{"id":78966,"date":"2020-08-18T16:46:05","date_gmt":"2020-08-18T13:46:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=78966"},"modified":"2020-08-18T16:46:05","modified_gmt":"2020-08-18T13:46:05","slug":"an-angelic-prophet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/an-angelic-prophet\/","title":{"rendered":"An Angelic Prophet"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Book of Haggai opens with a detailed superscription: \u201cIn the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, this word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, the governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest\u201d (Haggai 1:1). This allows modern Biblical scholars to date Haggai\u2019s opening prophecy very precisely to August 29, 520 BCE. In this year, Darius the Great decisively completed his rule over the immense Persian Empire including Judah, which he memorialized in<\/span> the famous trilingual Behistun Inscription<\/span><\/a>. Darius\u2019 predecessor, Cyrus, founder of the first Persian Empire, allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple (see Ezra 1:1-4, 2 Chronicles 36:22-23), a policy that was followed by his successors including Darius.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Significantly, the name Haggai, which might be translated \u201cmy pilgrimage festivals\u201d, reflects this Prophet\u2019s insistence on taking the opportunity provided to immediately begin the rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem, which would have permitted the renewal of the annual pilgrimages to Jerusalem. In 520 BCE, Haggai would have been very old, if as adduced in 2:3 he was among those who could still recall having seen the first Temple. Moreover, Baba Batra 15a includes Haggai among \u201cthe Men of the Great Assembly\u201d that led the Jewish People from the time of the last of Biblical prophets until the beginning of the Rabbinic period. Indeed, the Rabbinic Sages credited the Prophet Haggai with a number of Halakhic rulings, which he pronounced while \u201csitting on the mortar — <\/span>medukhah<\/span><\/em>\u201d (Yevamot 16a). This dramatic depiction of the Prophet Haggai as a halakhic authority became a proverbial expression in later Hebrew \u2013 \u201che sat on the mortar \u2013 <\/span>yashav \u2018al ha-medukhah<\/span><\/em>\u201d \u2013 he mentally \u201cpulverized\u201d a problem at length.<\/span><\/p>\n

Toward the end of our opening chapter, we are told: \u201cAnd Haggai, the Lord\u2019s messenger (<\/span>malakh<\/span><\/em>), fulfilling the Lord\u2019s mission (<\/span>malakhut<\/span><\/em>), spoke to the people, \u201cI am with you\u2014declares the Lord\u201d (1:13).<\/span><\/p>\n

Midrash Leviticus Rabbah 1:1 preserves a Rabbinic tradition that Haggai, and other prophets, were referred to as <\/span>Malakhim<\/span><\/em>, i.e. angelic messengers. \u201cBless the Lord, O His angels (<\/span>malakhim<\/span><\/em>)<\/span><\/i>, mighty creatures who do His bidding, ever obedient to His bidding\u201d (Psalms 103:20). Scripture is here using the term <\/span>malakhim<\/span><\/em> to refer not to heavenly angels, but rather to earthly messengers, i.e. prophets. As it is written: \u201cHe sent a messenger (<\/span>malakh<\/span><\/em>) who freed us from Egypt\u201d (Numbers 20:16). Was this \u201cmessenger\u201d then a celestial angel of the Lord? No! Surely, it was Moses! So, why then does Scripture here refer to Moses as a <\/span>malakh<\/span><\/em>? To teach us that the prophets are called <\/span>malakhim<\/em> <\/span>\u2026Rabbi Yohanan (180\u2013279 CE) said: From their paternity (<\/span>mi-bet av shelahem<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>i.e. the decisive text that) the prophets were called <\/span>malakhim<\/span><\/em> is: \u201cAnd Haggai, the Lord\u2019s messenger (<\/span>malakh<\/span><\/em>), fulfilling the Lord\u2019s mission (<\/span>malakhut<\/span><\/em>), spoke to the people, I am with you\u2014declares the Lord\u201d (1:13).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Image: The Prophet Haggai, from Prophets and Sibyls, Rosselli and Baldini, c. 1485 \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":78967,"id":78967,"title":"hag1-the_Prophet_Haggai-sitting","filename":"hag1-the_Prophet_Haggai-sitting.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hag1-the_Prophet_Haggai-sitting.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/an-angelic-prophet\/hag1-the_prophet_haggai-sitting\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"hag1-the_prophet_haggai-sitting","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":78966,"date":"2020-08-18 13:45:49","modified":"2020-08-18 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