Page:A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi and Jonah.djvu/73

Rh instead of resting his case at this point, to make sure that his exhortation will be heeded he repeats the second of his arguments (vv.$1–11$), giving it a form so direct and positive that it cannot be misunderstood, and so forcible that he who ignores it must take the attitude of defying the Almighty.

1. All the prophecies of Haggai were delivered in the second year of Darius. There are two, possibly three, persons, real or imaginary, mentioned by this name (Heb. Dārěyāwesh; Per. Dârayaya'ush) in the Old Testament. The first is "Darius the Mede," the mythical conqueror who, according to Dn. 6$9–11$/5$1$, "received the kingdom" of Babylon after the death of Belshazzar. The third is "Darius the Persian" (Ne. 12$31$).

The king to whom reference is here made is Darius Hystaspes. This is clear from Zc. 7$22$, where the prophet, who was a contemporary of Haggai, in a message delivered in the fourth year of Darius,