In the second year of Darius—Abarbanel has already explained this, and I too have elaborated upon this vision in many places: from the time of the first exile under Sennacherib, the period of the future redemption had already begun. From that time onward, the prophets prophesied concerning the redemption, and the matter depended upon whether Israel would merit it. Had they merited it, they would have been redeemed immediately, either in the days of Hezekiah or in the days of Josiah (as I wrote on Zephaniah 3). But because they did not merit it, they were exiled to Babylon through their trespass, in order “to finish the transgression and to bring sin to an end.” When Hashem saw that, had they remained in the Babylonian exile, they would have become assimilated among the gentiles and departed entirely from the faith—for the holy seed had already intermingled with the peoples of the lands, and they had forgotten their language and their Torah—He therefore granted them a limited visitation of deliverance through Cyrus. The Men of the Great Assembly ascended with them, and they restored the Torah and its crown to their former glory. Although the time of the future redemption had not yet arrived—for Daniel had seen the four kingdoms that would rule over Israel, and several prophets likewise saw and revealed to him in a vision that the appointed time for the end of the wonders was still exceedingly distant—it was nevertheless possible for that time to become the time of redemption, had they returned to Hashem in complete repentance and had they all ascended together “as a wall.” As our Sages said: “Israel were worthy that a miracle should have been performed for them in the days of Ezra,” but sin prevented it. There are likewise several other teachings of our Sages that indicate this. At the time the Temple was built, this possibility still remained suspended and undecided. Had they returned in repentance, Zerubbabel would have become the Messiah-King, and the Temple would have been established as His eternal dwelling place. Therefore, the light of prophecy shone upon them once again through the final prophets—Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi—who arose at that time, encouraged them concerning the building and repentance, and revealed to them this secret: that the matter depended upon them. But because they did not merit it, the Second Temple was merely a temporary Sanctuary, destined eventually to be destroyed by the Romans. It also lacked five things, as our Sages taught regarding the word ve’ekkavedah, “and I shall be glorified.” Now, in the days of the first Cyrus, permission was granted for them to ascend to the Land of Israel, and they then began constructing the Temple. The work was halted by the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin until the reign of Darius, for the time for its construction had not yet arrived. They therefore despaired of building it, since they had received no further royal authorization to proceed. Haggai consequently prophesied in the name of Hashem that they should begin construction and not wait for authorization, because the appointed time had arrived. The Divine word was addressed to Zerubbabel because, had they merited it and the true redemption occurred at that time, Hashem would have caused the horn of the house of David to flourish, and Zerubbabel would have been the Messiah. But because they did not merit it, Zerubbabel returned to Babylon and died there. In the End of Days, the Branch is destined to sprout from among his descendants. The commentators have already written that Zerubbabel was not actually the son of Shealtiel, but the son of Pedaiah; Pedaiah was Shealtiel’s son, and Zerubbabel was therefore called by the name of his grandfather.

This people has said, “The time has not come”—It was a tradition received by the nation from the earlier prophets that before the true redemption there must be signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, as well as the war of Gog and Magog, just as all the prophets who prophesied concerning the End of Days had foretold. Since they saw that none of the preparations that must precede the redemption had occurred at that time, they said, “The time has not come—the time”; that is, the time serving as preparation for the arrival of the time when the House of Hashem would be built had not yet come. How, then, could it be said that the time for building had arrived when the time that must precede the building—the time of signs and wonders—had not yet arrived? Furthermore, a condition for building the Temple was that they should first have rest from their enemies, as they had at the time of the building of Solomon’s Temple. Yet even the time of rest had not arrived, for they remained subject to the kings of Media and Persia; and the time of redemption had to precede the time of building.

And the word of Hashem came—This too forms part of Hashem’s words, for He told Haggai to tell the people that this was why the word of Hashem had come through Haggai. That is, the light of prophecy had therefore begun to shine once again, as a sign that if they returned in repentance, prophecy would return to them as in former times, and the time of restoration would arrive.

Is it time for you?—That is, is there a proper time for you to dwell in your paneled houses? Surely this too should require the arrival of the time foretold by the prophets, when you would dwell in tranquility; yet concerning this, you do not ask whether the appointed time has arrived. But shall this House remain desolate? Only concerning this do you ask whether the time has arrived?

And now, thus says Hashem—You should recognize and determine that you must build the Temple, if you take your ways to heart and observe from experience that your deeds are not pleasing to God, for—

You have sown much but brought in little—This is contrary to the natural order, for one ordinarily harvests more than one sows. Moreover, even the little that you bring in is afflicted by a curse: you eat, but not to satisfaction; your clothing likewise provides no warmth; and even the wages you earn are cursed, as though the purse containing the money were pierced and everything were lost.

Thus says Hashem—Therefore, Hashem said: Since from this evidence you can see that Hashem desires the Temple, you should understand why “the time of the time” has not yet arrived—that is, the preparations that must precede the building of the Temple: Divine Providence, prophecy, wonders, and redemption. These depend upon the condition that you take your ways to heart—that is, the ways of your souls—by striving to return in repentance and correct your conduct. Then—

Go up to the mountain, bring wood, and build the House—After you first correct your ways, I will take pleasure in it—in the House—and then I will be glorified: miracles will be seen, the Divine Presence will dwell there, and the glory of Hashem will be revealed over the House; thus, the House will be pleasing to Hashem.

You looked—After informing them that the curse which had befallen them until then was caused by their lacking the House of Hashem, He told them that from now on—after they had already heard from the prophet that Hashem commanded them to build the House—if they were negligent in its construction, the curse would become an act of direct Divine Providence. Initially, the curse resulted only from the concealment of God’s countenance. Consequently, you looked for much—that is, only a small amount of grain grew from the seed they had sown. But now there would be a providential curse: even if you looked for much, having reaped an abundant harvest, nevertheless, behold, it became little; it would be cursed and reduced to a small amount. Furthermore, even after you brought the grain home, I blew upon it—that is, I burned it with the breath of My mouth. Why? says Hashem—because of My House, which lies desolate. Until now, before He had awakened them to undertake its construction, the curse was not a punishment for their failure to build. Rather, it resulted naturally from the absence of blessing, since the Temple is a condition for blessing. Had they brought much grain home, they would have retained much, in accordance with the natural order. But now it would come as punishment because the House lies desolate while each of you runs to his own house—that is, you make no effort to build the House of Hashem, but concern yourselves only with the needs of your own homes. Therefore, I will send a curse upon the grain stored within your houses.

Therefore, because of you—That is, until now the curse had not come through Hashem’s direct and particular Divine Providence. Rather, because of you the heavens withheld their dew: it came through the heavens and the natural order, which did not provide their dew, and through the nature of the earth, which withheld its produce. But from now on, when the punishment would be providential—

And I will call for a drought upon the land—The drought will come by My summons and command, not through the heavens. It will fall upon the grain and upon the wine, even though grain and wine have already been produced, and upon everything the ground brings forth, even though the ground yields its produce and does not withhold it. It will also encompass all the labor of your hands, upon which the heavens themselves would have no power to impose a curse.

And Zerubbabel obeyed—That is, Zerubbabel, Joshua, and all the remnant of the people—meaning the leaders among them—obeyed the voice of Hashem their God, Who had told them to take their ways to heart. They also obeyed the words of Haggai the prophet, whom Hashem had sent to command them, by Hashem’s instruction through His prophet, to build the House. And the people feared—The common people, however, merely feared Hashem because they were afraid of punishment. Nevertheless, they did not obey by beginning construction, because they had not received authorization from the king.

And Haggai, the messenger of Hashem, said—He then spoke to them in his capacity as Hashem’s messenger and by virtue of his Divine mission: I am with you. That is, they should neither fear nor wait for royal authorization, for Hashem was with them to assist them in this undertaking, and no harm would come to them from the king.

(14–15) And Hashem stirred—Hashem also awakened within them a spirit of courage and fear of Hashem. And they came and performed work—They began making preparations for the work of construction, and this occurred on the twenty-fourth day of the month.