Commentary on the Twelve Minor Prophets

Cyril of Alexandria (376–444)

COMMENTARY OF THE SAME ON THE PROPHET HAGGAI

The purpose of the prophecy of Haggai having come about for certain other reasons we might observe, and not for the reasons one might suppose the words of the others came to be. For the divine Hosea and indeed those who follow, up to Zephaniah, foretold what would happen to the Jews at various times, and as the times of the captivity were all but upon them, they tried to frighten Israel, naming up and down the phalanxes of the enemies, the destructions of cities, the burnings, the plunderings, and usefully foretelling the devastation of the whole land to those who had chosen to be contemptuous. For they thought that even if they did not choose to fulfill what is pleasing to God from a good disposition, and to be engaged in efforts for the better, they would at least be such as to shudder at the magnitude of the disaster. But Haggai, as the times of the captivity were already completed, and Israel had been brought back to the holy city from the land of the Persians and Medes, makes his speeches, for such reasons. For Cyrus released them from captivity, and together with the sacred vessels he commanded them to go home, and to build again…

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