Read this if you…
- want one of the shortest prophetic books — two chapters, four dated oracles, no fluff
- like a practical-minded prophet whose argument is essentially 'your economy is bad because you haven't rebuilt the Temple'
- care about post-exilic literature: the unglamorous work of putting a defeated nation back together
Skip this if you…
- don't want to read explicitly religious/Christian texts
Depicted in Art
Bust-length portrait of Haggai in dark robes and turban, white beard, gazing intently — part of Tissot's Old Testament watercolor series.
James Tissot, 1900
Cupola fresco of Haggai among the Old Testament prophets, painted in Guercino's airy late-Baroque manner with theatrical sky and drapery.
Guercino, 1627
Half-length figure of the prophet in the lunette of a lateral chapel, gripping a scroll, rendered in Ribera's stark Caravaggesque chiaroscuro.
Jusepe de Ribera, 1640
Carved marble figure of the prophet, originally part of the sculpted facade program of Siena Cathedral, now a fragment in a museum collection.
Giovanni Pisano, 1290
The prophet stands on clouds in flowing robes, scroll in hand, in a Mannerist composition framed for an altarpiece setting.
Moretto da Brescia
Woodcut portrait of the prophet in profile, scroll in hand, set in a panel on the Old Testament page of the Nuremberg Chronicle.
Michael Wolgemut, 1493
Historiated initial opening the Book of Haggai in a 13th-century Cistercian Bible, with the prophet figured inside the letter.
1220
Byzantine miniature of the prophet Haggai standing in robes against a gold ground, captioned in Greek, on a page of the imperial menologion.
985
Recommended Editions
King James Version
Oxford University Press · 1611
The most influential and commonly quoted translation in English. The prose rhythm everyone else is responding to, even modern translations.
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Notable Quotes
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.
- Matthew Henry, Presbyterian minister & biblical commentator, 1662–1714: "Haggai is the first that appears under the character of a special messenger from heaven."
- Charles Spurgeon, Baptist preacher, the "Prince of Preachers," 1834–1892: "Oh, that the Word of the Lord were more precious to us in these days!"