ora adunque così dite il Signore degli eserciti: Applicatevi col vostro cuore a riflettere sopra i vostri andamenti.And now thus sayth the Lord of hostes? Set your hartes vpon your wayes.Et nunc hæc dicit Dominus exercituum: / Ponite corda vestra super vias vestras. 6You have sowed much, and brought in little: you have eaten, but have not had enough: you have drunk, but have not been filled with drink: you have clothed yourselves, but have not been warmed: and he that hath earned wages, put them into a bag with holes.Voi avete seminato molto, e fatta tenue raccolta: avete mangiato, e non vi siete saziati: avete bevuto, e non vi siete esilarati: vi siete coperti, e non vi siete riscaldati: e colui, che ragunava i suoi salari gli ha messi in una tasca rotta.You haue sowed much, and brought in litle: you haue eaten, and haue not bene filled: you haue drunke, and haue not bene inebriated: you haue couered your selues, & haue not bene warmed: and he that hath gathered the wages, put them into a broken bag.Seminastis multum, et intulistis parum; / comedistis, et non estis satiati; / bibistis, et non estis inebriati; / operuistis vos, et non estis calefacti; / et qui mercedes congregavit, misit eas in sacculum pertusum.
7Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Set your hearts upon your ways:Così dice il Signore degli eserciti: Applicatevi col vostro cuore a riflettere sopra i vostri andamenti.Thus sayth the Lord of hosts: Set your harts vpon your wayes:Hæc dicit Dominus exercituum: / Ponite corda vestra super vias vestras; 8Go up to the mountain, bring timber, and build the house: and it shall be acceptable to me, and I shall be glorified, saith the Lord.Salite al monte, preparate i legnami, e rifabbricate la casa, e in essa io mi compiacerò, e sarò glorificato, dice il Signore.go vp into the mountayne, carie timber, and build the house: and it shal be acceptable to me, and I shal be glorified, sayth our Lord.ascendite in montem, portate ligna, et ædificate domum: / et acceptabilis mihi erit, et glorificabor, dicit Dominus. 9You have looked for more, and behold it became less, and you brought it home, and I blowed it away: why, saith the Lord of hosts? because my house is desolate, and you make haste every man to his own house.Voi speravate il più, ed evvi toccato il meno; e lo portaste a casa, e io lo feci sparir con un soffio: e per qual ragione, dice il Signor degli eserciti? Perchè la mia casa è deserta, e ciascuno i voi ha avuto gran fretta per la casa propria.You haue looked for more, and behold it became lesse, and you brought it into the house, and I puft at it: for what cause sayth the Lord of hosts? because my house is desert, and you hasten euerie man into his owne house.Respexistis ad amplius, et ecce factum est minus; / et intulistis in domum, et exsufflavi illud: / quam ob causam ? dicit Dominus exercituum: / quia domus mea deserta est, / et vos festinatis unusquisque in domum suam. 10Therefore the heavens over you were stayed from giving dew, and the earth was hindered from yielding her fruits:Per questo fu proibito a' cieli di darvi rugiada, e fu proibito alla terra di produrre i suoi frutti.For this cause were the heauens stayed ouer you that they gaue no dew, and the earth was prohibited that it yelded not her spring:Propter hoc super vos prohibiti sunt cæli ne darent rorem, / et terra prohibita est ne daret germen suum: 11And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the wine, and upon the oil, and upon all that the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon beasts, and upon all the labour of the hands.E mandai l'asciuttore sopra la terra, e sui monti, e a' danni del grano, e del vino, e dell'olio, e di tutti i prodotti delle campagne, e degli uomini, e de' bestiami, e di tutti i lavori manuali.and I called a drought vpon the earth, & vpon the mountaines, and vpon the wheate, and vpon the wine, and vpon the oile, and what thinges soeuer the ground brought forth, & vpon men, & vpon beastes, & vpon al the labour of the handes.et vocavi siccitatem super terram, et super montes, / et super triticum, et super vinum, et super oleum, / et quæcumque profert humus, / et super homines, et super jumenta, / et super omnem laborem manuum.
12Then Zorobabel the son of Salathiel, and Jesus the son of Josedec the high priest, and all the remnant of the people hearkened to the voice of the Lord their God, and to the words of Aggeus the prophet, as the Lord their God sent him to them: and the people feared before the Lord.E Zorobabel figliuolo di Salathiel, e Gesù figliuolo di Josedec sommo sacerdote, e tutte le reliquie del popolo udiron la voce del Signore Dio loro, e le parole di Aggeo profeta mandato ad essi dal Signore Dio loro: e il popolo temè il Signore.And Zorobabel the sonne of Salathiel, and Iesus the sonne of Iosedec the high priest, & al the remnant of the people heard the voice of their God, & the wordes of Aggeus the prophet, as our Lord their God sent him to them: & the people feared at the face of our Lord.Et audivit Zorobabel, filius Salathiel, et Jesus, filius Josedec, sacerdos magnus, et omnes reliquiæ populi, vocem Domini Dei sui, et verba Aggæi prophetæ, sicut misit eum Dominus Deus eorum ad eos, et timuit populus a facie Domini. 13And Aggeus the messenger of the Lord, as one of the messengers of the Lord, spoke, saying to the people: I am with you, saith the Lord.E Aggeo, uno dei nunzi del Signore, disse al popolo: Il Signore ha detto: Io sono con voi.And Aggeus the messenger of our Lord, of the messengers of our Lord spake, saying to the people: I am with you, sayth our Lord.Et dixit Aggæus, nuntius Domini de nuntiis Domini, populo dicens: Ego vobiscum sum, dicit Dominus. 14And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zorobabel the son of Salathiel governor of Juda, and the spirit of Jesus the son of Josedec the high priest, and the spirit of all the rest of the people: and they went in, and did the work in the house of the Lord of Hosts their God.E il Signore avvivò lo spirito di Zorobabel figliuolo di Salathiel principe di Giuda, e lo spirito di Gesù figliuolo di Josedec sommo sacerdote, e lo spirito di tutto il rimanente del popolo, e andarono, e lavoravano attorno alla casa del Signor degli eserciti Dio loro.And our Lord raysed vp the spirit of Zorobabel the sonne of Salathiel duke of Iuda, and the spirit of Iesus the sonne of Iosedec the grandpriest, and the spirit of the rest of al the people: and they went in, and did the worke in the house of the Lord of hostes their God.Et suscitavit Dominus spiritum Zorobabel, filii Salathiel, ducis Juda, et spiritum Jesu, filii Josedec, sacerdotis magni, et spiritum reliquorum de omni populo: et ingressi sunt, et faciebant opus in domo Domini exercituum, Dei sui.
1:1
Year of the World 3485, Year before Christ 519.
Theodoret
When the Jews had no king, the prophets dated from the reign of the monarch on whom they were dependent. (Theodoret)
Calmet
Sixth; Elul, the last of the civil year, corresponding with our September. The harvest had been bad, and Aggeus assigns the reason. (Calmet)
Haydock
Governor. Literally, "duke," or captain. Septuagint, "of the tribe of Juda." (Haydock)
Worthington
He descended from the kings of Juda, and was now chief governor by leave of Darius. (Worthington)
Calmet
Yet Cyrus had appointed Sarasar, (1 Esdras 1:8.) who perhaps, after the death of Cambyses, fled; as Zorobabel and Jesus are designated judges, and a crown is made for them, Aggeus 2:24., Zacharias iii., and 6:11. Still Thartanai, governor beyond the Euphrates, took cognizance of the Jewish affairs, 1 Esdras 5:3. The prince of Juda was therefore under him. Zorobabel was son or grandson of Salathiel, (1 Paralipomenon 3:17.) or was adopted by him, being born of Phadaia. (Calmet)
Josedec, who was led into captivity, 1 Paralipomenon 6:15.
1:2
Worthington
Yet come. God's service must be restored without delay, and manners reformed; as otherwise many will be lost eternally. (Worthington)
Calmet
The Jews refrained from commencing the temple till the time marked out by Jeremias 25:11., and Zacharias 1:7. (Calmet)
Usher
From the beginning of the last siege sixty-nine years had elapsed. (Usher, year of the world 3485.)
Others, reflecting on the obstacles placed by Cyrus and Cambyses, thought it was not yet time to work at the temple: but these were only pretexts. The kingdom was now held by another family, and the former decrees abolished. Fear of labour, therefore, was the only impediment.
1:4
Calmet
Ceiled: superbly adorned. Hebrew, "covered." You are not content with what is merely necessary, while the temple lies in ruins. (Calmet)
1:5
Haydock
Ways. Sound the real motives of your neglect. (Haydock)
Calmet
See if your misfortunes do not originate in this cause, and if God does not require you to build the temple, ver. 9. (Calmet)
1:6
St. Jerome
Filled. Literally, "inebriated," (Haydock) so as to become cheerful. (St. Jerome)
1:8
Calmet
The mountain Libanus. Wood had been purchased before, but had been used for other purposes, 1 Esdras 3:7. Now the people went to procure more. The following year Darius confirmed the decree of Cyrus, which was a change plainly effected by Providence. (Calmet)
1:11
St. Jerome
Drought. Hebrew choreb, (Haydock) is rendered the sword, by the Septuagint and may best signify "a burning wind," according to the different pronunciation. (St. Jerome)
Haydock
This was not then determined by the vowel points (Calmet) of the Masora, Sophonias 2:14. (Haydock)
1:13
Calmet
Messenger. To excite the people's attention, Aggeus declares that he is sent by God, (Worthington) like the prophets of old. Some Jews have asserted (Calmet) that he, Malachias, [John] the Baptist, and Jacob, were angels incarnate. But let us leave (St. Jerome) these learned dreams. (Calmet)
Haydock
They have no better foundation than the ambiguity of malac, which signifies "an angel, or a messenger." (Haydock)
Menochius
With you. This is often repeated, to encourage the dejected people. (Menochius)
1:14
Haydock
Work. Septuagint, "works." (Haydock)
Menochius
They prepared materials, and began the temple on the 24th of the ninth month, Aggeus 2:16, 19. (Menochius)
1:1
Zorobabel descending directly from the kinges of Iuda was now duke, & chiefe temporal gouerner of the Iewes, by permission of Darius king of Persians.
1:2
It behooueth without delay to set forward restauration of Gods seruice, reductiō of soules from sinne, & amending of il maners: because by fores•owing therof Gods honour is hindered, and manie soules, do eternally perish.
1:5
In like sorte Iesus secceded in the office of high priest to Iosedec, vvho vvas caried vvith others captiue into Babylon 1 Par. 6. v. 15.
1:6
Concordance Deut. 28. Mich. •.
1:13
To incite the people to iust estimation of his preaching, the prophet auoucheth that he is a messenger, not coming of him self but sent by God.
1:1
Tertullian † AD 220 An Answer to the Jews 14
… In the next place, He was stripped of His former sordid raiment, and adorned with a garment down to the foot, and with a turban and a clean mitre, that is, (with the garb) of the second advent ; since He is demonstrated as having attained “glory and honour.” Nor will you be able to say that the man (there depicted) is “the son of Jozadak,”
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 40
… It is good for the hands to be consecrated, and the feet; the one that they may in every place be lifted up holy; and that they may lay hold of the discipline of Christ, lest the Lord at any time be angered; and that the Word may gain credence by action, as was the case with that which was given in the hand of a prophet;
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 45.6
6. I write this in haste, dear Lady Asella, as I go on board, overwhelmed with grief and tears; yet I thank my God that I am counted worthy of the world’s hatred. Pray for me that, after Babylon, I may see Jerusalem once more; that Joshua, the son of Josedech, may have dominion over me,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 23.1
1. Faustus said: On one occasion, when addressing a large audience, I was asked by one of the crowd, Do you believe that Jesus was born of Mary? I replied, Which Jesus do you mean? for in the Hebrew it is the name of several people. One was the son of Nun, the follower of Moses; another was the son of Josedech the high priest;
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 149.8
… For they had in their hands a sword; where they would they brandished it, handled it, smote with it: and all this was in the power of the preachers. For if the Word be not in their hands, why is it written, “The Word of the Lord was put in the hand of the Prophet Haggai”?
1:6
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 76.3
… Were they alive in you, you would never have sought my aid. No, they are dead within you, and you have begun to build up the ruins of Jerusalem with the help of Zerubbabel and of Joshua the son of Josedech the high priest, of Ezra and of Nehemiah. You do not put your wages into a bag with holes,
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 24.13
… For that will happen to them which is described by the prophet Haggai: “And he that gathereth riches, putteth them into a bag with holes.”
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 The Book of Pastoral Rule 3.21
… And yet for the most part people weigh well how much they give; but how much they seize they neglect to consider. They count, as it were, their wage, but refuse to consider their defaults. Let them hear therefore what is written, He that hath gathered wages hath put them into a bag with holes (
1:9
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 An Address to Demetrianus 6
… Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man to his own house, therefore the heavens shall be stayed from dew, and the earth shall withhold her fruits: and I will bring a sword upon the earth, and upon the corn, and upon the wine, and upon the oil, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labours of their hands.”
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 16.17
… Such is the wealth of the ungodly, such the harvest of the careless sower; as the ancient curse runs, to look for much, and bring in little,
1:12
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 3.21
… “And Zerubbabel the son of Salathiel, of the tribe of Judah, and Jesus the son of Josedech, the high priest, and all who remained of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, because the Lord sent him to them, and the people feared from the face of God.”
1:1
1. In the second year of Darius. — You will ask, who is this Darius? First, Philo the son of Annius, and those who followed him, Genebrardus and Gerard Mercator in their Chronology, and Cyril of Jerusalem in Catechesis 12, and Tertullian in his book Against the Jews, on the title Of the Passion of Christ, hold that this is Darius the Mede. But it is clear that this is false, both from other considerations and from the fact that Darius the Mede preceded Cyrus: for Cyrus succeeded him, as Daniel says in chapter V, 31. But Haggai prophesied after Cyrus and Cambyses, as is evident from I Esdras IV, 5 and 24, and chapter V, 1. For Cyrus granted the building of the temple, but Cambyses prohibited it. Whence after Cambyses, under Darius, Haggai was sent, who urged it again. Add that this Darius was not a Mede, but a king of the Persians; for thus he is called in I Esdras IV, 24. Second, Jansenius in his Harmony of the Gospels, chapter XIX, holds that this Darius is Artaxerxes Longimanus, the sixth king of the Persians. His reason is that the Jews, in John chapter II, 20, say that this temple was built in 46 years: but this cannot be verified unless we say that it was built under Cyrus (for it began under Cyrus) in 20 years, under Cambyses the same number, and 6 under Darius Longimanus. But this opinion confuses Darius with Artaxerxes: for the latter was called Longimanus, not the former, and Darius was the fourth king of the Persians; but Longimanus was the sixth. For Darius was succeeded by his son Xerxes, and Xerxes by Artaxerxes. Add that Cambyses did not reign for 20 years, but at most eight. Finally, Haggai, Zerubbabel and the others could not have lived until Longimanus, concerning which more will follow shortly. Third, Severus Sulpitius in book II of his History, and Scaliger in his Emendation of Times, hold that this Darius is Darius Nothos, who was the illegitimate son of Artaxerxes Longimanus, so that Artaxerxes who follows him in I Esdras, chapter VII, and who sent Ezra to Jerusalem, was he who was surnamed Mnemon, that is, the Mindful, from the excellence of his memory. For he succeeded Darius Nothos. But this is incredible. For thus Ezra would have been nearly two hundred years old, as Scaliger was forced to admit: Zerubbabel and Jesus, who under Cyrus brought the people back from Babylon to Jerusalem, would have been 140 years old, although in book III Esdras, chapter III, 4, Zerubbabel is called a young man, one of the keepers of Darius. Haggai would have been of the same age. Again, from this opinion it follows that none of those who saw the first temple of Solomon, which was destroyed by the Chaldeans 70 years before the release of captivity by Cyrus, could have seen the second built by Zerubbabel after the return from captivity under this Darius: yet the contrary is signified by Haggai chapter II, 4. That this follows is evident. For if you add to the 70 years of captivity three years of Cyrus, eight of Cambyses, 36 of Darius Hystaspes, twenty of Xerxes, forty of Artaxerxes, to whom this Darius Nothos succeeded, you will make up 177 years, which no one lived at that age. I say therefore that this Darius was Darius Hystaspes, who succeeded Assuero, or Artaxerxes, as Esdras has it, that is Cambyses, in the kingdom of the Persians, not as a son, but elected by the satraps through the neighing of a horse. Thus St. Jerome, Theodoret, Albert, Eusebius in his Chronicle, Josephus in book XI of his Antiquities IV, Clement of Alexandria in book I of his Stromata, and others everywhere. In the second year therefore of this Darius, at the command of Haggai, the Jews began to resume the building of the temple, and they completed it in the sixth year of the same, as Esdras says in book I, chapter VI, 14, namely as to the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. For the court, or outer part of the temple, and consequently the whole temple in all respects, was completed in the ninth year of the same, as Josephus expressly testifies in the place cited. Morally, note here that the heart of the king is in the hand of God, so that He may bend it whichever way He pleases, as He bent the heart of this Darius to love of the Jews and care of the temple, because the Jews, already afflicted and moved to compunction by 70 years of captivity, had returned to God and, penitent and suppliant, had invoked His aid, just as on the other hand He had once bent the heart of Nebuchadnezzar to their hatred and chastisement; because they themselves, turned away from Him, worshipped idols and lived impiously. Whence we learn that we must have recourse to God when we are oppressed by tyrants; again, we must beseech Him to establish wise, moderate, pious and just princes, or to make those already established such. For the Church depends on ecclesiastical princes, the commonwealth on secular ones. Many hold that this Darius was the husband of Esther, and therefore proved so benevolent to the Jews and provided expenses for the temple, concerning which in the book of Esther. Moreover, St. Jerome notes in the Prologue, R. David, Vatablus and others, that Haggai prophesied in the second year of Darius, and exhorted the Jews to restore the temple, because in this year the 70 years of the desolation of the temple were being completed, concerning which Zechariah cap. I, 12. For in the 18th year of Nebuchadnezzar, which was the eleventh of Zedekiah, the temple was burned and desolated by the Chaldeans: from that time until the 2nd year of Darius there elapsed 70 years, just as the 70 years of the captivity of the Jews in Babylon, which begin 11 years earlier, namely in the 7th year of Nebuchadnezzar, which was the eleventh and last of Jehoiakim, end in the first year of the monarchy of Cyrus. Wherefore the 70 years of the desolation of the temple, just as they begin 11 years after the 70 years of captivity, so also they end 11 years after the same. For add the three years of Cyrus, in which he reigned as it were as monarch after Babylon was captured and the captivity of the Jews was released, then 7 of Cambyses, then 2 of Darius, you will have 11 complete years, but 12 begun. But concerning this matter it must be disputed at Zechariah cap. I, 12. In the sixth month. — Note: The Hebrews had a twofold year, and therefore they numbered the months in two ways. The first year was sacred, which they used for feasts and sacred matters: hence Scripture uses it. This began at the vernal equinox, so that its first month was that whose new moon was nearest to the vernal equinox. For the Hebrews used lunar months, and consequently a lunar year, which is eleven days shorter than the solar year; which however every third year they equated to the solar year by intercalation, or the addition of one month, which the Romans and other nations used, so that they might conform themselves to them. The first month therefore of the sacred year was Nisan, which corresponded to the ancient Roman March, but now corresponds partly to our March, partly to April. For Nisan was the paschal month, in which namely they celebrated the Passover, in memory of the liberation and exodus from Egypt, which had occurred in that month of old; concerning which God therefore ordained thus Exod. cap. XII, 2: "This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first in the months of the year." See the things said there. The latter year was profane, or common, which they used for commerce and civil matters. This began at the autumnal equinox, so that its first month was that whose new moon was nearest to this equinox, which in Hebrew was called Ethanim, that is strong and mighty, namely in fruits and produce, in Chaldean Tisri, and corresponded to the ancient Roman September: but now it corresponds partly to our September, partly to October. Thus Josephus lib. I Antiq. cap. IV, Jerome in cap. I Ezech., and others. Now Lyra and Vatablus understand the sixth month here as of the common year, not the sacred, namely the month Nisan or March: for that is most suitable for beginning buildings, and continuing them until winter through many months. But I say the year is taken here as sacred, which begins from Nisan, and consequently the sixth month is Elul, which corresponds to the Roman Sextilis or August, and to the Christian partly August, partly September. Thus Josephus lib. I Antiquit., cap. IV, Remigius, Albert, Hugh and others, indeed St. Jerome, who asserts the sixth month was chosen for the building, not the seventh; because the seventh would be full of solemnities. For in Tisri, or in September, the feasts of Trumpets, Tabernacles, Expiation, etc., were celebrated, in which it was not permitted to work and build. That this is so is evident from the fact that Scripture uses the sacred year: hence Zechariah, contemporary and companion of Haggai, uses it, cap. I, 7; and cap. VII, 1: "In the fourth year, he says, of king Darius, in the fourth of the ninth month, which is Casleu." For Casleu is November. And Esdras cap. VI, 14, when he had narrated that the Jews obedient to Haggai built the temple, and completed it in the 6th year of Darius, on the 13th day, the month of Adar, that is February, soon adds vers. 19: "And they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month," as if to say, After the building of the temple was completed in February, soon in the following month they celebrated the Passover, namely in Nisan, or March, which was the first month of the sacred year, not the common. Moreover, Aggaeus himself indicates the same thing in chapter II, 19, saying: "Set your hearts from this day, and into the future, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month: from the day on which the foundations of the temple of the Lord were laid, etc. Is the seed yet in the bud?" Now seed in Palestine is accustomed to germinate in November. Therefore the ninth month is from Nisan, or March, which is accordingly the first month of the year, namely the sacred year, not the civil year. For although the building work in general was a profane and servile matter, here it was of a sacred thing, namely the temple: hence it is reckoned among sacred things in the computation of months. To answer the reasoning of Lyra, Aggaeus admonished and moved the Jews to the building of the temple in August, not in March; because in August is the time of harvest and fruits, when the Jews experienced their scarcity: hence then from the circumstances it was a time most fitting and opportune for Aggaeus to preach, and to assign the cause of this sterility, namely the neglect of the building of the temple, and thus to incite them to undertake it. Let the preacher do the same, so that when plague, disease, war, and other public calamities are inflicted by God, then he may strike the afflicted and stricken people more sharply, and incite them to penance, and to serious amendment of inveterate vices, by setting before them the slaughters and plagues which God sends on account of these things, and which they themselves feel greatly, and by showing that the only remedy to escape them is if they reconcile themselves to God and correct their ways. Furthermore, God appointed August for the building of the temple: because He appointed to finish it in the 4th year, namely the 6th year of Darius, in February, so that in the following month of March they could celebrate Passover in it, as Esdras teaches that the Jews did and celebrated in book I, chapter VI, 15. Moreover, winter in Judea, a warm region, is moderate, as also in Rome, where it is almost perpetual spring, as Virgil says in the second Georgic; hence it does not hinder building. God therefore knew that this time was precisely required, and sufficient to complete the building of the temple. In the first day,—that is, the first. For thus the cardinal number is often taken for the ordinal, namely one for first, as I said on Genesis I, 5. Aggaeus therefore began to prophesy and exhort the Jews on the first day of the month of August, and thus moved the Jews so that soon, namely after 23 days, on the 24th of the same month, they would begin the building, as is said in chapter II, 1. Thus St. Jerome. Morally, observe that the year, month and day on which Aggaeus received the word of God are noted so distinctly by him, that we may learn how much we ought to make of the words of God, His inspirations and internal and external admonitions, by which He Himself stirs us up and impels us to the building of the more sublime temple of the spirit in our soul; so much so that we ought carefully to note both the day and hour in which these are suggested to us: as we read that many of the saints have noted them, mindful that God will exact a careful account of them from us at the hour of death and on the day of judgment. Thus from Castro. In the hand of Aggaeus,—that is, through Aggaeus, by the work and ministry of Aggaeus. For since the hand is the instrument of instruments, it is taken for an instrument or tool. Prophets therefore are called the hands of God: because through them, as through hands, God conducted and accomplished His affairs, and exhibited Himself to the people, indeed depicted Himself, according to that passage in Hosea chapter XII, 10: "By the hands of the Prophets I was likened." Thus Theodoret and Lyra. Mystically, "in the hand:" because Aggaeus prophesied not only by tongue and speech, but also by hand, that is, by work and holy life and example. Thus Nazianzen in oration 40 on Holy Baptism; through the hand of the Prophet, the probity of life is received, as though it had been so great that it merited prophecy: for by upright actions, says Nicetas in the same place, the Prophet merited to receive the word of God in faith, as a great treasure committed to his faith for the use of the people, so that as a faithful and prudent steward, "whom the Lord hath appointed over His family, to give them their measure of wheat in due season," Luke chapter XII, 42. Thus Haymo and Hugh, indeed St. Jerome: "If we wish," he says, "the word of God to be made in us, let us be Aggaeus, that is, celebrating feasts, and let us not appear empty in the sight of God: and sowing in the spirit, let us reap from the spirit eternal life, that we may celebrate the solemnity of the firstfruits of our works." Thus Jesus first began to do by hand, then to teach by mouth, Acts chapter I, 1. The Apostles and apostolic men followed Jesus, whose preaching was therefore efficacious, because proceeding from the heart it spoke to the heart of the hearers; and what he taught by word, he showed by example: for those who act otherwise than they speak are sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal; they strike the air, they do not wound hearts. We laugh at and despise a robber disputing about justice, an adulterer about chastity, a drunkard about sobriety: thus also anyone practicing or desiring those things which he proclaims should be avoided. Excellently St. Bernard in sermon 18 on the Canticles requires seven steps to the pulpit. The first is contrition; the second, devotion; the third, the labor of penance; the fourth, the work of piety; the fifth, the study of prayer; the sixth, the leisure of contemplation; the seventh, the fullness of charity. St. Gregory in book X of the Morals: To teach, he says, and not to do, brings not only no profit, but also very great harm. For it is a great condemnation for one who composes his discourse well, but is negligent in deed. The same, in book V on the first book of Kings, chapter XIV: "What is it," he says, "that Jonathan is said to appear to the Philistines with his armor-bearer, except that the teacher himself ought first to show the good which he strives to teach to others?" The same, in book XXI of the Morals, chapter VIII: "The offspring of the teacher is uprooted," he says, "when he who is born through the word is killed through example; because whom the watchful tongue begets, the negligence of life kills." Indeed Aristotle asserts that truth is taken away and destroyed by those who do not live as they speak. But Seneca says: I judge that none deserve worse of all mortals than those who have learned philosophy as if it were some merchandise for sale, who live otherwise than they teach ought to be lived. For they carry about examples of useless discipline: they are teachers of humility, but leaders of pride: with their mouth they praise humility, obedience, resignation, charity, as useful, easy, pleasant, but in their deeds the contrary, and far more powerfully they inculcate it; wherefore their deeds condemn their words as much as their words condemn their deeds, and they bring forth a sentence against themselves, and therefore on the day of judgment they will be judged from their own mouth as many times as they have exhorted others to humility, charity, etc.: "For which reason," says the Apostle in Romans, chapter II, 1, "thou art inexcusable, O man whosoever thou art that judgest; for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself." Wherefore the Lord says, Why dost thou declare my justices, and take my covenant (law) in thy mouth? But thou hast hated discipline, and hast cast my words behind thee, Psalm XLIX. Finally Christ the Lord in Matthew, chapter V, 19: "Whosoever shall do and teach," he says, "he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." To Zerubbabel son of Salathiel. — You will say: Zerubbabel was the son of Pedaiah, as appears in I Paralipomenon, chapter III, 17; how therefore is he here called the son of Salathiel? First, St. Jerome, Questions on Paralipomenon, answers that Salathiel was a binomial name, and was called by another name Pedaiah. But in that place Scripture distinguishes these two, and makes them different persons; for it says in verse 17: "The sons of Jeconiah were Assir, Salathiel, Malchiram, Pedaiah." Second, Vatablus thinks that Zerubbabel had Pedaiah as his father, but Salathiel as his grandfather: he is therefore called here his son, that is, his grandson. Whence he translates the place of Paralipomenon already cited thus from the Hebrew: The sons of Jeconiah were Assir, and Salathiel his son, and also Malchiram and Pedaiah, and thus he explains it, as if to say: The sons, that is, the descendants, of Jeconiah were these, Assir, whose son was Salathiel, who was the father of Malchiram and Pedaiah. But it is an obstacle that in Paralipomenon the genealogy of the patriarchs of Israel is woven strictly and precisely: by the word son, therefore, those properly so called and immediate are understood there, not grandsons and descendants. Third, Arias answers that Zerubbabel was the natural son of Pedaiah, but adopted by Salathiel. But in Matthew, chapter I, 12, it is expressly said: "Salathiel begat Zerubbabel;" he was therefore his father by generation, not by adoption. I say therefore that Pedaiah was the brother of Salathiel, from Jeconiah as father, as appears from the words of Paralipomenon already cited, and consequently each of them imposed the same name on his son born to him, Zerubbabel, as brothers are accustomed to do, for the sake of conjunction and kinship. Our Zerubbabel therefore, son of Salathiel, is different from Zerubbabel son of Pedaiah; for that one is the cousin of this one, or kinsman: hence also the different sons of each are remembered: for that one begat Abiah, Matthew, chapter I, 13; but this one begat Meshullam and others, who are enumerated in I Paralipomenon, chapter III, 19. Symbolically, Zerubbabel is said first, as it were zarva babel, that is, sown and born in Babylon, as St. Jerome says. Second, as if zu rab babel, that is, this master, or prince in Babylon. Thus the same. Third, as if zara babel, that is, dispersing Babylon, that is, confusion: or as it were zur babel, that is, expression, or treading, or winnowing, or alienation of confusion, as Pagninus says in his Interpretation of Hebrew Names. For just as Joshua from the desert, so Zerubbabel from Babylon led the Jews back into the promised land. Whence each was a type of Christ, who leads us from the confusion of sin to the Church militant and triumphant. Fourth, St. Jerome adds, Zerubbabel in Hebrew is the same as adjacent flow, to which Jezabel is contrary, that is, vain flow, or flow of the menstruating woman, which signifies uncleanness; just as Zebulun also is interpreted as flow of night. Therefore, leaving, he says, the flow of the world, vain, sordid and dark, let us follow the flow of Jesus, who is set before us to drink, offering himself from the most abundant fountain, saying: If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink. And we shall be able to drink this, when we have asked it of the Father, according to that which is read: Ask, and it shall be given you. For Salathiel is interpreted as petition of God. Thus far St. Jerome. Leader of Juda. — The kingdom and royal line of Juda ceased in Jechonias the king, who was the father of Salathiel and grandfather of Zerubbabel. Whence concerning him Jeremiah heard from God, cap. XXII, 30: "Write this man barren." He adds the reason: "For no man of his seed shall sit upon the throne of David." Moreover, Salathiel died in Babylon before the captivity was ended. The Jews therefore, given liberty by Cyrus, returning to Judea, constituted for themselves as leader his son, namely Zerubbabel, as well as Jesus the son of Josedec the high priest, as witness Josephus lib. XI Antiq. IV, and Aggaeus hints at this here. Moreover in the leadership, that is in the dignity and pre-eminence of the ducal office, rather than in the supreme rule and empire (for the supreme and ducal rule was in the hands of the high priests, as Josephus says, and from this St. Jerome in the place cited of Jeremiah), his sons and descendants succeeded him even unto Christ. Whence Nehemias cap. V, 18: "The former leaders, he says, who were before me, burdened the people." Thus St. Augustine lib. XVIII De Civit. cap. XLV, Cyril lib. VIII Contra Julian., Ambrose lib. III in Lucam, Justin Contra Tryphon., Eusebius lib. III Demonstr. cap. II, and others. And to Jesus, the son of Josedec, the high priest, — that is, the supreme, namely the pontiff. For Saraias the high priest, who was slain in the destruction of Jerusalem by Nabuchodonosor, IV Reg. cap. XXV, vers. 18, begat Josedec, and Josedec begat Jesus, I Paral. cap. VI, 14. Moreover Esdras likewise was the son of Saraias the high priest, and consequently the brother of Josedec, and uncle of Jesus. From Jesus was born Jeddoa, or Jaddus, II Esdræ cap. XII, 10, whom Alexander the Great venerated, as witness Josephus. This Jesus in the high priesthood both in name and holiness, as well as in the restoration of the people, was a type of Jesus Christ. Whence by Zacharias cap. VIII, 1, he is called "the high priest," and was seen standing with the angel in the light against Satan. Thus all high priests compared to Christ are small, types and shadows only, nay nothing, says St. Jerome. Of both thus writes Ecclesiasticus cap. XLIX, 13: "How shall we magnify Zerubbabel? for he also was as a signet in the right hand, so also Jesus the son of Josedec? who in their days built the house, and exalted the holy temple to the Lord, prepared for everlasting glory." We may justly attribute the same praise today to similar pious princes, who build and endow temples and monasteries, that in them God may be worshipped and celebrated by many. Moreover, three distinguished prelates obtained the name Jesus, and these were princes in a threefold state, namely first, Joshua, who was the leader of the people into the promised land; for Joshua is the same as Jesus: whence Jesus is called by the Septuagint, Philo and the Greeks. Second, Jesus son of Josedec the high priest. Third, Jesus Sirach, author of Ecclesiasticus, doctor of the Synagogue. These three were types of Jesus Christ, and they foreshadowed His threefold prelacy: for Christ is supreme, first, as Prince; second, as Priest; third, as Prophet and Doctor of the Church: whence He is the son of Josedec, that is of the justice of God. For He Himself is eternal justice, as Daniel says in chapter IX, 14, who justifies the impious, and in justice judges the poor and the meek of the earth, Isaiah chapter XI, 4. Moreover, just as Jesus with Zerubbabel rebuilt the temple destroyed by the Chaldeans, so Jesus Christ rebuilt in the resurrection the temple of His body, which was cut down and slain by the Jews, as He Himself foretold to them, John chapter II, 19: "Destroy this temple; and in three days I will raise it up." And when the Jews, not understanding His meaning, replied: "Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou raise it up in three days?" the Evangelist answers and adds: "But He spoke of the temple of His body," to be restored by Himself in the resurrection. "When therefore He was risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said;" because they now saw it fulfilled. In like manner Christ restored the mystical and political temple, namely the Church destroyed by infidelity and paganism.
1:2
2. This people, — over whom you, O Zorobabel and Jesus, preside. Hath not yet come. — They say this, both because they saw that Sanballat and the Samaritans had hitherto hindered the building of the temple under Cyrus and Cambyses: hence turned to sloth, they neglected it: thus St. Jerome, Theodoret, Lyra and others: and because the 70 years of desolation of the temple appointed by God had not yet elapsed, says St. Jerome and R. David, whom I cited at verse 1. For these 70 years were finished in the second year of Darius, in which Haggai prophesied these things. Note here the history of the deed, which brings great light to this place, is narrated in the third book of Esdras, chapter IV, 42 and following, namely, that Zorobabel with two companions, keepers of the body of Darius, proposed before him a problem, what was the strongest thing in the world; and the first of them answered: "Wine is strong;" the second, "the king is stronger," the third, namely Zorobabel, "women are stronger, but truth is the strongest of all." He, discoursing on this matter, carried off the prize. Whence he was ordered by Darius to ask whatever he wished (for he would give it), he asked that the king would fulfill a vow once made by himself. This vow was, that if he should be made king, he would build a temple to God in Jerusalem. Darius kissed him and assented, and sent him back to Jerusalem with the Jews with a guard of a thousand soldiers, and gave letters to the prefects, that they should aid the building of the temple, and with funds provided should take care of it. Zorobabel therefore returned from Babylon to Jerusalem in the second year of Darius, in the first month, namely Nisan, as is said in the third book of Esdras chapter V, 6, and began to exhort the people to the building of the temple. But when the people, mindful of past difficulties, did not sufficiently believe Zorobabel asserting that Darius favored it, indeed commanded the building of the temple, and therefore for six months until August delayed the work, Haggai began in the same sixth month to prophesy, and to accuse their distrust and negligence, and to exhort them to begin the work, for God willed it: whence he would be present, and would take care that neither Darius, nor the Samaritans, nor anyone else would hinder the work. The people believed the prophet, especially when from new letters of Darius, which are recited in the first book of Esdras VI, they learned that Darius absolutely willed the same thing. Wherefore strenuously undertaking the work, they completed it after four years and five months, namely in the month of Adar, that is February, as Esdras narrates there. Tropologically, when you see someone fallen thinking of penance: "That he may build, says St. Jerome, a temple through chastity, which he had destroyed before through lust, and yet draw out day after day, say to him: Truly you too are of the people of captives, and you say: The time for building the house of the Lord hath not yet come. Whoever once determined to restore the temple of God, for him every time is fit for building, nor can the devil king hinder, nor enemies round about, nor feigned piety of parents, relatives, children: as soon as you have turned and called upon the name of the Lord, he will say: Behold, I am here." And below: "Every time in which the dwelling of the valley (he alludes to the Septuagint who for paneled houses translate valleys) is chosen, or we serve delights, is inopportune. Whence also the Stoics said time is for correction. For every time in which we serve not virtues but vices, is lost, and as if it had not been is reckoned as nothing. If therefore any of us dwells either in a valley, or consigns his house to worldly pleasure and luxury, he does not build a temple to God, nor does the Lord have in him where to lay his head." Every time therefore ought to be for us a measure of motion, not rest; of business, not leisure; of virtue, not vice: otherwise it is lost irrecoverably, and with the very leisure and vice it perishes, indeed is punished severely. Thus Barlaam with Damascene in the History, when Josaphat asked how many years old he was? answered 45; because although, he says, I have lived 70, yet I have lived to God only 45: whence I count only these years of life, the others which I spent in vanity I deem to have been of death, and therefore I do not number them, which I esteem and bewail that I have lost. The Gentiles saw the same. Theophrastus always had on his lips: "There is no expense more precious than time. For this alone cannot be recovered, and yet commonly nothing is held cheaper than time." Thus Laertius book V. Simonides when asked: "How long had he lived?" "Time indeed, he says, is short, but years are many." Thus Stobaeus sermon 96, and Plutarch in the Life of Antony: "The loss of time, he says, is most damaging." M. Varro used to say there is no loss more grave, especially to one who knows, than that of time. Seneca to Lucilius: "All things, my Lucilius, are another's; time alone is ours: into the possession of this one thing, fleeting and slippery, nature sends us." Ovid: Time must be used, with swift foot age glides away, Nor do good things follow as the first good did stay. Rightly therefore the Wise Man admonishes: "My son, keep time, and avoid from evil," Ecclesiasticus chapter IV, 23. And the Apostle: "See, brethren, how you walk carefully not as unwise, but as wise, redeeming the time," Ephesians chapter V, 15. See the sayings there.
1:3
3. And the word of the Lord came to pass — This appears to be a new prophecy to the people, whereas the former was to the princes, as St. Jerome, Arias and Vatablus judge, or rather a continuation of the former. For in the former he prophesied nothing, but only recounted what the people said, namely that it was not yet time to build the temple. To this saying he here responds by prophesying, and refutes it; and in order to add weight to his refutation, he repeats and reiterates that he is not fabricating these things, nor uttering them from his own mind; but from the mind and mouth of God, especially because he himself was young. For he had recently returned as a youth from Babylon, as Epiphanius says in his Life of him. For the same reason the Prophets in their ministries and oracles frequently repeat and inculcate this: "Thus saith the Lord," by which they morally teach how much we ought to make of God's word, and how we ought to depend upon the mouth of God, so that we may continually have it in our mouth, revere it, ruminate upon it, bring it forth and celebrate it, and be perpetually delighted with it. The prophecy therefore is not of man, but the word and oracle of God.
1:4
4. Is it time for you to dwell in ceiled houses, and this house is desolate? — Here begins the first prophecy of Haggai. "Ceiled," that is, vaulted, arched, covered with vaults or arches: for this is what the Hebrew שפונים (sephunim) signifies. The Chaldean renders it "which are covered with cedar boards." The Septuagint renders it κοιλοστάθμοις, that is, with hollow or concave ceilings, or rather, as St. Jerome interprets it, placed downward and sunk into a valley. Ambrose, in book III, epistle 12, translates it as "carved." For the vaults of the houses of the illustrious and of temples are accustomed to be adorned with various paintings and carvings, as we see done in many basilicas at Rome. It is an argument from the lesser to the greater, as if to say: You have time, inclination, and means to construct for yourselves houses, not merely necessary, but also delicate and precious, namely carved and ceiled ones: therefore much more ought you to have time, inclination, and means to build the house of God, which is plainly in ruins. Do you wish God to dwell in a floor exposed to winds and rains, while you yourselves dwell in houses excellently and elegantly roofed? Do you thus prefer your own comforts to God? Do you thus allow Him to dwell most uncomfortably, so long as you yourselves live luxuriously and well? "Is it so that My dwelling place, in which were the Holy of Holies, and the Cherubim, and the table of showbread, shall be drenched with rains, defiled with desolation, scorched with heat?" says St. Jerome. God teaches here to the faithful that the first care ought to be for the temple and sacred things, and that when a commonwealth or city is newly erected or restored, the temple ought first to be erected and the worship of God established. Thus Solomon did, who first built a house for God, then for himself, III Kings, chapter VI, 1, joined with chapter VII, 1. Thus also David, Psalm CXXXI, 3: "If I shall enter, he says, into the tabernacle of my house, if I shall go up into the bed of my couch: if I shall give sleep to my eyes, and slumber to my eyelids, until I find out a place for the Lord, a tabernacle for the God of Jacob." Thus Moses, forming on Sinai the commonwealth and Church of the Hebrews with laws received from God, before all things built the tabernacle, as it were a movable temple for God, with the ark, the Cherubim, etc., and this by the command of God, Exodus, chapter XXV and following. Thus Constantine the Great, the emperor, as soon as he, being himself a Christian, began to administer the empire, now Christian instead of pagan, before all things built most august basilicas, the Lateran of the Holy Savior, the Vatican of St. Peter, the Ostian of St. Paul, the Veran of St. Lawrence, and many others to God in honor of the Saints. His successors, Gratian, Theodosius, Honorius, Marcian, Charles, and others, followed and emulated him in this piety, and therefore, being endowed and enriched by God with riches, victories, and kingdoms, they administered the empire happily, justly, and religiously, and strengthened and enlarged it. The Gentiles saw the same thing by the light and guidance of nature, although, being idolaters, they abused it for their own idols. Romulus, the founder of Rome, with the first foundations of the city, dedicated temples to Jupiter Stator and Feretrius, as Livy testifies in book I. Numa Pompilius, who succeeded Romulus, Pliny writes in De Viris illustribus, chapter II, tamed the fierce people "by the institution of religion and useful laws, and thus strengthened the kingdom, so that while his reign lasted no one made war upon him." The Roman Senate, says Marcus Varro, so greatly valued religion that whenever it was compelled by a magistrate, that very thing which was first proposed pertained to religion, and no cause, however grave, or one requiring speed, would overturn this custom. Assuredly for this reason, that "religion and the fear of God alone is that which preserves the society of men among themselves," as Lactantius says in the book De Ira, chapter XII, "and that all things turn out prosperously for those who worship God, adversely for those who despise Him," as Livy says in book V. Hence Cyrus, in Xenophon, book VIII, admonishes his son Cambyses to do nothing public or private unless he first takes refuge in God (let Christian princes note this and imitate it), and unless he first knows His will: because the world, he says, is full of errors; but God, as He who has always been, knows and governs things present, past, and future: and when invoked, He hears the prayers of those who cultivate religion and piety, and shows them by many signs what they ought to do; wherefore Cicero, in book I of De Natura Deorum: "Piety toward God being taken away, he says, faith and the society of the human race must necessarily be taken away, and justice, the most excellent of all virtues." And Silius in book IV: The first cause of crimes for afflicted mortals is not to know God by nature. On the other hand, the destroyers of temples and sacred things destroyed the commonwealth equally, as well as themselves and their own line. Antiochus Epiphanes, the profaner of the temple of the Jews, struck by a foul plague from God, late recognized the vengeance of the Godhead, and said: "It is just to be subject to God, and for a mortal not to think himself equal to God," II Maccabees, chapter IX. Constantius the Arian emperor, who took temples from the orthodox and transferred them to the Arians, by Julian the Apostate, whom, as his kinsman, he had designated as colleague in the empire, was nearly deprived of empire and life, and finally struck by sacred fire, perished, as Pomponius Laetus narrates in his Life. Julian, who intended to make idols from temples, struck by an arrow from heaven in battle against the Persians, fell, as Aurelius Victor narrates in his Life. Valens the Arian, follower of Constantius in crime, routed by the Goths and hiding himself in a hut, was there burned by them. Constantinus Copronymus, that is, the dung-bearer, who just as he defiled the baptistry with his own dung while being baptized, so also defiled the Church with the filth of his heresy and sacrilege, struck by a foul plague, breathed out a putrid soul. For more, if you wish, see Thomas Bozius, book XXII, On the Signs of the Church. Within the memory of our fathers, Henry VIII, king of England, the torch and author of the English schism, who plundered or destroyed monasteries and churches, and notably that opulent basilica of St. Thomas of Canterbury, so that concerning England in the preceding century a Poet wrote: Ten thousand temples one year took away. Henry, I say, reduced to poverty, so swelled in body that he seemed another Bacchus, and dying, offering a cup of wine to those standing by: "All things, he said, we have lost, friends." Thus despairing, he breathed out his sacrilegious soul, as Nicholas Sanderus relates in the English Schism, and others. Tropologically, St. Ambrose, writing on this passage of Haggai, understands by paneled houses underground dwellings and the sewers of pleasures: for such are underground dwellings, that is, subterranean habitations; "For those who, he says, dwell beneath the earth, cannot build the temple of God, and they say: The time has not yet come to build the house of the Lord: both because it is the way of the luxurious to seek underground dwellings, seeking coolness in summer, because those dissolved in delights cannot otherwise bear and endure the heat, and therefore seek shaded recesses: or because the idle spend their sluggish leisure beneath the earth: then because dark and opaque places delight them more, in which they believe their shameful deeds are hidden, according to that passage in Ecclesiasticus XXIII: Darkness surrounds me, and walls, whom do I fear? But they hope for this in vain, since God sees the depths of the abyss and hidden things. But neither Elias nor Eliseus dwelt in underground dwellings; but in higher places, etc. Therefore the saints ascend to the Lord, the wicked descend to vices: the saints on mountains, criminals in valleys. For God is the God of mountains, and not the God of valleys." And soon after: "For how can such men build a temple, who like wild beasts and animals shut themselves up in the lairs of beasts and the hiding places of animals, and plunge themselves into pits after the manner of serpents, and bury themselves in the custom of the deceitful fox?"
1:5
5. Set your hearts upon your ways. — By ways he calls works, and their success and fruit, as if to say: With attentive mind consider your works, namely of sowing, laboring, eating, drinking, clothing, trading; and that you have brought forth from them small fruit, namely a small harvest, small gain, small refreshment and warmth, both in this year (for it was already August and harvest time), and in the preceding years from Cyrus until now: and at the same time examine the cause of this unhappy success, why namely all your affairs are unlucky and fall out unhappily: and you will find there is no other cause than your negligence in restoring the temple. Thus Lyra, Vatable, Arias and others, as if to say: Consider what great evils you have suffered on account of this sloth of yours: wherefore from this point set, secondly, your hearts upon your ways, and learn how great is the difference between care for divine things and neglect of the same. Thus St. Jerome. And thirdly, set your hearts, that is, apply your minds, and direct your soul, so that you may make up for this negligence with greater care and zeal, so that you may be so much more diligent in this building, as you have hitherto been negligent. For thus he explains himself in verse 7, saying: "Set your hearts upon your ways: go up to the mountain, carry wood," etc. Symbolically St. Jerome, as if to say: "You have hitherto had your hearts serving vices without order, without a teacher, going wherever desires drew you. But now the Lord commands you to order charity in yourselves, and to set your hearts upon your ways, so that you do nothing without judgment and consideration, but always let the lamp of the law go before your feet, and say: Thy law is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my paths. For the heart, because it is not the seat, as some natural philosophers wished, but the origin (for from the heart arise the animal spirits, which serve the mind, reason and contemplation) and is the symbol of common sense, reason, prudence and wisdom, as I showed in Ezechiel XXXVI, 26; hence it is taken for these things in Scripture. Tropologically, St. Gregory in homily 10 on Ezechiel: "Much, he says, he sows in his heart, but brings forth little, who from heavenly commandments, either by reading or even by hearing, knows many things, but by negligent working brings forth little fruit. He eats, and is not satisfied, who hearing the words of God, covets the gains or glory of the world. But he is well said not to be satisfied, who eats one thing and hungers for another. He drinks, and is not inebriated, who inclines his ear to the voice of preaching, but does not change his mind. For by the inebriation of drinkers the senses are wont to be changed." See also Haymo on this passage.
1:6
6. And you have brought in little. — The Lord had threatened this and many other things to the Jews in Leviticus XXVI, if they should neglect God and the worship of God. Let farmers note this, and let them learn that they gather little fruit from abundant seed sometimes because they have neglected the temple of God, Masses, feasts, invocation and worship: on which account there are clear examples in the Lives of the Saints. For God punishes with hunger and poverty the neglect of Himself and of sacred things, and much more tropologically He punishes the neglect of the sanctification of the soul, which we ought to build and adorn in the temple of God with virtues. Thus St. Jerome and Theodoret. You have eaten, and are not filled. — This again the Lord had threatened to them in Leviticus XXVI, 26: You shall eat, and shall not be satisfied. "But he who is holy," says St. Jerome, "shall eat even to satiety, and shall be filled in that which is written in Proverbs, chapter XIII, 25: The just eating shall fill his soul; but the belly of the wicked is insatiable." You have drunk, and are not inebriated, — that is, satisfied, refreshed, gladdened. Thus the brothers of Joseph are said to be inebriated with him at his banquet, that is, satisfied and made cheerful, Genesis XLIII, 34. Thus also in the Canticle V, 1: "Drink, and be inebriated," that is, be satisfied, "dearest ones." Psalm XXXV, 9: "They shall be inebriated with the plenty of thy house," that is, they shall be so filled and gladdened that they seem to be drunk. Whence explaining this he adds: "And thou shalt make them drink of the torrent of thy pleasure." Moreover, the reason why those drinking were not satisfied was, partly because they gathered little grapes and wine, partly because the grapes were withered and without juice, and yielded must, not wine; perhaps also because God, being angry, took away from wine, as well as from bread, the power and vigor of nourishing and satisfying, not concurring with them in nourishment and satisfaction, and this as a punishment for the sin of the Hebrews. The same causes are why they were not warmed by their garments. Symbolically St. Jerome: Sinners destitute of the wine of wisdom and the grace of God thirst, but the just man abounding in it is inebriated, "who can say to the Lord: Thy chalice which inebriateth me, how goodly is it! Psalm XXII, and he is inebriated with Noe: and although placed in Egypt, yet at the banquet of Joseph with the patriarchs and brothers he is wet with wine. This man, by reason of the greatness of his joy and daily gladness, turned with the Apostles into ecstasy, shall be called full of new wine," Acts II. And St. Gregory, homily 10 on Ezekiel: "It is wont," he says, "that through the inebriation of those drinking the senses are changed. He therefore who is devoted to knowing the word of God, but desires to obtain the things of this world, drinks, and is not inebriated. For if he were inebriated, he would certainly have changed his mind, so that he would no longer seek earthly things, would no longer love the vain and transitory things which he had loved. For of the elect it is said through the Psalmist, Psalm XXXV: They shall be inebriated with the plenty of thy house: because they are so filled with love of almighty God that, their mind changed, they seem to themselves to be strangers to themselves, fulfilling that which is written: Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself," Matthew XVI. And he that gathereth wages (of his works, labors and dealings), sent them into a bag with holes, — that is, he lost them, as if he had sent them into a purse with holes, through which they fall to the ground and are lost. It is a catachresis. A similar proverb is in Plautus in the Pseudolus: "We pour words into a leaky tub, we waste our labor." And that one of Alciphron in Athenaeus, book IV: "Into the jars of the Danaids, we pour amphoras." For the poets feign that the Danaids draw water with perforated jars in the underworld, to which Medea: You also with urns which you perforate, useless labor mocks. And that one of Aristotle, book I of the Economics, chapter VI: "You draw water with a sieve." Whence that which we heard as children: "He draws water with a sieve who wishes to learn without a book." Similar are: You sow seed in water: You sow in rocks: You write in water: You build in sand: You lose oil and labor: You hunt winds with a net: You fish in the air: You weave the webs of spiders: You do trifles: You number the waves: You measure the sand. All these things are most true when we attempt anything against, or with an angry, God. Morally, let workers, hired laborers and merchants note this, namely that their labors, works and merchandise, with which they tire themselves night and day, come to nothing on account of the neglect of the worship of God and His grace. See Leviticus XXVI, 14, and Deuteronomy XXVIII, 10. Wherefore if they wish these things to be profitable, if they desire and seek gain and riches from them, let them worship and invoke God, according to that saying of Christ in Matthew VI, 33: "Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you." Hence the Apostles, fishing all night, caught nothing, because they were fishing without Christ: but as soon as Peter cast the net in the name of Christ, he enclosed a great multitude of fishes, Luke V, 5; because, as the Psalmist says in Psalm CXXVI, 1: "Unless the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it." And, as the Apostle says in I Corinthians III, 7: "Neither he that planteth is any thing, nor he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase." Mystically, he puts wages into a bag with a hole: First, he who after good works and merits falls into mortal sin, soils them, loses and dissipates them. Thus St. Jerome. Second, he who loses good works by evil deeds, who namely considers the good works which he has before his eyes, and forgets the faults which creep in among them: or after good deeds returns to vain and evil things, as for example one who loses by excessive laughter the good which he gained by weeping, as St. Gregory says in homily 4 on Ezekiel, and in part III of the Pastoral, admonition 22: "In a bag with a hole, he says, money is seen when it is put in, but when it is lost it is not seen: those therefore who look at how much they give, but do not consider how much is taken from them, put wages into a bag with a hole: because truly they gather these things looking to the hope of their confidence, but lose them not looking." Third, he who does works of virtue for vain glory, namely for ostentation. Thus Remigius. Finally, a certain ancient author aptly adapts these words of Haggai to kings, who impose great tributes on their subjects, but are not enriched by them, because they immediately pour them out upon their parasites. "The royal treasury, he says, has long been a bag with a hole, and retains nothing, but pours out everything, so that this word of Haggai can rightly be said of it: He that gathered wages put them into a bag with holes. We see that nothing put into a bag with a hole can be contained for long, but what is put in on one side flows out on the other, and what it receives from above soon flows out through below. But what are the two holes of the bag with a hole, if not two vices, which appear contrary at first sight, but are soon joined together in princes, namely excessive greed for possessing what belongs to others, and immoderate prodigality in giving away what is possessed? The first gathers, the second scatters: the first pours in, the second pours out: the first gorges itself and is always hungry, the second even when satisfied throws away scraps. The first seems to be anxious about the future: the second is improvident and neither governs the present nor foresees the future. The first is the upper mouth of the bag always ready to receive: the second is the lower hole, which never closes, but always lies open to scatter widely. It is clear therefore that money collected by such extortions profits the princes nothing, who have always been poor and needy from the time when these things began to happen, and oppressed by infinite debt." Then he shows that these things profit neither the courtiers to whom they are given. "But he is deceived whoever thinks that these things will profit the courtiers who receive almost everything, who finally, when heavenly judgment presses them, are usually despoiled either by the princes whom they have despoiled, or by their heirs or successors, who see themselves stripped of such an inheritance by their intrigues; or by those who, by divine inspiration, undertake to restore the commonwealth collapsed through such men, and are forced not only to vomit up what they have swallowed, but to pay the penalties due to their fatherland prostrated by their most evil counsels. Wherefore such pests, such furies, destroyers alike of kings and kingdom, must necessarily be removed far from the society of princes, unless we wish the kingdom itself to perish irreparably. For this is indeed a capital and lethal wound of the kingdom." Livy wisely said in book XXII: "Private interests have always harmed, and always will harm, public interests." And Tacitus in book I of the Histories: "The worst poison of true affection is that each one's own advantage." Amos cries out in chapter IX, verse 1: "Covetousness in the head of all." But what is the "head of the people," if not those of whom it was said: "The nobles, heads of the peoples." Let princes therefore and their counselors learn that saying of the Wise Man in Proverbs XXV, 4: "Take away the rust from silver, and there shall come forth a most pure vessel: take away wickedness from before the king, and his throne shall be established in justice." Take away namely these voracious Harpies, infamous for embezzlement, which pierce the bag of the public treasury and plunder it, and there will be a just distribution of public revenues and riches (which are the firmament of the commonwealth). Finally, a certain ancient author aptly adapts these words of Haggai to kings who impose great tributes upon their subjects, but are not enriched thereby, because they immediately pour them out upon their parasites. "The royal treasury," he says, "has long since been pierced, and retains nothing, but pours out everything, so that this word of Haggai can rightly be said of it: He that gathered wages, sent them into a bag with holes. We see that nothing poured into a pierced bag can be retained for long, but what is put in on one side flows out on the other; and what it receives from above soon drains away through below. But what are the two holes of the pierced bag, if not two vices, which appear contrary at first sight, but are soon joined together in princes, namely excessive cupidity for possessing what belongs to others, and immoderate prodigality in giving away what is possessed? The first gathers, the second scatters: the first pours in, the second pours out: the first gorges itself and is always hungry, the second even when satisfied casts away the fragments. The first seems to be anxious about the future: the second is improvident and neither governs the present nor foresees the future. The first is the upper mouth of the bag, always ready to receive: the second is the lowest hole, which never closes, but constantly lies open to scatter far and wide. It is clear therefore that money collected by such exactions profits the princes nothing, who from the very time when these things began to be done have always been poor and needy, and oppressed by infinite debt." Then he shows that these things profit neither the courtiers to whom they are given. "But he is deceived whoever thinks that these things will profit the courtiers who receive almost everything, who finally, when heavenly judgment presses upon them, are accustomed to be despoiled either by the princes whom they have despoiled, or by their heirs or successors, who see themselves stripped of such an inheritance by their intrigues; or by those who, by divine instinct, undertake to restore the commonwealth collapsed through such men, and are forced not only to vomit up what they have swallowed, but to pay the penalties due to their fatherland prostrated by their most evil counsels. Wherefore such pests, such furies, destroyers alike of kings and kingdom, must necessarily be alienated far from the society of princes, unless we wish the kingdom itself to perish irreparably. For this is indeed a capital and lethal wound to the kingdom." Livy wisely said in book XXII: "Private interests have always harmed, and always will harm, public interests." And Tacitus in book I of the Histories: "The worst poison of true affection is each man's own advantage." Amos cries out in chapter IX, verse 1: "Avarice in the head of all." But what is the "head of the people," if not those of whom it was said: "The nobles, heads of the peoples." Let princes therefore and their counselors learn that word of the Wise Man in Proverbs XXV, 4: "Take away the rust from the silver, and there shall come forth a most pure vessel: take away impiety from the face of the king, and his throne shall be established in justice." Take away, namely, these voracious Harpies, infamous for embezzlement, which pierce the bag of the public treasury and plunder it, and there will be a just distribution of public revenues and riches (which are the foundation of the commonwealth).
1:8
8. Go up to the mountain — Lebanon: for from there, as being near at hand and abounding in cedars and other trees, Solomon cut wood for the temple and his own houses. The same was done by Zorobabel and the Jews in the restoration of the temple, as is evident from I Esdras III, 7. Thus St. Jerome, the Chaldean, Theodoret and others. From Lebanon therefore cut and "carry wood" for the building of the temple. The Hebrews say, according to St. Jerome, "that only wood for flooring was necessary, the walls of the temple standing after the burning." But they err: for the temple was utterly destroyed by the Chaldeans. This is evident from the fact that Zorobabel and the Jews, rebuilding the temple, laid its lowest foundations, as is said in I Esdras V, 16, and cap. VI, 3. From which passages it is clear that under Cyrus the foundations of the temple were laid, and the walls erected. Whence under Darius the work required wood only for flooring and for the roof, as is here said, and for this reason mention is made here only of the carrying of wood. Tropologically St. Jerome says: "Let us ascend, he says, to the mountain of reason, and seeking from the testimonies of Scripture wood suitable for each problem, let us cut it and build the house of wisdom in ourselves: for after this shall have been built, the end of its building shall be that the Lord may be glorified in us." Moreover the foundation of this house and temple must be laid by faith, the pavement by humility, the rampart by patience, the altar by prayer, the roof by charity, the four walls by the four cardinal virtues, the pinnacle by hope. See the sayings on Ezekiel XL, at the beginning. This is what the Apostle says in I Corinthians III, 9: "You are the building of God. But let each one take heed how he buildeth thereupon," etc. And verse 16: "Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you." Ephesians II, 20: "Being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone: in whom all the building, being framed together, groweth into a holy temple in the Lord: in whom you also are built together into a habitation of God in the Spirit." And it shall be acceptable to me. — In Hebrew וארצה בו veartse bo, that is, as the Septuagint and Pagninus: I shall be pleased in it; Zurich: And it shall be pleasing to me; Vatable: And it shall be my good pleasure in it, and therefore praying in it, or towards it I shall hear you, as I promised to Moses in Deuteronomy cap. XII, 11, and to Solomon in III Kings VIII, 29. And I shall be glorified — in it I shall be worshipped and celebrated with hymns, psalms, vows, prayers, oblations, victims, etc., and in turn I shall show you my glory and beneficence in it. Note: In the Hebrew there is keri and ketib, that is a variety of reading and writing. For it is written אכבד eccabeda, that is I shall be glorified, without he, but it is read with he paragogic, which therefore is noted in the margin. Wherefore the Rabbis and Talmudists, such as R. Elias, R. Solomon, R. David, and from them Galatinus lib. IV, cap. IX, Genebrardus in Chron., Arias, Ribera and a Castro here, assign this reason for this variety, that the letter he among the Hebrews is the sign of the number five, so as to signify that five things were lacking in the second temple which were in the first: which therefore God by his presence and glory promises here to make good. These five are: first, the ark of the covenant; second, the Urim and Thummim in the breastplate of the high priest, by which the high priest consulting God received answers from him and knew future things; third, the sacred fire fallen from heaven to consume the victims; fourth, the presence of God in the Holy of Holies over the mercy seat and the Cherubim; fifth, the Prophets and prophecies. For that the ark was lacking in the second temple is evident from II Maccabees II, 4, where it is narrated that Jeremiah, as the destruction of Jerusalem was imminent, took it out of the temple and hid it, saying: "that the place shall be unknown, until God shall gather together the congregation of his people, and be merciful to the Jews," which shall be at the end of the world, when he shall gather them into the Church of Christ and save them. Wherefore the ark of the covenant, which is shown here in Rome in the basilica of the Lateran, is not the ark made by Moses, but its image and representation, which the Jews, being destitute of the original ark of Moses, containing the urn with manna and the tables of the decalogue written by the finger of God, formed after its likeness and placed in the temple (as is said). But that the sacred fire was lacking in the second temple is false; for it, under Judas Maccabeus and Nehemiah, in the purification of the temple was restored to it from heaven, as is evident from II Maccabees I, 32. Yet this is true, if we speak of the original fire that fell upon the sacrifices of Aaron and Moses. For this, hidden by Jeremiah, was afterwards sought and was not found, as is said there. Similarly, the oracle of Urim and Thummim appears to have been absent in the second temple, at least for many years. For Josephus writes thus concerning it in book III of the Antiquities, chapter XII: "Therefore the breastplate (in Hebrew chosen, that is, the rational, in which were Urim and Thummim) ceased to shine for two hundred years before I wrote these things, since God was displeased at the transgressions of the laws." Where note that Josephus remembers only the splendor of the breastplate, not the oracle: wherefore the oracle appears to have ceased much earlier. Hence Arias, Vatablus and others think that by "I shall be glorified" is signified that Christ, he being deficient in eccabeda, that is, these five gifts, shall supply them by his presence and glory, when he shall be in the second temple, teach, and work miracles, concerning which more in chapter II, 7. Wherefore for אכבד eccabeda, that is, I shall be glorified, with other vowel points it could be read actively אכביד echbid, that is, I shall glorify. Thus the Chaldean appears to have read it, when he translated: It shall please me to place my majesty in it with glory: for although the majesty of God always dwelt invisibly in the temple, yet it dwelt visibly in it when the incarnate Word, namely Christ, adorned it corporally with his presence and majesty. It might perhaps be said more aptly that he understood in eccabeda, that is, I shall be glorified, signifies that Christ shall be the glory of the second temple, but hidden and concealed from the Jews. For the Cabalists teach that he signifies the middle person in the Holy Trinity, namely the Son, through whom, as it were the idea and word, all things primahaia, that is, existed and were created; hence the name Iehova contains in itself the Holy Trinity. For the initial Iod denotes the Father, who is the origin of the Holy Trinity: he the Son: vau the Holy Spirit. Moreover he is doubled in יהוה Iehova, so as to signify the twofold nature of Christ, divine and human.
1:9
9. Ye looked for much, and behold it came to little. — Ye hoped that ye would have a very great harvest, and behold ye gathered a small one: and the little which ye brought into the barns, I God "blew upon it," that is, by my breath and nod I made it vanish, or reduced it to nothing, as the wind is wont to blow upon crops, while it burns and dries the grain, and thus leaves empty husks. "When the crops were already whitening," says St. Jerome, "and the time of harvest was at hand, and ye thought ye held the grain in your hands, ye reaped empty stalks and vain stubble. The threshing floors were full, hope was in your eyes, sorrow in your hands. But also this very thing which was scarcely selected from much grain and infinite heaps, ye brought into your house, and by my power it was scattered. For I blew upon it and reduced it to nothing; because the grain was dead, and the empty husks, which are useful for food, had no flour and fine meal." Who also adds tropologically: "How often have I seen that in both doctrine and conduct, many things were hoped for from certain persons, and when the time came that they should have the time of harvest, that is, the time of teaching and offering their life as an example to peoples, they were cast down from on high, and less was found in them than the opinion of all had promised itself. Whence it came to pass that gradually, with negligence creeping in, even the small thing which they seemed to have, they lost. But they suffered this for this reason, that they were secure in their former houses, and did not ascend the mountain of Scripture, cutting the wood of the Lord's building from it, nor built up in themselves daily the house of the Lord." For the Prophet adds this reason: "Because my house is desolate, and ye have hastened each one to his own house;" Zurich: Because my house is still desolate, but ye run so that each one may have his own house, that is, ye are eager each one for your own affairs, and meanwhile ye neglect divine things. Thus Vatablus.
1:10
10. Therefore the heavens over you have been shut up. — Thus also the Chaldean translates by the past tense: For this reason on account of your crimes the heavens ceased from sending rain, and the earth ceased from producing fruits. These and the following things can again be translated by the future with the Septuagint: Therefore heaven shall withhold its dew, and the earth shall withdraw its fruits: because they feel the injury to their Creator and shall avenge it.
1:11
11. And I called for a drought upon the land, — and thence consequently sterility, want, as the Chaldean translator rendered it, and famine, and consequently diseases and plagues, indeed quarrels, angers and wars, which are born from this inflammation and deficiency of air and crops. Whence the Septuagint, reading חרב chereb (that is, drought) as חרב chereb (that is, sword), translate: I will bring a sword upon the land; understand the sword either properly so called, namely the wars already mentioned; or metaphorically, namely drought and famine, which like a sword kill and cut down men. Thus from a Castro. For thus in Scripture sword, or fire, are general names, and signify any calamity whatsoever. In the Hebrew there is an elegant paronomasia, by which the punishment alludes to the fault: because, he says, my house חרב chareb, that is, is desolate, therefore likewise I called חרב choreb, that is, drought, or חרב chereb, that is, sword, which in like manner will desolate you, and will make your houses desolate. Thus the Jews, because they abandoned and despised Christ, hence from him in turn heard: "Behold, your house shall be left to you desolate," Matt. cap. XXIII, 38. Tropologically: "All these things, says St. Jerome, can be understood of the rectors of the Church, who, building a carnal house, and providing for their children and possessions, do not care either to build in themselves the temple of God, or to restore the Church of the Lord, which is unfinished and ruined: whose life and discourse, often incongruous, scandalize many, and cast them out of the Church, and lead the house of God to desolation, so that on account of their vice, neither does heaven give dew, nor does earth give forth fruit," etc. For this reason God in every age has raised up distinguished pontiffs, doctors, founders of Orders, men illustrious in holiness and wisdom, who would restore the ruins of the Church, and build it up by word and example. Such were St. Athanasius, Basil, Gregory of Nazianzus, Chrysostom, Augustine, Jerome, Ambrose, Benedict, Bernard, Dominic and Francis, who while living appeared to Pope Innocent III in a vision, as if sustaining the falling basilica of the Lateran, where the Pontiff has his pontifical chair: moved by this vision, the Pontiff soon approved his rule and Order. Moreover, this same saint was called by God to the same thing by a similar vision. For, as St. Bonaventure relates in his Life, cap. II: "When he entered the church of St. Damian, which threatened ruin, for the sake of prayer, prostrate before the image of the crucifix, and gazing upon it with tearful eyes, he heard a voice issuing from the cross itself with his bodily ears, saying three times: Francis, go and repair the house, which, as you see, is wholly destroyed. Trembling, Francis was alienated by an excess of mind. At length returning to himself, he collected himself wholly to accomplish the command concerning repairing the material church; although the principal intention of the word was directed to that which Christ acquired by his blood, as the Holy Spirit taught him, and he himself afterwards revealed to the Brethren." St. Bonaventure adds that he then restored three temples, namely St. Damian, St. Peter and St. Mary of the Angels, to signify what he would do in the future: "For just as the triple structure restored under the leadership of this holy man, according to the form, rule and doctrine given by him, the Church of Christ was to be renewed in a threefold manner, and the threefold army of the saved was to triumph," namely a threefold Order was to be instituted by him, which would reform all states of the Church. These are they whom Isaiah, foreseeing in the spirit, addresses with rejoicing in cap. LVIII, 12: "And the desolate places of ages shall be built in thee: thou shalt raise up the foundations of generation and generation: and thou shalt be called the repairer of fences, turning thy paths into rest." Finally, St. Chrysostom in oration 3 Against the Jews, tom. V, teaches that he who converts a soul offers a greater and more pleasing gift to God than if he built a temple for him. "God, he says, destroyed one temple in Jerusalem, and erected innumerable ones, far more venerable than that. You, he says, are the temple of the living God." And below: "This is a greater almsgiving than ten thousand talents, than this whole world, as great as it is, spread everywhere before the eyes. For man is more precious than the whole world. For the sake of him heaven, and earth, and sea, and sun, and stars were created."
1:12
12. As the Lord sent him. — For as in Hebrew it is כאשר caasher, which either signifies cause, as if to say, Because the Lord had sent Haggai, hence the people heard him; or manner, as if to say, In that manner the people heard and obeyed Haggai, because God had sent him, namely, they did not twist his words into another sense, but plainly received them according to the mind of the Lord, as Haggai had uttered and explained them, and thus immediately fulfilled them in deed. For true obedience consists in this, that we do not interpret the words of a precept perversely, do not explain and twist them to our pleasure, but receive them simply, and carry them out according to the mind of the one commanding. Thus from a Castro.
1:13
13. And Haggai said, the messenger of the Lord, from the messengers of the Lord. — To messengers can be understood in two ways: first, in the neuter gender, as if to say, Who was to the Lord from messengers, that is from legations, as we commonly say: This one is to me from my feet, from my counsels, from my letters. Thus Arias. Whence in Hebrew it is מלאכות malachut, that is, as the Zurich Bible, Pagninus and others translate: And Haggai said, the legate of the Lord in the legation of the Lord, that is, who performed the legation to which the Lord had sent and commissioned him. Whence Cyrus translates: Haggai said, the angel of the Lord in the angelation of the Lord, that is, a legate or messenger in the messaging of the Lord, as the Arabic version translates, who namely was sent by the Lord to the people, that he might announce to them the commands of God. Second and more plainly, masculine, as if to say, Haggai said, who was a messenger and legate, one of the most approved messengers and legates of the Lord, to whom therefore Zerubbabel and the people deservedly gave credence. By a similar Hebraism and doubling it is said in Genesis XIX: "The Lord rained from the Lord." Haggai repeatedly emphasizes that he is sent and speaks from God, so that he might secure credence for his oracles, and might more sharply move the sluggish people to the building of the temple, inasmuch as God commands and urges it again and again, at the same time promising to it His aid and protection. From this place Origen, as St. Jerome here reports it in tacit reference, suspected that Haggai was not a man, but an incarnate angel, as I said in the Preface; but rashly. For the Hebrew מלאך malach signifies Angel, not only by nature, but also by office, that is, a legate, a messenger, as Our translator, the Septuagint, the Chaldean and others translate. Learn from this, however, the dignity of Haggai. Whence the Septuagint translates: Haggai said, the angel of the Lord among the angels of the Lord, that is, an angel selected and chosen among angels. From the Hebrew you would translate: Haggai said, the angel of the Lord in the Gospel of the Lord, or messenger in the announcement of the Lord. For he announces the birth and redemption of Christ festively in chapter II, 7. In a similar way the last Prophet is called Malachi, that is, the angel of the Lord. And John the Baptist on account of his angelic life and preaching is called an angel in Malachi III, 1: "Behold I send my angel, and he shall prepare the way before my face." Thus Christ, in Isaiah IX, 6, is called by the Septuagint the angel of great counsel, that is, a messenger. Let the Prophets, that is, the teachers and preachers, see here their dignity, and let them know that they are legates and messengers of God. Thus St. Paul in II Corinthians V, 20: "For Christ, he says, we perform the office of legates, as God exhorting through us. We beseech you for Christ, be reconciled to God." I am with you. — "He does not speak, says St. Jerome, to Zerubbabel and Jesus, with whom and in whom the Lord was always; but to the people, who had feared before the face of the Lord, as if to say, I will be your helper, build my house which has been destroyed in you; with me established in your midst, no one will be able to prohibit your building.
1:14
14. And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, and the spirit of Jesus. — "That the kingdom and priesthood might build the temple of God, says St. Jerome, the spirit of the people is also stirred up, which before slept in them; not the body, not the soul, but the spirit, which knows better how to build the temple of God." Tropologically, "The Holy Spirit is stirred up in us, that we might enter the house of the Lord, and do the works of the Lord." Moreover God stirred up the spirit, that is, the mind and heart of the people, by exciting it so that it might eagerly and strenuously apply itself to the building.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
1:1
v. 4 « In anno secundo Darii regis, in mense sexto, in die una, mensis factum est verbum Domini in manu Aggaet prophetae ad. Zorobabel filium Salathiel, ducem Iuda, et ad Iesum, filium losedech, sacerdotem magnum » ; — verba Darius rez, Zorobabel ex domo David voce peregrina appellatus nr? ! praefectus, satrapes Iuda satis superque per se iam produnt, quantam mutationem status populi electi subierit. Darius Hystaspis (an. 521 - 486) intelligitur, uti plerique veteres iam agnoverunt. Mense sexto i. e.'sexto mense lunari a mense Nisan ; proinde mense qui vocabatur Elul (cf. Neh. 6, 45. 4 V .ch. 24, 29) ; « cum eo tempore iam fruges in horrea intulissent nec b.aignas, uti sperabant, sed parcissimas, opportune propheta cau- ' gam sterilitatis exponit et sumpta inde occasione eos reprehendit, quod aedificationem templi negligerent » (Rib. sim. Lap. Tíir.). Tempore igitur apto, quo ipsa rerum conditione animi iam magis praeparati erant ad Dei verbum suscipiendum, fit verbum ; die «una i. e. prima secundum notum hebraismum (cf. Gen. 4, 5. Marc. 16, 2), festo scil. novilumii, quo plura celebrabantur sacrificia (Num. 28, 41 - 45), ideoque populus sollemniore Dei cultu ad maiorem divinae maiestatis reverentiam et obedientiam excitabatur ; fit in manu i. e. per Aggaeum, ita ut ea locutione propheta tamquam instrumentum Dei designetur et interlocutor qui non sua prodat, sed ea quae sibi a Deo sint commissa. Sermo Dei dirigitur ad duos illos qui potestate civili et sacra vestiuntur, qui magna inter .se concordia populum ad opus perficiendum efficaciter urgere debent. Ita magna illis additur auctoritas, qua opus promoveant, simulque stimulus, si eousque eorum vel culpa vel nimia indulgentia opus erat intermissum. Salathiel erat ex posteris Iechoniae, filii Ioakim (cf. 4 Par. 8, 1); proin ex regia stirpe Davidis; Iesus vel Iosua (Iehoschua, leschua ; cf. Esd. 3, 2. 8; 4, 3) filius erat Ilosedec, qui tempore Nabuchodonosoris in Babyloniam abductus est (1 Par. 6, 15 ), etnepos Seraiae, qui cum aliis primoribus a Nabuchodonosore in Reblatha in terra Emath occisus fuit (& Reg. 25, 18 - 21. Ier. 52, 24 - 27). Utriusque principis et civilis et sacri accurata recensetur origo, quia domui Davidis et filiis Aaron dignitas illa erat commissa, Deus autem fidelis etiam in theocratia truncata atque imminuta speciem ac formam prioris retentam et agnitam esse voluit. : De nominum ratione haec adnotare non erit abs re: Darius legitur in inscriptionibus cuneatis persicis Dárayavus et derivatur a forma causativa radicis dar i. e. tenere, ita ut explicao Herodoti (6, 98 ; 6ovatat xav& 'EXJAáóa qAccav Aapstoc Épk[nc) a vero non abludat ; vide Fr. Spiegel, Die altpers. Keilinschriften p. 76. Nomen istud frequentissime occurrit etiam in cuneatis assyriacis ; Sírassmaier in lexico assyriaco n. 1918 recenset 29 modos quibus nomen hoc scribitur. De notione nominis Zorobabel varia tradunt : 723 "m alii explicant i. e. in. Babyloniam dispersus ; Schegg vult vocem yv bradhiuf ibi cerni et explicari : fulcrum eorum qui sunt in. Babel ; sed communis et vera interpretatio est quam (inter alia plura) iam S. Hier. habet " tus vel satus, genitus in Babel i. e. 523 y" ; nomen etiam in cuneatis assyriacis occur- rit; vide Strassmaier. 1. c. n. 2987, ubi Zir-Babilu o2 FRU Babilone natus scribitur et explanatur. De altero nomine quo vocatur Esd. 1, "8; 5, 14 2v haec mecum Strassmaier communicavit : «adest in nomine mendum et legendum videtur "X2VU vel 2UU i. e. qU'U i. e. 523 et * i. e. YT i. e. Babylone natus », Ita idem nomen esset secundum canonem « athbasch » elatum. Quod si ita est, usus istius canonis antiquus (cf. Ier. 25, 26 ; $1, 4&1 Sesac; 51, 1) novo exemplo constat. Aliam vocis explicationem ex lingua persica « cultor ignis » vide apud Ges. Thes. p. 1485. Fürst L. s. v. — De voce nna censet Strassmaier esse verbum omnino semiticum quod frequens adsit apud ASSyrOS variis formis : pachá ; inde pichatuprovincia, satrapia, pachat regio, districtus, puchu etc. ; Hebraeos vocem iam formatam ab Assyriis Babyloniisque accepisse, genuinam Holonen ex accadico patere et esse — vicem gerere, locum alterius tenere (i. e. Stellvertreter, Statthalter) ; perperam a multis vocem ex persica lingua derivari (cf. ]. c. n. 7038). Zorobabel h. l. et 1, 12. 14; 2, 3. 5. 2& et Esd. 3, 2. 85 5, 2. Neh. 12, 1. Matth. 14, 12. Luc. 3, 27 dicitur filius Salathiel ; at 4 Par. 3, 19 filius Phadaiae dicitur. Quare aliqui volunt duos esse Zorobabel (Rib. Sanct. Lap. Tir.) ; sed mirum esset, si in genealogiis 1 Par. 3 Zorobabel duce notissimo ac celeberrimo omisso, alius nullibi notus nominaretur. Alii volunt eum esse non filium sed nepotem Salathiel (Calm. Schegg); sed quomodo ostendent Phadaiam filium esse Salathiel ? Ex 1 Par. 3, 17. 18 id minime colligitur ; sed Phadaiam fratrem esse Salathiel ; quare alii iure leviratus Zorobabel esse filium Phadaiae naturalem, legitimum vero Salathiel non improbabiliter coniiciunt (cf. Deut. 36, 5-10. Matth. 22, 24-28 ; vide Keil, Trochon). Magna sane fuit consolatio et in rerum angustiis confortatio, cum Zorobabel et Iesus per prophetam a Deo excitatum et ad se missum peculiarem Dei curam et singularem providentiam cernerent et pignus favoris divini agnoscerent. Primo Deus illis utitur tamquam iudicibus quibusdam (Theod.), quos proposita populi sententia excitet, ut perpendant ac videant, num in eo rerum statu omnia se rite habeant. Quare propheta cosalloquitur :
1:2
v. 2 « Aaec ait Dominus exercituum, dicens : popuivs 18e dicit. mondum venit tempus domus Domini aedificandae » ; — cum p pulus tam explicitis verbis uti dicatur, obvium est opinari principes »depius iam opus ut aggrediantur monuisse, at rationibus contra allatis demum cessisse Quare Deus ipse excusauonem illam per prophetam discutiens serio monet, ut quantum valeat denuo recogitent. Cur vero nondum venisse tempus opportunum sibi velint persuadere, ex iis quae subsequuntur coniicere licet: terrae sterilitatem frugumque penuriam non suppetere sumptus necessarios (Barh.), timendas esse infestationes Samaritanorum , s! Deus sibi templum exstrui vellet, fore ut removeret ea impedimenta. lta secum ratiocinantes « speciosis sed inanium verborum tegumeniis » (Cy».) inertiam suam ei rerum sacrarum negligentiam operire et excusare studebant (cl. Sanct. Calm ). Textus !5t. et graecus planus est et facilis, uti etiam versio syriaca et chaldaica: omnes praebent non venit, vel nondum venil iempus Textus mas. implicitus est aique turgidus non tempus veniendi, tempus domus D ad aedificandum. Quare punciaüc zias hoc loco erit relinquenda et retentus consonantibus rescribendum | N5 DZ N21! 6. non iam venit ter.pus vel non nunc venit (cl. Hitz. 5chegg); TW? cl. Ez. 23, 43, 27, 34. 2 Reg 5, 26. Ps. 74, 6 , N? significauone nondum vide Ez. 5, 9. Iob 22, 16. Cum non sine contemptu dicatur populus iste, iam apparet Deum talem excusationem minime admittere. Quod ut ducibus plane innotescat et ut habeant, quo populi incuriam efficaciter excutiant, secundo fit ad eos sermo Domini
1:3
v. 3 « et factum est verbum Domini in manu Aggaei prophetae dicens :
1:4
v. 4 numquid tempus vobis est, ut habitetis in. domi- - bus laqueatis, et domus ista deserta » ? — repetitione quae v. 3. cernitur, indicari videtur post aliquam moram ad recogitandum concessam denuo prophetam divino impulsu accessisse ad duces, qui forte die festo sacrificiis intererant, iisque populi desidiam exprobrasse. Quodsi enim | ipsi tempus habent et opportunitatem et opes, ut sibi domus aedificent: ; ad luxum et delicias, qualis iam excusatio simulata proferri potest, ut i Dei domum plane negligant ? Sibi exstruunt domus ornatas atque com- ^" positas (S. Ilier.), laqueatas i. e. « variis artificum commentis illustratas ' a lineis, quae in laqueorum modum variis se voluminibus implicant » vel quae sint uti Chald. habet, tabulis cedrinis tectae !. Cum curam adeo exquisitam suis impendant domiciliis, « habitaculum meum in quo fuerunt sancta sanctorum et cherubim et mensa propositionis, pluviis 'rigabitur, squalebit solitudine, sole torrebitur » (S. Hier.)? Ex hoc uno .« videsne quod ego habitem in domo cedrina et arca Dei posita est in medio pellium » (2 Reg. "1, 2), quibus verbis suum enuntiat desiderium, dummodo per Dominum liceat, templum aedificandi. . Rei huius indignkatem quam aegre ferat Deus et quibus eam poenis. prosequatur, cam emphasi populo denuntiat
1:5
v. 8 « et nunc haec dicit Dominus exercituum : ponite corda vestra super vias vestras » ; —« observandum diligenter in singulis prope verbis afferri a propheta divini testimonii fidem, ne quis existimaret vel unum tantum verbum proferre sacrum vatem a suo, humano videlicet spiritu » (Sanct.) ; monentur ut attente considerent, quae fecerint, quae passi sint (S. Hier.), quis sit constans rerum eventus, laborum operumque fructus et quare talia iis 'accidant. Iam quae diu ? experti sunt, iis proponit
1:6
v. 6 « seminastis multum et intulistis parum ; comedistis et non estis satiati; bibistis et non congregavit, misit eas in sacculum pertusum » ; — cf. Lev. 96, 19. Deut. 11, 171; 28, 38 ; laboribus eorum deerat divina benedictio ; rerum penuria premebantur neque ea quae praesto erant, deficiente favore pecunia mercede vel lucro acquisita parum prospere cessit et tam celeriter et sine fructu et utilitate dilapsa esse videbatur, quasi in marsupium pertusum mitteretur; « Aggaei verba proverbium sapiunt, qualia sunt illa : cribro aquam haurire, pertusum dolium implere » (Calm. sim. vestrum sive negotiatione sive mercenaria manu ? mercedes congrega- 'vit, frustra labor sine pretio laboris impensus est ; omnes enim velut si 3. Verbum "20 mercede conducere significat in hithp. laborem suum mercede collocare ; Igitur temporum angustiae rerumque penuria non modo non excusant operis intermissionem, sed ea afflictio propter culpam illam est immissa. Frustra igitur quamdiu desides sunt, meliora tempora praestolantur. b) Calamitatum eausa ei remediom 4, 7-14. "s « Crebro admonet sciens id in rem esse audientium ; sic Paulus scribit » : « eadem scribere vobis mihi quidem non pigrum, vobis autem necessarium » (Phil. 3, 4) — ita S. Cyr. notat ad v. '1 « Haec dicit Dominus exercituum : ponite corda vestra super vias vestras !
1:8
v. 8 ascendite in montem, portate ligna et aedificate domum! et acceptabilis mihi erit et glorificabor, dicit Dominus » ; — monitio distincta et per singula explicata magis animos ferire solet, simulque pandit, quantum ea res mcnenti sit cordi et curae. Montem multi intelligunt Libanum, ex quo cedri ad templi structuram comportaeri antea solebant (Esd. 3, 1; cf. Rib. Sanct. Sa, Lap. Tir. Calm.), id quod etiam ipsius templi dignitas videbatur postulare (Schegg) ; sed cum certe non solum ligna cedrina adhiberentur et in rebus istis afflictis lignorum a Tyriis Sidoniisque acquisitio videatur difficilior neque ipsi satis apte admonerentur Iudaei, ut ad montem Libanum se conferrent, melius cum aliis dices, prophetam magis in universum dicere, ut materiam ad aedificium necessariam comportent. Cur lignorum solum mentio fiat, multi subtilius quaerunt. Iudaeorum fabulas omitto, quas legere potes apud S. Hier. Sanct. Lap. ; rationem aliam reddit Sanct., superfuisse saxa ex priore templo, lapides scil. sanctuarij, quos dispersos dicit Ieremias per capita omnium platearum (Lament. 4, 1); sed nonne simplicius est ac verum dicere, prophetam ex variis operibus, quae praestanda erant, unum ad exemplum protulisse, ceteris utique neque exclusis neque negatis? Si operam suam in opere Dei collocant, tunc complacebo mihi in eo (hebr.), id Domino erit gratum acceptumque, tunc iis cum gratia reconciliabitur et glorificabo me (hebr.) i. e. singulari protectione beneficiisque praestitis Deus gloriam suam ac potentiam coram ludaeis et « populis terrae » praeclare manifestabit (Calm.). Si ipsum honoraverint, etiam Deus se illis exhibebit gloriosum ; « ego vicissim hoc vestro templi aedificio delectatus ea vobis beneficia conferam, quae me palam ostendent illos maxime iuvare valentem qui benevolo obsequio mihi obediunt » (Theod. M.). In hac Dei gloria etiam ipsi gloria illustrabuntur. Sensus. iste fecundior est et ad modum loquendi s. literarum plane factus (cf. Ex. 14, 4. 1'l. 18. Lev. 10, 3. Is. 24, 14; 43, 20; 66, 5), quare praeferendus est alteri explicationi : tunc hymnis etc. in templo honorabor. Prae- - clara promissione populum excitat Deus; nam apud populos Dominus tunc magna cum gloria et maiestatis veneratione nominatur, quando populus Domini prospere agit, dum e contra populi conditionem miseram et abiectam in ipsius Domini opprobrium vertunt. A spe praeclara ut oculos dirigant ad praesentem miseriam quam diu iam experiuntur, eiusque causam intime sibi persuadeant, hortatur : quare quoties spe sint delusi, commemorat :
1:9
v. 9 « respezistis ad amplius, et ecce, factum est minus ; et antulistis in domum et exsufflavi illud. Quam ob causam ? dicit Dominus exercituum ; quia domus mea deserta est, et vos festinatis unusquisque in. domum suam » ; — i. e. messis omni exspectatione erat minor et pauca illa quae in horreis condita sunt, Dei benedictione subtracta parum profuerunt vel in ipsis horreis perierunt; « quae fruges natae videbantur, eas pessum dedi » (Theod. M.), « ex ipsis receptaculis dissipavi » (TAeod.), dispersi, quasi vento abstuli. Subtilius explicant alii : frumentum emortuum et. vacui folliculi farinam et similam non habebant (S. Hier. Alb. Rib.) ; grana erant vana, vel vermiculis corrumpebantur (Sanct9. Sensum bene expressit Chald. : « immittam in illud maledictionem ». Quo magis reddantur attenti, ipse Deus iis ponit quaestionem et responsum subiungit, quo impietas eorum breviter'sed nervose carpitur : Dei domus iacet deserta; nemo hac re tangitur; verum pro sua quisque domo festinant, magno studio, sedula diligentia discurrunt, laborant, sudant, ut suas domus non solum exstruant, sed exornent (cf. v. 4). Sed quia Domini curam non habent, etiam Dominus non habuit curam de rebus ipsorum
1:10
v. 10 « propter hoc super vos prohibiti sunt. coeli ne darent rorem, et terra prohibita est ne daret germen suum » ; — hebr. etiam magis emphatice vertere potes : propter hoc causa vestra ! coel? concluserunt rorem i. e. propter vos, propter culpas vestras, uti Chald. explicat ; et terra retinuit proventum suum ; « non solum, inquit, coeli. 1. by hanc etiam habere significationem constat, uti ex pluribus loquendi formis my, 2175y etc. elucet alioque usu, v. g. Ps. 44, 23 « propter te mortificamur tota die » ; Ruth. pluviam non dederunt, quibus irrigata humus fructus facit, sed ne rorem quidem matutinum atque nocturnum, ut arentes agri saltem humore modico temperarentur » (S. Hier.). Ut ipso vocis sono poena iustissimae alionis iis indicetur, in hebr. est « elegans paronomasia, qua poena aludit ad culpam : quia, inquit, domus mea est c/iareb, deserta, hinc ego pariter vocavi choreb, siccitatem » (Lap.) ;
1:11
v. 44 « et vocavi siccitatem super terram et super montes et super triticum et super vinum et super oleum et quaecumque profert humus, et super homines et super iumenta et super. omnem laborem manuum » ; — regionem campestrem et montanam, omnia genera frugum, homines et iumenta et cuncta denique dicit esse afflicta et prostrata, in quibus operam collocare solebant. Hac enumeratione singula eis ob oculos ponens stimulos addit, quibus e socordia et gravi negligentiae sopore excitentur et malis praesentibus ad meliora consilia propellantur. Adnotat S. Ilier. : « pro siccitate Septuaginta pá&yaipzv i. e. gladium transtulerunt ; :Ssed et in hebraico tribus literis scriptum reperi (33r) heth, res, beth, quod si hareb legimus, gladium sonat;si oreb xxóowoya, quod nos transtulimus siccilatem, licet melius in ventum urentem transferri possit. Et revera quoniam sermo de terra est et de agrorum sterilitate, magis mihi videtur ventus urens in praesenti loco. intelligi : debere, quam gladius ; licet omnis plaga quae propter peccata hominibus inferatur, possit et pro gladio accipi ». Etiam Syrus exprimit gladium (ef. Soph. 2, 14) ; Ghaid. rite siccitatem.
1:12
v. 12 « Et audivit Zorobabel filius Salathiel et Iesus filius Iosedec sacerdos magnus et omnes reliquiae populi vocem Domini Dei sui et verba Aggaei prophetae, sicut misit eum Dominus Deus eorum ad eos; ct timuit. populus a facie Domini » ; — reliquiae omnes illi sunt, qui ex exsilio redierunt, qui nu- Tnero non adeo multi populi electi olim numerosissimi solum pars quaedam et reliquiae censentur (cf. Is. 10, 21. 22); reliquias enim esse reversuras i. e. partem quandam electam prophetae saepe annuntiarant (cf. Ier. 93, 3; 44, 42. Mich. 2, 12; 4,1; "1, 18. Soph. 2, 9; 3, 13 etc.). Deus vero statim magna benignitate iis occurrit, qui ad ipsum corde sincero sese convertunt; «nempe ut ostendat, quod simul ac mores immutarunt et aedificando templo studium impenderunt, statim Deus promiserit se patrocinium ad omnia exhibiturum » (Theod. M.), novo nuntio approbationis et confortationis Aggaeum ad eos mittit;
«Initium sapientiae timor Domini ». Postquam docente propheta cau- :sam irae et indignationis Dei didicerunt, salutari timore percelluntur, quae sane optima est vitae melioris praeparatio ;
1:13
v. 43 «et dixit Aggaeus, nuntius Domini de nuntiis Domini, populo dicens : ego vobiscum sum, dicit Dominus » ; — i. e. se loqui ait tamquam legatus ac nuntius Domini, nomine, auctoritate, mandato Dei; hebr. verte : dizit... in legatione Domini ; quo significat Deum eorum voluntatem habere ratam et in signum ac pignus approbationis speciali missione cum verbo consolatorio prophetam ad eos delegasse. Pauca quidem verba sunt ego vobiscum ; at sensu plenissima, efficacia potentissima; cconfidite, inquit, quoniam me et operis participem et adiutorem habetis » (Theod.) ; « est autem notandum in hoc propheta et in Zacharia saepius repeti dicit Dominus, quia populus auctoritate et vi verborum Domini erigi debebat » (Rib.). «de propketis, de numero prophetarum », quasi Ággaeus nihil aliud diceret, quam se prophetam esse unum de prophetis, id quod quam ieiunum sit ac frigidum, nemo non persentiscit, sed ex hebr. in legalione i. e. sermonem protulit ex iis quos tamquam nuntios perferendos a Domino acceperat (Sanct.). Eundem sensum textus hebr. exprimunt Syrus et Chald. ; at LXX habent iv év1o ; ita Theod. quoque secundum cod. syr. hexapl, Ex qua interpretatione apud aliquos, quorum meminerunt S. Hier. aliique (Haim. Lap. Calm.), opinio orta est Aggaeum qui dicatur £yye3o; &v &rybAo; angelum füisse humana forma indutum. Textum hebr. Houbig. interpretatur : « nuntius Domini propter opus ni»N (in statu constr.), quae vox dempta punctatione iisdem literis constat ; de qua significatione cf. 4 Chron. 93, 4. Esd. 3, 8 et fere etiam Ps. 73, 28. Statim cernitur « confortationis effectus » (Alb.) ;
1:14
v. 14 « et suscitavit Dominus spiritum Zorobabel filii Salathiel, ducis Iuda, et spiritum Jesu filii losedec sacerdotis magni, et spiritum reliquorum de omni populo ; et ingressi sunt et faciebant opus in. domo Domini exercituum Dei sui;
1:1
… 15-22; Jer. 23, 16; 20, 7-9, 15, 19; 14, 14; Ezek. 13, 3-17; Mic. 3, 5-8; Zech. 7, 12; cf. II Sam. 7, 1 ff.), declares divine (Hos. 4, 1; Joel 1, 1; Am. 1, 6, 9, 11, 13; 2, 1 etc.; Obad. 1; Jon. 1, 1; 3, 1; Mic. 1, 1; 3, 5; 6, 1; Nah. 1, 12; Zeph. 1, 1; Hag. 1, 1; 2, 1, 11, 21; Zech. 1, 1; 7, 1 ff.) what he has written; reports visions, revelations or supernatural dreams (Num. 12, 6 ff.; Is. 6, 20; Jer. 1, 11-16; Ezek. 4, 1-5, 4; Jer. 4, 20 …
JOSEDEC. - Father of the high priest Jesus (Hag. 1, 1.12.14; 2, 3.5; Zech. 6, 11; Sir. 49, 14).
… Samaritans (Ezra 4:1-3). After the rebuilding, forcibly suspended, was resumed at the urging of Haggai and Zechariah (year 520), J. solemnly consecrated the new Temple in 516 (Ezra 5:1 ff.; 6:14-17). J., with Zerubbabel, had been the animator of everything (Hag. 1:1-12, 14; Zech. 1-8). His zeal is praised by Sir. 49:14.
Salathiel (Heb. Sē'alt'ēl - «Asked of God»)
… Sē'alt'ēl - «Asked of God»). - Father of Zerubbabel (v.) in Ezra 3:2; 5:2; Neh. 12:1; Hag. 1:1, 12, 14; 2:3, 24; 1 Chron. 3:17 and in the genealogies of Jesus (Matt. 1:12; Luke 3:27).
Zerubbabel (Heb. Zerubbābel, Babylonian name, Zir-Babili, "Seed" or "Sprout of Babel")
… The work was resumed in the 2nd year of King Darius (520 B.C.), thanks to the urging of the prophet Haggai (Hag. 1:1 ff.) and then of Zechariah (Zech. 1-8), which served to shake off the inertia and overcome the Jews' sense of distrust. …
1:7
… Ezek. 4, 1-5, 4; Jer. 4, 20 ff.; Is. 5, 9; 22, 14; Ezek. 9, 1; Jer. 20, 7-12; 23, 28; Mic. 3, 8; Is. 6, 6-9; Jer. 1, 17-19; Ezek. 3, 8-9). The hagiographer or biblical writer is therefore the intermediary through whom God speaks or writes (Hos. 1, 1-2; Hag. 1, 7; Mal. 1, 1), he is the mouth of God (Jer. 15, 19; Is. 30, 2, in accordance with Ex. 4, 15 ff.; 7, 1). Some symbolic actions describe plastically the divine influence on the prophet-writer, …
1:11
… of Judah," a title that also belongs to Zerubbabel, son of a son of King Jehoiachin (1 Chron. 3:17-19); S. is appointed by Cyrus pehāh, that is, "governor" (Ezra 5:14), and Zerubbabel bears the title of "governor of Judah" in the 2nd year of Darius (Hag. 1:11); to the one and to the other are attributed almost identical directive roles in the return of the exiles (Ezra 1:8-11 and 2:2; 3:2; 4:2); S. lays the foundations of the Temple of …
1:12
… True, the repatriates are the foretold "remnant" (Hag. 1, 12; Zech. 8, 6.11; cf. 2, 9.14 [Vulg. 2, 5.10]), the Israel of the promises (Zech. 1, 7-17; 2, 5-17 [Vulg. 2, 1-13]; Mal. 1, 1-5; Joel 2, 18 f. 26 f.), the heirs of the covenant of Sinai …
In setting out on the long desert road for the return to their homeland, the exiles regarded themselves as "the true people of Yahweh," "the remnant" or "holy seed" that Yahweh had reserved for himself (Ezra 2:2b; 9:8; Hag. 1:12). They thought that the promises of prosperity which fill the 2nd part of Is. and Ez. 34:25-31; 35; 36; 47 were being realized in them; these are the chapters to which Zech. …
1:14
… identical directive roles in the return of the exiles (Ezra 1:8-11 and 2:2; 3:2; 4:2); S. lays the foundations of the Temple of Jerusalem (ibid. 5:16), and Zerubbabel too undertakes its reconstruction a first and a second time (ibid. 3:8 ff.; 5:2 ff.; Hag. 1:14; Zech. 4:9). Against the identification, however, there are difficulties: first of all, in the documents it is never expressly stated that S. and Zerubbabel are the same person; moreover, …
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.