Prophet
Prophet Prophet Haggai
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Prophet Haggai — tenth of the Twelve Minor Prophets, who urged the Jews returned from exile, led by Zerubbabel and the high priest Joshua, to complete the rebuilding of the Second Temple in Jerusalem.
Haggai, by tradition, came from a Levite priestly family and was born in the Babylonian exile, returning to Jerusalem as a young man together with Zerubbabel after the decree of the Persian king Cyrus freeing the Jews (538 BC). Tenth of the Twelve Minor Prophets, author of a short book, whose activity is precisely dated to 520 BC — the second year of the Persian king Darius I's reign.
The rebuilding of the Second Temple in Jerusalem had stalled for years due to Samaritan opposition, local hardship, and the people's preoccupation with their own homes ("Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?" — Haggai 1:4). Haggai's four prophetic addresses (alongside the ministry of the Prophet Zechariah) rallied the governor Zerubbabel, of the Davidic royal line, and the high priest Joshua, son of Jehozadak, to resume and complete the Temple's construction.
Haggai prophesied that the glory of this second house would exceed that of the first, Solomon's Temple — a prophecy interpreted by church tradition messianically: it was in this very sanctuary that "the Word Without Beginning" — Christ — would one day appear. He is venerated as a patron of diligence and a rebuker of indifference.