Best Haggai Commentaries for Bible Study, Preaching, and Teaching

The best Haggai commentaries are listed below. There are exegetical commentaries, scholarly and technical commentaries, as well as commentaries that are easy to understand. The “Top 10” list is based on aggregate reviews.

This list of commentaries is intended to help the reader understand and apply the author’s message in the book of Haggai. They are not suggested as a replacement for prayer, the Holy Spirit, and the reader’s own diligent study of Scripture.

It is hoped that these books will aid the Christian pastor, preacher, teacher, student, as well as any Bible reader that wants to understand more about Haggai.

May each reader’s aim be to glorify God in Jesus Christ; to strengthen Christ’s bride, the Church; and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost.

After browsing the commentaries below, please see Best Bible Commentaries: Top 50. Based on aggregate reviews.

10 Best Haggai Commentaries

Please read: The “Top 10” list below is a starting point for learning about Haggai commentaries. It is not intended to be the “final word” because of its limitations.

Nevertheless, a list based on aggregate reviews is likely to point many people in the right direction to find the right resource for their purposes.

#1

Haggai
The Minor Prophets: An Exegetical and Expositional Commentary
by J. Alec Motyer

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Micah Prophets commentary McComiskey

Reviews and Accolades:

• Desiring God: #1 commentary on The Minor Prophets

• Tremper Longman: “good solid exposition”

• Keith Mathison: #1 ranked commentary on Haggai, “When you see a book by Motyer, you know it will be well worth your time to read it.”

Approach to Scripture: Evangelical

Best for: expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Purpose: From the publisher: “With their messages of doom and judgment, the Minor Prophets have not been popular subjects in the history of biblical interpretation.

Here noted evangelical scholars — such as Bruce Waltke, Tremper Longman III, F. F. Bruce, and J. Alec Motyer — remedy this neglect by offering an authoritative, evangelical treatment of the prophets.

In this edition, which now combines three volumes into one, the authors not only provide meticulous exegesis of the Hebrew text but also relate the message of the ancient prophets to contemporary life in practical and meaningful ways.”

#2

Also see the best one-volume bible commentaries, based on aggregate reviews.

Haggai and Malachi
New International Commentary on the Old Testament
by Pieter A. Verhoef

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Haggai commentary Verhoef

Reviews and Accolades:

• Tremper Longman: “recommended as a scholarly guide to both of these prophetic books”

• John H. Walton and Andrew E. Hill: “Thorough research, careful exegesis, reverent exposition, and practical application characterize this commentary. The most detailed evangelical commentary available on Haggai.”

• Keith Mathison: #2 ranked commentary on Haggai, “For those who lack a knowledge of Hebrew, and are seeking a thorough commentary on Haggai, this volume is highly recommended.”

Approach to Scripture: Evangelical

Best for: expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Purpose: From the publisher: “All of the NICOT volumes combine superior scholarship, an evangelical view of Scripture as the Word of God, and concern for the life of faith today.

Each volume features an extensive introduction treating the biblical book’s authorship, date, purpose, structure, and theology. The author’s own translation of the original Hebrew and verse-by-verse commentary follow.

The commentary itself carefully balances coverage of technical matters with exposition of the biblical text’s theology and implications.” 

See more about the New International Commentary on the Old Testament series.

#3

Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi
Tyndale Old Testament Commentary
by Joyce Baldwin

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Haggai commentary Joyce Baldwin

Reviews and Accolades:

• Tremper Longman: “a very insightful, conservative commentary”

• Keith Mathison: #3 ranked commentary on Haggai, “clear and concise without being shallow”

Approach to Scripture: Evangelical

Best for: expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Purpose: From the publisher: This series is “designed to help readers understand what the Bible actually says and what it means… [each commentary] examines the text section by section, drawing out its main themes.

It also comments on individual verses and deals with problems of interpretation. The aim throughout is to get at the true meaning of the Bible and to make its message plain to readers today.”

See more about the Tyndale Old Testament Commentary series.

#4

Micah-Malachi
Word Biblical Commentary
by Ralph L. Smith

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Haggai commentary Smith

Reviews and Accolades:

• Tremper Longman: “solid and competent”

• Keith Mathison: #5 ranked commentary on Haggai, “worth consulting”

Approach to Scripture: Evangelical

Best for: expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Purpose: From the publisher: “WBC series delivers the best in biblical scholarship, from the leading scholars who share a commitment to Scripture as divine revelation.

It emphasizes a thorough analysis of textual, linguistic, structural, and theological evidence.

The result is judicious and balanced insight into the meanings of the text in the framework of biblical theology.” 

See more about the Word Biblical Commentary series.

#5

Haggai, Zechariah
NIV Application Commentary
by Mark J. Boda

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Haggai commentary Mark Boda

Reviews and Accolades:

• Tremper Longman: 5 out of 5 stars, “one of the meatier commentaries in the NIVAC series… has an excellent sense of theology and biblical theology”

Approach to Scripture: Evangelical

Best for: expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Purpose: From the General Editor: The primary goal of the NIV Application Commentary Series is to help you with the difficult but vital task of bringing an ancient message into a modern context.

The series not only focuses on application as a finished product but also helps you think through the process of moving from the original meaning of a passage to its contemporary significance.”

See more about the NIV Application Commentary series.

#6

Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi
Focus on the Bible
by John L. Mackay

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Haggai commentary John Mackay

Reviews and Accolades:

• Keith Mathison: #4 ranked commentary on Haggai, “particularly helpful for pastors seeking a way to communicate the meaning of this book to a contemporary audience”

Approach to Scripture: Evangelical

Best for: individual study, devotional reading, Bible studies, adult Sunday school classes

Purpose: From the publisher: “These commentaries are popular level commentaries especially useful for pastors and small group leaders. They are useful for personal devotions and spiritual growth.

Many of the authors of the commentaries are leading expositors of God’s Word on their specialty subjects. The series holds to the inerrancy of scripture and the uniqueness of Christ in salvation.”

See more about the Focus on the Bible commentary series.

#7

Haggai
The Forms of the Old Testament Literature
by Michael H. Floyd

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Haggai commentary Michael Floyd

Reviews and Accolades:

• Tremper Longman: 5 out of 5 stars, “this excellent work will only be helpful to scholars”

Best for: students, pastors, teachers, professors, and scholars with training in Hebrew who can follow a technical commentary

Purpose: From the publisher: “The Forms of the Old Testament Literature (FOTL) is a series of volumes that seeks to present, according to a standard outline and methodology, a form-critical analysis of every book or unit of the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible).

Fundamentally exegetical, each volume examines the structure, genre, setting, and intention of the biblical literature in question.

The series also endeavors to study the history behind the form-critical discussion of the material, to bring consistency to the terminology for the genres and formulas of the biblical literature, and to expose the exegetical procedure in such a way as to enable students and pastors to engage in their own analysis and interpretation.”

#8

Haggai, Zechariah 1-8
The Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries
by Carol Meyers

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Haggai commentary Anchor Meyers

Reviews and Accolades:

• Tremper Longman: 4 out of 5 stars, “full of helpful historical and archaeological comments”

Best for: students, pastors, teachers, professors, and scholars with training in Hebrew who can follow a technical commentary

Purpose: From the publisher: “The Anchor Yale Bible Series, previously the Anchor Bible Series, is a renowned publishing program that for more than 50 years has produced books devoted to the latest scholarship on the Bible and biblical topics.”

The series “vigorously pursues the goal of bringing to a wide audience the most important new ideas, the latest research findings, and the clearest possible analysis of the Bible.” See more about the Anchor Bible Commentary series.

#9

Haggai and Zechariah 1-8
The Old Testament Library
by David L. Petersen

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Haggai commentary David Petersen

Reviews and Accolades:

• Tremper Longman: 4 out of 5 stars, “interested in a positive interpretation of the books”

Best for: expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Purpose: From the publisher: “The Old Testament Library provides fresh and authoritative treatments of important aspects of Old Testament study through commentaries and general surveys. The contributors are scholars of international standing.”

See more about the Old Testament Library commentary series.

#10

Haggai
A Continental Commentary
by Hans Walter Wolff

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Haggai commentary  Wolff

Reviews and Accolades:

• Tremper Longman: 4 out of 5 stars, “clear, concise, and insightful”

Best for: students, pastors, teachers, professors, and scholars with training in Hebrew who can follow a technical commentary

Purpose: From the publisher: This series “makes leading critical biblical scholarship from German and French scholars available to the English-speaking world.

This series combines scholarly excellence with academic rigor to benefit pastors, students, and scholars of both the Old and New Testament…

Each book in the Continental Commentary Series includes comprehensive introductory material, including an explanation of narrative themes, an overview of the historical and cultural context, an analysis of textual traditions, and an evaluation of recent literature.”

See more about the Continental Commentary series.

More Book of Haggai Commentaries for Christian Ministry

Please read: Why are the 1 Corinthians commentaries below not in the “Top 10”? It’s not because they have received poor reviews or because people haven’t found them helpful. The reasons vary:

  • Some are relatively new and haven’t been widely reviewed, read, or used yet.
  • Others haven’t been widely distributed, so it is difficult to get enough information to aggregate.
  • Still others may be outdated in relation to biblical scholarship or out of print and difficult to acquire.

The “Top 10” list is reviewed annually. Readers are encouraged to consider the volumes in this section before making a purchase. These 10 are not in any particular order.


Haggai, Malachi
New American Commentary
by Richard A. Taylor and E. Ray Clendenen

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Haggai commentary

Reviews and Accolades:

• Tremper Longman: “very serious, well-researched exposition”

Approach to Scripture: Evangelical

Best for: expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Purpose: From the publisher: “The New American Commentary is introduced to bridge the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.”

This “series has been designed primarily to enable pastors, teachers, and students to read the Bible with clarity and proclaim it with power.”

See more about the New American Commentary series.


Zephaniah, Haggai, and Malachi
Reformed Expositional Commentary
by Iain M. Duguid and Matthew P. Hanson

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Haggai commentary

Approach to Scripture: Evangelical

Best for: individual study, devotional reading, Bible studies, adult Sunday school classes

Purpose: The REC series has “four fundamental commitments. First, these commentaries aim to be biblical… Second, these commentaries are unashamedly doctrinal… Third, these commentaries are redemptive-historical… Fourth, these commentaries are practical…” All authors are “pastor-scholars.”

See more about the Reformed Expository Commentary series.


Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
Interpretation
by Elizabeth Achtemeier

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Haggai commentary Interpretation

Best for: expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Purpose: From the publisher: “This series of commentaries offers an interpretation of the books of the Bible.

It is designed to meet the need of students, teachers, ministers, and priests for a contemporary expository commentary.

These volumes will not replace the historical critical commentary or homiletical aids to preaching.

The purpose of this series is rather to provide a third kind of resource, a commentary which presents the integrated result of historical and theological work with the biblical text.”

See more about the Interpretation Bible commentary series.


The Minor Prophets
by Charles L. Feinberg

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Micah commentary Feinberg

Approach to Scripture: Evangelical

Best for: individual study, devotional reading, Bible studies, adult Sunday school classes

Purpose: From the publisher: “A comprehensive commentary on all twelve of the minor prophets Free of footnotes and devotional in style.”


The Message of Ezra and Haggai
The Bible Speaks Today
by Robert Fyall

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Haggai commentary Fyall

Approach to Scripture: Evangelical

Best for: expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Purpose: From the publisher: The “the three distinctives of The Bible Speaks Today series are (1) “BST authors are committed to a serious study of the text in its own integrity,” (2) that “expositors should not be antiquarians, living only in the remote past” but suggest application for living, and (3) “each book is intended to be both readable in style and manageable in size.” 

See more about the Bible Speaks Today commentary series.


Haggai
Expositor’s Bible Commentary Revised
by Kenneth L. Barker

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Haggai commentary Expositor's

Approach to Scripture: Evangelical

Best for: expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Purpose: From the publisher: “Written primarily by expositors for expositors… its stance is that of a scholarly evangelicalism committed to the divine inspiration, complete trustworthiness, and full authority of the Bible… the chief principle followed in this commentary is the grammatico-historical.”

See more about the Expositor’s Bible Commentary series.


Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
Abingdon
by Julia M. O’Brien

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Haggai commentary Julia Brown

Best for: expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Purpose: From the publisher: “The Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries series offers compact, critical commentaries on all the books of the Old Testament.

In addition to providing fundamental information on and insights into Old Testament writings, these commentaries exemplify the tasks and procedures of careful, critical exegesis so as to assist students of the Old Testament in coming to an informed engagement of the biblical texts themselves.

These commentaries are written with special attention to the needs and interests of theology students, but they will also be useful for students in upper-level college or university settings, as well as for pastors and other church leaders.”

See more about Abingdon commentaries.


Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi
Apollos Old Testament Commentary
by Anthony R. Petterson

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Haggai commentary Anthony Petterson

Best for: expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Purpose: From the publisher: “The Apollos Old Testament Commentary (AOTC) aims to take with equal seriousness the divine and human aspects of Scripture.

It expounds the books of the Old Testament in a scholarly manner accessible to non-experts, and it shows the relevance of the Old Testament to modern readers.

Written by an international team of scholars and edited by David W. Baker and Gordon J. Wenham, these commentaries are intended to serve the needs of those who preach from the Old Testament, as well as scholars and all serious students of the Bible.”

See more about the Apollos Old Testament Commentary series.


A Commentary on the Book of the Twelve
Kregel Exegetical Library
by Michael Shepherd

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Book of the 12 Michael Shepherd

Best for: expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Purpose: From the publisher: “The books of the twelve Minor Prophets are some of the least studied by Christians today, but they contain some of the great themes of Scripture, such as God’s mercy and judgment, His covenant with Israel, the day of the Lord, and the coming of the Messiah.

Arguing for a canonical unity that recognizes the Minor Prophets as one cohesive composition, Michael Shepherd explains the historical meaning of each verse of the twelve books and also provides guidance for application and preaching.

Pastors, teachers, and serious students of Scripture will find a wealth of insights for understanding the Minor Prophets.”

See more about the Kregel Exegetical Library series.


The Minor Prophets II
Understanding the Bible Commentary Series
by John Goldingay and Pamela J. Scalise

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Haggai commentary

Best for: expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Purpose: From the publisher: “Each volume in the Understanding the Bible Commentary Series breaks down the barriers between the ancient and modern worlds so that the power and meaning of the biblical texts become transparent to contemporary readers.

They present a careful section-by-section exposition of the biblical books with key terms and phrases highlighted and all Hebrew transliterated.

Notes at the close of each chapter provide additional textual and technical comments for those who want to dig deeper.”

See more about the Understanding the Bible Commentary Series.


Classic Haggai Commentaries

Haggai
Geneva Series of Commentaries
by T.V. Moore

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Haggai commentary TV Moore

Best for: individual study, devotional reading, Bible studies, adult Sunday school classes

Purpose: From the publisher: “This book, as suggested by C.H. Spurgeon, is ‘A capital book’, providing exegesis of the text. In addition, at the end of each section, Moore lists a series of practical inferences.

These, rather than ‘spoon-feed’ the reader, indicate how Scripture should be developed in practical application.

‘My object’, writes Moore, ‘has been to furnish such an exposition of the meaning of the text as would be intelligible to any thinking layman who wished to understand the Scriptures thoroughly, and also to aid my brethren in the ministry.'”


Minor Prophets
Ironside Expository Commentaries
by H.A. Ironside

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Minor Prophets commentary Ironside

Best for: individual study, devotional reading, Bible studies, adult Sunday school classes

Purpose: H.A. Ironside (1876-1951) was an internationally acclaimed Bible teacher and preacher, as well as the author of more than sixty books.

His writings include addresses or commentaries on the entire New Testament, all of the Old Testament prophetic books, and a great many volumes on other biblical topics.

For eighteen of his fifty years of ministry, Dr. Ironside was pastor of the historic Moody Memorial Church in Chicago, Ill.


The Minor Prophets
Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture
edited by Alberto Ferreiro

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Minor Prophets Ancient Christian commentary

Best for: individual study, devotional reading, Bible studies, adult Sunday school classes

Purpose: See more about the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture series.


Also see:

Compare 75 different commentary series on the Bible Commentary Series Comparison Chart

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