Haggai

• DatesMessages from August to December 520 BC (settled)
• GenreMinor Prophets
• AuthorshipHaggai the prophet
• TimelineExile & Return (including the Second Temple period)
• Key textsHaggai 1; Haggai 2
• Read the textHaggai in the World English Bible
• Covered in classSession 3

What the sources say, and how sure we are

• The text says

  The book dates its four messages to the second year of Darius, beginning on the first day of the sixth month. The temple is finished in 516 BC.Hag 1:1; Hag 2:10; Ezra 6:15

• Outside evidence

  Persian records place the reign of Darius I at 522–486 BC, so the second year is 520 BC. This makes Haggai one of the most precisely dated books in the Bible.

• Christian conclusion

  The letter to the Hebrews quotes Haggai 2:6 about God shaking heaven and earth.Hag 2:6; Heb 12:26–27