'זה לא אותו הבית' - מבנה ומשמעות בחגי א 1-11

The first prophecy in the Book of Haggai (1:1–11) deals with the conflict between the prophet and the people concerning the rebuilding of the Temple. This prophecy has rough edges, redundancies and an unusual rhetorical structure: it contains two units with a nidentical opening and identical content – the discrepancy between the hope of agricultural prosperity and the actual poor reap. It opens with a description of the state of the economy,shifts to its solution (building the Temple) and ends with a curse.I argue that these difficulties result from a common but mistaken interpretation of thewords בו תּיִ חְ פַ נָ וְ יתִבַּ הַ תםֶ באֵ הֲ וַ in v. 9, as a depiction of the curse of poor reap stored in thehouses. I first argue why it is preferable, in terms of grammar, realia, and literary style, tounderstand this as a description of a rejected offering in the absence of a temple; I thenshow how this explanation solves the literary difficulties in the prophecy, revealing Haggai’smessage: the relationship between cult and agricultural prosperity.