saint
Prophet Haggai the Prophet
Post-exilic prophet who in 520 BC roused the returned community from its inertia to rebuild the temple, promising that the glory of the latter house would exceed the former through the one in whom all nations would be shaken.
Prophet Haggai — Hand-curated icon.
Life
Haggai was a prophet of Judah in the post-exilic period, who returned from Babylon to Jerusalem with the first wave of exiles under Zerubbabel and Joshua the high priest in 538 BC. His short book of two chapters dates precisely from the year 520, the second year of the Persian King Darius — the year in which the construction of the Second Temple was finally undertaken after fifteen years of delays.
Haggai's prophecy is severe: he charges the returned exiles with having built their own houses while leaving the house of God in ruins, and warns that the prosperity they have sought has eluded them precisely because their priorities have been inverted. His call is heard. Zerubbabel and Joshua, together with the gathered people, take up the work, and the prophecy that follows promises that the latter house — the Second Temple, smaller and less grand than Solomon's — will surpass the former in glory because the Messiah Himself will appear within it. The fulfillment of this prophecy in the visits of Christ to the Second Temple is one of the central themes of the early Christian reading of the prophets.
Haggai is buried among the priests in Jerusalem. His feast falls on December 16.
Traditions
Feast day
December 16
Topics
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