Table of Contents
Haggai 2
Haggai 2
1 In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, came the word of the Lord by the prophet Haggai, saying,
2 Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and to the residue of the people, saying,
3 Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?
4 Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the Lord; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the Lord, and work: for I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts:
5 According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not.
6 For thus saith the Lord of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;
7 And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts.
8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts.
9 The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts.
10 In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying,
11 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying,
12 If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No.
13 Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.
14 Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the Lord; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean.
15 And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the Lord:
16 Since those days were, when one came to an heap of twenty measures, there were but ten: when one came to the pressfat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty.
17 I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labours of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, saith the Lord.
18 Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid, consider it.
19 Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you.
20 And again the word of the Lord came unto Haggai in the four and twentieth day of the month, saying,
21 Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth;
22 And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother.
23 In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the Lord, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the Lord of hosts.
Notes
Cross Reference
Commentary
Rashi
Verse 3
<html><b>Who among you is left</b> who was of the exiles and is still alive? <b>who saw, etc.</b> Who saw the first one this [one] is of no esteem in his eyes. <b>is it not as nothing</b> I know that to one who saw the first one, this one is but nothing in his eyes. <b>is it… as nothing</b> It and nothing are equal, as in (Hos. 4:9) “And it shall be like people like priest” Here, too, כָמֹהוּ כְּאַיִן ; it [the Second Temple] and nothing are equal.</html>
Verse 5
<html><b>the thing that I set up</b> You keep My Torah, and My spirit rests on your prophets; do not fear.</html>
Verse 6
<html><b>another one… [for] a little while</b> When this kingdom of Persia, which rules over you, terminates, yet another one will rise up to rule over you, to oppress you; this is the kingdom of Greece, and the time of its rule will be a little while. <b>and I will shake up</b> with the miracles performed for the Hasmoneans. <b>the heaven, etc.</b> And they will understand that My Shechinah rests in this House, and they will bring gifts of silver and gold, as is written in the book of Joseph ben Gurion.</html>
Verse 8
<html><b>The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine</b> and it is in My power to bring it to whomever I desire.</html>
Verse 9
<html><b>shall be greater</b> There was a controversy between Rav and Samuel. One said: In the building; and one said: In the years, that the years of the First Temple were four hundred and ten, and those of the Second Temple were four hundred and twenty.</html>
Verse 11
<html><b>Now ask the priests the Torah</b> Perhaps in exile they forgot the laws of sanctified things, and of impurity and purity.</html>
Verse 12
<html><b>contaminated flesh</b> flesh of contamination of a carcass as a creeping thing. <b>and the pottage</b> a cooked food <b>“No.”</b> It [the food] will [not] become contaminated. Rav and Shmuel disagree over this matter. One [Rav] says that the priests erred, for he [Haggai] asked them concerning a fourth degree contamination in reference to hallowed things, and they replied that it [the food] is ritually pure. One [Shmuel] says that the priests did not err, that he [Haggai] asked them concerning a fifth degree contamination in reference to hallowed things. <b>if it touches in his skirt</b> It did not touch the creeping thing itself but the garment, which is the first degree of contamination. <b>will it become contaminated?</b> Heb. הֲיִקְדָּשׁ </html>
Verse 13
<html><b>If the contamination of a dead body</b> The dead body itself. <b>It will become contaminated</b> For the dead body is the father of the father of contamination. The fifth degree of the contamination of the reptile or rodent is a fourth degree in the contamination of a dead body.</html>
Verse 14
<html><b>So is this people</b> Just as you err in this, so do you err in many halachot. <b>and whatever they will sacrifice there</b> if they do not put their hearts to learning.</html>
Verse 15
<html><b>and before</b> The years that passed. <b>before placing a stone upon a stone</b> Before you return to resume the building and to add to the foundation that you laid in the days of Cyrus - when it [the building] was stopped - now put your hearts to engage in the building and in studying the necessities of the priesthood.</html>
Verse 16
<html><b>so that they should not come to a heap of twenty measures</b> So that you should not have a curse sent into your works as [there has been] until now; for they would set up a heap from which twenty seahs should be measured, and would find only ten. <b>when one would come to the wine vat</b> That is the pit before the wine press, into which the wine flows. <b>to draw off fifty press-measures</b> To draw out from [the winevat] fifty measures with which they would measure wine from the winepresses, and the name [of those fifty measures] is purah. <b>to draw off</b> to draw, as in (Isa. 30:14) “To scoop water from a cistern”; and so (ibid. 47:2) “Draw off the path.” <b>and there would be twenty</b> Not that more of a curse is sent into the wine than is sent into the grain, but a person [may] err in estimating the measure of the winevat because it is deep, while the heap [of grain] stands before him. In tractate Avoth d’Rabbi Nathan (4:4) we learned a reason why a small measure is not mentioned with regard to wine, while it is mentioned with regard to grain, e.g.. to draw off twenty-five press measures and it was ten. This teaches us that wine is an extra measure for the world, and when the wine suffers, it is a symptom of a curse for the world. Since the wine must be plentiful, [the prophet] counts a larger number concerning it.</html>
Verse 18
<html><b>that the Temple of the Lord was founded</b> That now for the second time they began to add to the first foundation that they had built in the days of Cyrus.</html>
Verse 19
<html><b>The seed is still in the granary</b> You have not yet sown this year, and the trees have not yet ripened their fruits. From now on you shall sow at a time of blessing, for the building of the Temple will bring blessing into the work of your hands.</html>
Verse 22
<html><b>and I will destroy the power of the kingdoms of the nations</b> The kingdom of Persia, which now rules over the entire world, will fall into the hands of another kingdom at the end of thirty-four years from the building of the Temple, as we learned in tractate <i>Avodah Zarah</i> (9a).</html>
Verse 23
<html><b>and I will make you as a signet</b> In contrast to what was decreed upon his father Jeconiah (Jer. 22: 24): “As I live, says the Lord, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, be a signet on My right hand, from there I will remove you.” [Jeremiah further] states there (ibid. 22:30): “Inscribe this man childless.” We learn that his repentance availed [Jeconiah], and Zerubbabel was born to him, and he was made as a signet.</html>