Editing Book of Haggai (section)

== Date ==
The ''Book of Haggai'' records events in 520&nbsp;BC, some 18 years after [[Cyrus the Great|Cyrus]] had conquered [[Babylon]] and issued a decree in 538&nbsp;BC, allowing the captive Judahites to return to Judea. Cyrus saw the restoration of the temple as necessary for the restoration of religious practices and a sense of peoplehood, after the long exile.<ref name=":0">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=The Book of Haggai {{!}} Hebrew Prophecy, Minor Prophet, Restoration |encyclopedia=Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Book-of-Haggai |access-date=2023-12-25 |language=en}}</ref> The precise date of the written text is uncertain but most likely dates to within a generation of Haggai himself.<ref name=":0" /> A traditional consensus dates the completion of the text to c. 515 BC.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Joachimsen|first1=Kristin|year=2022|title=Yehudite Imaginations of King Darius and His Officials: Views from the Province beyond the River|journal=Religions|volume=13|number=3|page=262 |quote=Hag 2:18 describes how the temple’s foundations were laid in the second year of Darius, but neither Haggai nor Zechariah 1–8 mentions the completion of the temple. For that reason, many have concluded that these writings must be dated before 515 BCE (Ristau 2016, p. 119).|doi=10.3390/rel13030262|doi-access=free |hdl=11250/3026968|hdl-access=free}}</ref> Other scholars consider the book to be completed around 417 BC, arguing that it did not refer to [[Darius the Great]] (Darius I), but to [[Darius II]] (424-405 BC).<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Joachimsen|first1=Kristin|year=2022|title=Yehudite Imaginations of King Darius and His Officials: Views from the Province beyond the River|journal=Religions|volume=13|number=3|page=262 |quote=While most scholars identify Darius referred to in the Books of Haggai, Zechariah, and Ezra as Darius I (522–486 BCE), some take these references to be Darius II (424–405 BCE) (Dequeker 1993; Hallaschka 2010; Becking 2018).|doi=10.3390/rel13030262|doi-access=free |hdl=11250/3026968|hdl-access=free}}</ref>