Editing Haggai (section)

==Life==
Scarcely anything is known of his personal history, with the book of Haggai offering no biographical details about his ancestry or anything else in his life outside the prophecies of 520&nbsp;BCE. Haggai is only mentioned in one other book of the Bible, the book of Ezra.<ref>''Bible'' Ezra 5:1, Ezra 6:14.</ref> He may have been one of the [[Babylonian captivity|captives taken to Babylon]] by [[Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon|Nebuchadnezzar]]. Some commenters suggest he may have been an old man, and seen the previous temple before its destruction due to what he says about the former glory of the Temple in Haggai 2:3.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Bentley |first=Michael |title=Building for God's Glory: Haggai & Zechariah simply explained |publisher=Evangelical Press |year=1989 |isbn=0852342594 |location=Darlington, England |pages=}}</ref> He began God's prophecy about sixteen years after the [[Babylonian captivity#Return|return of the Jews to Judah]] (ca. {{Circa|520 BCE}}). The work of rebuilding the [[Second Temple|temple]] had been put to a stop through the intrigues of the [[Samaritan]]s. After having been suspended for eighteen years, the work was resumed through the efforts of Haggai and Zechariah.<ref>''Bible,'' {{Bibleverse||Ezra|6:14|131}}</ref> They exhorted the people, which roused them from their lethargy, and induced them to take advantage of a change in the policy of the Persian government under [[Darius I]].