“In the second year
Of King Darius,
In the sixth month,
On the first day
Of the month,
The word of Yahweh
Came by the prophet Haggai,
To Zerubbabel,
The son of Shealtiel,
Governor of Judah.
It also came
To Joshua,
The son of Jehozadak,
The high priest.”
There is a precise date to this prophetic happening, August, 520 BCE, the second year of the great King Darius of Persia (522-486 BCE). During his reign, he ruled over nearly ½ of the known world, over 50,000,000 people. The word of Yahweh came through the prophet Haggai, although there is no mention of his family. Perhaps he was one of those returning from the exile in Babylon. In the Book of Ezra, chapter 5, Haggai and Zechariah were explicitly mentioned as prophets. There was also a eunuch servant Haggai in the Book of Esther, but there seems to be no connection to this Haggai. This Haggai was to prophesize to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, who was the grandson of one of the last kings of Judah, King Jehoiachin (598 BCE). Thus, he could be in the Davidic line. He probably died sometime around 520 BCE, sometime around the events described here. King Cyrus had appointed Zerubbabel to be the Governor of Judah in 538 BCE, when he was among the first exiles sent back to Jerusalem. Joshua, the son of Jehozadak was the high priest in Jerusalem from 515-490 BCE.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 