Introduction: The Prophecy of the 24th of Kislev - The Day the Foundation Stone Was Laid
The people began organizing to rebuild the Temple in the sixth month, the month of Elul, but actual construction commenced only in the ninth month, Kislev, on the twenty-fourth day. On that very day, a new prophecy came to Chagai: to approach the kohanim and ask them questions regarding the laws of ritual purity and impurity. This prophecy, as we shall see, is not merely a lesson in the laws of taharot - it is a parable and a rebuke concerning this generation's attitude toward the sacred.
בְּעֶשְׂרִים וְאַרְבָּעָה לַתְּשִׁיעִי בִּשְׁנַת שְׁתַּיִם לְדָרְיָוֶשׁ הָיָה דְּבַר־יְהֹוָה אֶל־חַגַּי הַנָּבִיא לֵאמֹר׃ כֹּה אָמַר יְהֹוָה צְבָאוֹת שְׁאַל־נָא אֶת־הַכֹּהֲנִים תּוֹרָה לֵאמֹר׃ - On the twenty-fourth of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of Hashem came to Chagai the prophet, saying: So said Hashem of Hosts: Ask the kohanim for a ruling, saying:
Why Was It Necessary to Test the Kohanim?
Rashi explains: lest they had forgotten the laws of consecrated items and ritual purity and impurity while in exile, so they were given a kind of brief pop quiz - to see whether they were still sharp and knowledgeable.
Ibn Ezra questions this: are not the kohanim the teachers of the Torah? Furthermore, in Chagai's day they had already been offering burnt-offerings on the altar for nineteen years before the Temple was built, as mentioned in the Book of Daniel. Halachically, one may offer sacrifices even without a Temple building when there are hangings. Moreover, Yehoshua the Kohen Gadol was with them, and Torah is sought from his mouth. How could it be conceived that such people forgot the Torah? Therefore, Ibn Ezra explains according to the peshat: Chagai did not say that the kohanim failed to give a true ruling, but spoke only about "this people" - the kohanim indeed knew and mastered the halachah, but the common people had forgotten the matters of purity and impurity.
Radak answers differently: since offering sacrifices had not been a permanent, continuous practice until the day construction began on the Temple, but was done on a temporary basis, they had not necessarily mastered all its laws completely. A routine practice is studied thoroughly, whereas something done intermittently is not. Therefore, he wished to verify their knowledge.
The Malbim takes an entirely different approach: the whole purpose of the question was to demonstrate to them that they were not yet fully purified or sanctified, and the matter was phrased allegorically. He wanted to tell them that the Divine Presence would fully rest upon them only in the End of Days, only when they completely sanctify and purify themselves - only then would they merit the great spiritual bounty.
הֵן יִשָּׂא־אִישׁ בְּשַׂר־קֹדֶשׁ בִּכְנַף בִּגְדוֹ וְנָגַע בִּכְנָפוֹ אֶל־הַלֶּחֶם וְאֶל־הַנָּזִיד וְאֶל־הַיַּיִן וְאֶל־שֶׁמֶן וְאֶל־כׇּל־מַאֲכָל הֲיִקְדָּשׁ וַיַּעֲנוּ הַכֹּהֲנִים וַיֹּאמְרוּ לֹא׃ - If a person carries holy meat in the corner of his garment, and with his garment touches bread, stew, wine, oil, or any food, will it become consecrated? And the kohanim answered and said: No.
וַיֹּאמֶר חַגַּי אִם־יִגַּע טְמֵא־נֶפֶשׁ בְּכׇל־אֵלֶּה הֲיִטְמָא וַיַּעֲנוּ הַכֹּהֲנִים וַיֹּאמְרוּ יִטְמָא׃ - Then Chagai said: If one who is defiled by a corpse touches any of these, will it become unclean? And the kohanim answered and said: It will become unclean.
Here one must be cautious before rushing to answer, because not only is the answer far from simple - even the question itself is not clear. What exactly was asked, what exactly was answered, and did the kohanim pass the test or fail it? Let us first follow the approach of the Gemara as explained by Rashi, which itself contains a dispute, and afterward we will examine the Malbim's completely different perspective.
The Approach of the Gemara: "Holy Flesh" - A Sheretz
Simply understood, "holy flesh" refers to sacrificial meat. According to the Gemara, however, it refers to a sheretz (a creeping creature), and the term kodesh here is related to kadesh - the antithesis of sanctity, much like kedeishah (a harlot), which represents an aspect of impurity. That is to say: "If a man carries holy flesh in the corner of his garment" - someone carrying a sheretz in the corner of his garment; "and touches with his corner" - with that same corner where the sheretz lies, meaning that the sheretz itself touched, for if the garment itself touched, another stage in the transmission of impurity would be added.
If so, let us calculate the sequence: the sheretz is a primary source of impurity (Av HaTumah), and as impurity passes from one item to another, it descends in degree. The sheretz touched bread - the bread becomes a first degree of impurity (rishon le'tumah). The bread touched stew - the stew becomes a second degree (sheini). The stew touched wine - the wine becomes a third degree (shelishi). The wine touched oil - the oil becomes a fourth degree (revi'i). And concerning this, he asks "shall it become holy?" - is the oil, which is a fourth degree, disqualified and rendered impure?
Degrees of Impurity
Let us briefly outline the rules (and whoever wishes to expand on this should study the Mishnayot of Seder Taharot). In chullin (non-sacred food), impurity extends only up to a second degree: a sheretz, which is an Av HaTumah, touches an object and makes it a first degree; the first touches another object and makes it a second degree - and that is all. A non-sacred item that touches a second degree does not become impure. In terumah, which is called sacred, there is also a third degree: if a second degree touches terumah, it renders it a third degree, and the Kohen may not eat it. If it was oil, he cannot use it for food, but rather it becomes "oil for burning" used to kindle a lamp. There is no transmission beyond a third degree in terumah. In kodesh (sacrificial items), whose sanctity is more stringent, there is also a fourth degree: a third degree touches kodesh and makes it a fourth degree. However, the fourth degree no longer transmits impurity, for whatever touches it would become a fifth degree - and there is no fifth degree. Where is there a fifth degree and beyond? In the laws of the Red Heifer (Parah Adumah), as we learned in Tractate Parah, where impurity can continue to be transmitted without limit - an eighth, a hundredth, a two-hundredth degree. To summarize: a second degree for chullin, a third for terumah, a fourth for kodesh, and a fifth and beyond for the Red Heifer.
Accordingly, Rashi explains that the stew, wine, and oil mentioned here are libations, meaning consecrated items (kodesh), and the question concerns a fourth degree. Chagai asks: Does this fourth-degree oil become defiled? And the Kohanim answer: No. Seemingly, they were mistaken, for in kodesh there is indeed a fourth degree!
The Dispute Between Rav and Shmuel: Did He Ask About a Fourth or a Fifth Degree?
The Gemara cites a dispute regarding this matter. One Sage says, "The Kohanim were confused" - they erred in the halachah, for they were asked about a fourth degree in kodesh and should have answered that it became impure. Another Sage says, "The Kohanim were not confused," for "he asked them about a fifth degree in kodesh." How so? Because the corner of the garment is counted as an additional stage: the meat (the sheretz), which is an Av, defiled the garment, and the garment - being a first degree - touched the bread and made it a second, and the bread touched the stew making it a third, and the stew touched the wine making it a fourth, and the wine touched the oil making it a fifth. Since there is no fifth degree, the Kohanim correctly answered, "No." Thus, the Gemara's dispute revolves around the understanding of the question: if he asked about a fourth degree, they erred; but if he asked about a fifth degree in kodesh, they were correct. Note that Rashi in our passage explains that the impurity was transmitted through the corner of the garment, whereas Rashi in Tractate Pesachim explains that the sheretz itself touched and the impurity did not pass through the garment.
The Second Question According to Rashi
"If someone who is defiled by a corpse touches any of these, shall it become defiled?" - Rashi explains that this refers to the corpse itself. And the Kohanim answered, "It shall become defiled," and rightly so. For a corpse is an Avi Avot HaTumah (the ultimate primary source of impurity); therefore, whatever touches it becomes an Av HaTumah. Consequently, the entire chain shifts up by one degree: what was a fifth degree regarding sheretz impurity becomes a fourth degree regarding corpse impurity. If a sheretz touched bread, it made it a first degree; but if a corpse touched bread, it made it an Av, and everything touching it thereafter descends one degree less. Although food cannot strictly become an Av HaTumah, nevertheless, by rabbinic decree and due to the stringency of the matter, it is prohibited. Thus, here we have an increased level of stringency, and what was previously a fifth degree now becomes a fourth degree - therefore, impurity exists here, and the Kohanim answered correctly.
The Approach of the Malbim: "Holy Flesh" in Its Literal Sense
The Malbim takes an entirely different approach here, following the plain meaning of the text (peshuto shel mikra) rather than the Talmudic interpretation. In his view, it is difficult to maintain that a sheretz would be called "holy flesh," and although we explained the rationale, it still departs from the plain meaning of the verse. Rather, "holy flesh" refers literally to sacrificial meat.
Accordingly, Chaggai asked them a question that Karaites would have stumbled on. For the Torah states, "Whatever touches its flesh shall become holy," and a person who does not know how to learn and is unfamiliar with the expositions of Chazal might think: the sin offering is holy, and anything that touches it becomes holy - as if it conducts an electric current. Just as contact with impurity imparts defilement, so contact with holiness sanctifies. Chaggai therefore asks them: Did all those foods touched by the sacred flesh truly become holy like it? And the Kohanim answer him, "No" - and they are correct. There is no such halachah that sacred meat merely touching an item sanctifies it.
What, then, did the Torah actually mean? That if some of the meat of the sin offering touched another food and imparted flavor into it - only then does it become holy like it, because ta'am k'ikar (the absorbed flavor is treated like the substance itself), and the flavor of the consecrated meat has permeated the food. Just as if the flavor of an unkosher carcass is absorbed into food, you may not eat it, as if it were actual non-kosher carcass meat, so too when the flavor of consecrated food is absorbed in something, you may not use it for mundane purposes. But mere external contact does not sanctify at all.
And likewise with the second question: "If one who is defiled by a corpse touches" - if a person who contracted corpse-impurity touched sacred food, does the sacred food become defiled? And they answered: "It becomes defiled." In this, too, they were correct. Thus, both of their halachic answers were accurate. If so - what did Chaggai actually want from them?
וַיַּעַן חַגַּי וַיֹּאמֶר כֵּן הָעָם־הַזֶּה וְכֵן־הַגּוֹי הַזֶּה לְפָנַי נְאֻם־יְהֹוָה וְכֵן כׇּל־מַעֲשֵׂה יְדֵיהֶם וַאֲשֶׁר יַקְרִיבוּ שָׁם טָמֵא הוּא׃ - Then Chaggai answered and said: "So is this people, and so is this nation before Me, says the Lord, and so is every work of their hands; and what they offer there is defiled."
Rashi explains: "So is this people" - just as you err in this halachah, so do you err in several halachos, and because they do not set their hearts to learn, "what they offer there is defiled."
Radak explains that "this people" refers to the Kohanim and "this nation" refers to all of Israel, and all are to blame for the House not being built - for the Kohanim should have exhorted the people to come and build. And just as you said, "It becomes defiled," so is every work of their hands defiled before Me: whatever the Kohanim sacrifice, they offer upon an altar outside a completed House, and therefore their deeds are not accepted favorably before Me.
Three Facets of the Rebuke According to the Malbim
The Malbim explains that this entire exchange was framed as an allegory for the sake of rebuke, containing three distinct facets. The first facet: "So is this people" - these are the Kohanim; "and so is this nation" - the nation as a whole, as Radak explained. After all, as became clear from the first question, sacred meat that merely touches an object does not sanctify it unless its flavor is absorbed. This is precisely your state: you handle holy matters, you touch sacred flesh - and yet you do not change. You do not become holy. Instead of being influenced for the good, holiness leaves no mark upon you whatsoever.
The second facet: when a corpse touches an object, the object becomes defiled. And this is precisely what happens to you: when you come into contact with impurity, you immediately become defiled. Understand, then, your condition - contact with holiness has no positive impact on you, but contact with impurity has an immediate negative impact! You should have experienced contact with holiness as something absorbed, permeating inward and sanctifying. Yet you treat all matters of holiness in a purely superficial, external manner; you do not bring them into your heart, and you do not properly meditate upon them with all 248 limbs and 365 sinews - and therefore you have no true connection to holiness, and it does not affect you. Impurity, by contrast, takes effect even from the outside: a creeping creature (sheretz) that touches something externally defiles it without any absorption at all. Why? Because impurity affects the physical body; it is a matter of externality, and mere external contact suffices to defile. Since you are immersed in material coarseness, external contact with matters of impurity immediately affects you. Why do you not let holiness also penetrate into your inner being, just as sacred flavor absorbed into food transforms it from within?
The third facet: "And so is every work of their hands; and what they offer there is defiled." They do not offer before Hashem in holiness, with full devotion and an inner soul-connection; rather, "what they offer there" - "there" denotes distance, a remote place, a physical realm. They sacrifice upon mere stones, offering an animal, a purely corporeal sacrifice. Therefore, "it is defiled" - the defilement of their very being and the defilement of their land cling to their offering. This is what the prophet wished to convey to them: You have not yet sanctified yourselves to properly cleave to holiness, so as to build a spiritual Sanctuary and altar in the spirit of "In my heart I shall build a Sanctuary" - a structure transformed from within, about which we can say that holiness has permeated and altered one's deeds. In summary: when you approach impurity you are infected by it, but when you approach holiness it does not cling to you - and such is every work of your hands. Only when you change your ways will you truly be worthy of the building of the Third Temple, for everything depends on the transformation of deeds.
וְעַתָּה שִׂימוּ־נָא לְבַבְכֶם מִן־הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה וָמָעְלָה מִטֶּרֶם שׂוּם־אֶבֶן אֶל־אֶבֶן בְּהֵיכַל יְהֹוָה׃ - "And now, please take note from this day onward, before one stone was placed upon another in the sanctuary of Hashem."
The Malbim finds a twofold depth in this verse. The first interpretation: Look closely from now on at Hashem's providence, and you will see that from this point forward He will deal with you favorably. Earlier, he described a dire situation to them - there was no grain, no new wine, and no oil. Now he says: If you pay attention and are careful with your actions, you will see how Hashem leads you from today onward with guidance of blessing and abundance.
The second interpretation: "Set your heart... in the sanctuary of Hashem" - do not treat the construction as crude, external labor, but let your heart be present in the sanctuary of Hashem. "Set your heart" is an expression of inner intent, of inwardness. A person can pray while his heart is elsewhere, merely reciting texts - and that is heartless; whereas prayer is called "the service of the heart," whose essence depends on how much intent and thought one invests. Thus he tells them: Do not build the structure, nor later perform the Temple service, as a mere external physical act, but as an endeavor of the heart and soul. Even before you place stone upon stone, which is the physical aspect of building - set your heart toward the sanctuary of Hashem. For a stone building without heart possesses no sanctity, and the proof of this is that the First Temple was destroyed even while the physical structure still stood, because you emptied it of its spiritual content through your evil deeds.
"And Upward" Rather Than "And Onward"
The Malbim notes with precision: In some places Scripture states, "from that day and onward" (va'halah), whereas here it says, "from this day and upward" (va'malah). What is the difference? "From this day and onward" includes that very day itself, whereas "and upward" does not include that day, but only from that point forward. That is to say: until you place a stone, the curse prevailed as we saw above; but from the moment you place a stone - from then on the blessing will take hold, and everything will change.
מִהְיוֹתָם בָּא אֶל־עֲרֵמַת עֶשְׂרִים וְהָיְתָה עֲשָׂרָה בָּא אֶל־הַיֶּקֶב לַחְשֹׂף חֲמִשִּׁים פּוּרָה וְהָיְתָה עֶשְׂרִים׃ - "Since those days were, when one came to a heap of twenty [measures], there were but ten; when one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty press-measures, there were but twenty."
See that until now the curse was sent against your handiwork. "A heap of twenty" - this is the keri, the heap of wheat harvested from the field. One would set it up expecting to measure twenty se'ah from it, but would find only ten. It looked large, yet when one came to count - he found only ten. This is a sign that the curse held sway over it, appearing plentiful at first, but ultimately yielding little.
"When one came to the wine vat" - the yekev is the pit in front of the winepress. The gat is the press where grapes are trodden, and the extracted wine flows down into the yekev. "To draw out fifty press-measures" - to draw from it fifty measures of wine, this measure being called a purah, as in "I trod the winepress (purah) alone." And "to draw" (lachsof) means to scoop out or fill, as in "to scoop (lachsof) water from a pit." He came to fill fifty - and found only twenty.
Rashi explains: It was not that a greater curse struck the wine than the grain. For if you calculate, in grain he lost half (from twenty to ten), whereas in wine he lost more than half (from fifty to twenty). Rather, a person tends to miscalculate the measurement of a wine vat because it is deep, while the grain heap stands openly before him. The heap is right in front of him and difficult to misjudge, but when evaluating a deep pit, one imagines it contains a certain amount, only to find otherwise. The curse in both was equal - half - but regarding the vat a person is prone to error, and that is why the verse states twenty.
Rashi cites from the teaching of Avot de-Rabbi Natan: Why did it not specify a smaller measure for wine, just as it did for grain? With grain it spoke of twenty versus ten, yet with wine it immediately leaped to fifty versus twenty - whereas proportionally it could have said one hundred versus forty, or a thousand versus four hundred. Rather, this teaches that wine is always needed in greater abundance in the world, and when wine suffers, it is an ill omen for the world. And because wine needs to be plentiful, Scripture enumerated it in larger quantities. For in their day, they did not have other beverages - no cola, no orange juice, and no flavored teas; what they had was wine. Or at most, date beer or liquor made from figs, other fruits, or grain. But what was sold and regularly drunk at every meal was wine, and they consumed far more of it by volume than bread - which is why a larger measure was mentioned in its case.
הִכֵּיתִי אֶתְכֶם בַּשִּׁדָּפוֹן וּבַיֵּרָקוֹן וּבַבָּרָד אֵת כׇּל־מַעֲשֵׂה יְדֵיכֶם וְאֵין־אֶתְכֶם אֵלַי נְאֻם־יְהֹוָה׃ - "I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labor of your hands; yet you turned not to Me, says Hashem."
And why did I strike? "All the work of your hands, yet you were not with Me" - what was directed toward Me was merely the work of your hands, but you yourselves were not with Me. That is to say: all your service was superficial, purely external. "The work of your hands is toward Me" - you perform actions with your hands that outwardly express the service of Hashem; "yet you were not with Me" - the inwardness, the heart, the intention, are not directed toward Me. Action without intention, a body without a soul, a sanctuary of stones without hearts. Therefore, measure for measure: since all your deeds were merely the work of bare hands, I struck and sent a curse upon the work of your hands, in the grain and in the winepress.
שִׂימוּ־נָא לְבַבְכֶם מִן־הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה וָמָעְלָה מִיּוֹם עֶשְׂרִים וְאַרְבָּעָה לַתְּשִׁיעִי לְמִן־הַיּוֹם אֲשֶׁר־יֻסַּד הֵיכַל־יְהֹוָה שִׂימוּ לְבַבְכֶם׃ - Consider now from this day forward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from the day that the foundation of the Temple of Hashem was laid, consider it.
Now pay attention and examine the matter: from the day the Temple was founded, there should no longer be mere external actions of a laborer; rather, "consider" (literally, "set your heart") - let the heart be invested within it, so that the construction is done with inward devotion.
הַעוֹד הַזֶּרַע בַּמְּגוּרָה וְעַד־הַגֶּפֶן וְהַתְּאֵנָה וְהָרִמּוֹן וְעֵץ הַזַּיִת לֹא נָשָׂא מִן־הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה אֲבָרֵךְ׃ - Is the seed yet in the barn? As yet the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not borne fruit; from this day forth I will bless you.
The word megurah (granary or barn) comes from the root to gather or store (le'egor), referring to a storehouse for produce, as in the verse "the granaries are broken down." He tells them: Observe and see whether what has occurred until now will ever happen again. The seed lying in the granary, ready for sowing - until today, when your deeds were corrupted, it bore no fruit; no blessing rested upon it, and on the contrary, blight, mildew, and hail struck, plagues that ravage grain fields. Nor was it only the seed of the field: even the grapevine, the fig, the pomegranate, and the olive tree did not bear their fruit. And from now on? "From this day forth I will bless" - because you have dedicated your hearts to the service of Hashem and are engaged in rebuilding the Beit HaMikdash, from this point forward blessing will rest upon the work of your hands.
וַיְהִי דְבַר־יְהֹוָה שֵׁנִית אֶל־חַגַּי בְּעֶשְׂרִים וְאַרְבָּעָה לַחֹדֶשׁ לֵאמֹר׃ אֱמֹר אֶל־זְרֻבָּבֶל פַּחַת־יְהוּדָה לֵאמֹר אֲנִי מַרְעִישׁ אֶת־הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֶת־הָאָרֶץ׃ - And the word of Hashem came a second time to Chaggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, saying: Speak to Zerubavel, governor of Judah, saying: I will shake heaven and earth.
On that very day, the twenty-fourth of the month, Chaggai received a second prophecy - two prophecies in a single day. And this time, it was addressed to Zerubavel alone. The Holy One, blessed be He, desires to bring the complete redemption, and as we have already seen, the complete redemption is preceded by the War of Gog and Magog, which shakes heaven and earth.
And why is Zerubavel called "governor (pechat) of Judah"? Because during the Second Temple period there was no king from the House of David and Judah, as we saw earlier. And pechat does not stem from a pit or snare (as in the idiom "from the snare into the pit"), but is related to pechah - an official, a leader of distinction.
Yet the prophet perceives that the time of ultimate rectification has not yet arrived, for the people have not fully perfected their deeds and do not meet the standards for which he rebuked them. Therefore he tells Zerubavel: Know that the word of Hashem will not return void, and at its designated time it will surely come to pass. If they are worthy - "I will hasten it"; if they are not worthy - "in its due time." And when that day comes, "I will shake heaven and earth," just as we saw earlier in verse 6: "Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake."
וְהָפַכְתִּי כִּסֵּא מַמְלָכוֹת וְהִשְׁמַדְתִּי חֹזֶק מַמְלְכוֹת הַגּוֹיִם וְהָפַכְתִּי מֶרְכָּבָה וְרֹכְבֶיהָ וְיָרְדוּ סוּסִים וְרֹכְבֵיהֶם אִישׁ בְּחֶרֶב אָחִיו׃ - And I will overthrow the thrones of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations; and I will overthrow the chariots and those who ride in them, and the horses and their riders shall go down, every one by the sword of his brother.
Rashi interprets these matters as referring to that era: it speaks of the Persian Empire that ruled the entire world, and Hashem told him that they would fall into the hands of the Greek Empire - and so it happened at the end of thirty-four years from the building of the Temple, as cited in Masechet Avodah Zarah.
The Malbim, however, continues along his approach and explains everything as referring to the complete Redemption, to be'itah and achishenah (in its time and accelerated), and to the War of Gog and Magog. "And I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations" - their fortified cities. "And I will overturn chariots and their riders" - the military might will be overturned. "And the horses and their riders shall come down, each by the sword of his brother" - this is the War of Gog and Magog, as is well known and famous, and as we will see in the Book of Zechariah, which is the next book, and as stated in Yechezkel 38, "Every man's sword shall be against his brother." Thus we find two things: first, "And I will overturn chariots and their riders"; and second, "and the horses and their riders shall come down," meaning they will kill one another.
In fact, we are already beginning to see part of this, for it is taught that part of the process will be that the nations will kill one another, "some of them against others." We see nations shedding each other's blood, and because they are occupied with wars and striking one another - from our perspective, there is quiet and we are calmer. Provided they do not exploit this to arm themselves against us. We are also beginning to see "And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks" through the dismantling of bombs and nuclear weapons. And this is what we anticipate toward the complete Redemption: first, that this weapon of mass destruction, which is the worst of all, will disappear; and second, that the nations will be occupied with one another and leave us alone. We see this in Europe as well, where the migrant crisis and grappling with domestic terrorists diverts some of the fire away from us - not that they have become lovers of Israel, far from it, but all the developments around us are leading toward what the prophets foresee as the War of Gog and Magog.
בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא נְאֻם־יְהֹוָה צְבָאוֹת אֶקָּחֲךָ זְרֻבָּבֶל בֶּן־שְׁאַלְתִּיאֵל עַבְדִּי נְאֻם־יְהֹוָה וְשַׂמְתִּיךָ כַּחוֹתָם כִּי־בְךָ בָחַרְתִּי נְאֻם יְהֹוָה צְבָאוֹת׃ - "On that day, says the Lord of Hosts, I will take you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, My servant, says the Lord, and I will make you as a signet, for I have chosen you, says the Lord of Hosts."
If this refers to that era, "I will take you, Zerubbabel" is well understood. But if it refers to the future era of Gog and Magog, where is Zerubbabel? To this the Malbim offers one of two explanations: either it refers to the descendants of Zerubbabel, just as we say "Mashiach ben David," meaning from the lineage of David; or Zerubbabel himself will be resurrected, since this already speaks of the era of the resurrection of the dead and the Redemption, and he will then be among those resurrected.
From "A Signet upon My Right Hand" to "I Will Make You as a Signet"
It was said of his forebear Yechanyah: "As I live, says the Lord, though Coniah son of Jehoiakim were a signet upon My right hand, yet I would tear you off from there" - and we already explained in the Book of Yirmeyahu that the meaning is "I will tear you away." It is even said there, "Inscribe this man as childless" - exceedingly sharp and severe words. Our Sages said: Come and see how great is teshuvah, which tears up a decree, for once he repented, his decree was transformed for good. And it is related that a son was born to him in prison, contrary to nature, and from that very son the redeemer would emerge. There it was said, "Though Coniah were a signet upon My right hand," and here it is said to Zerubbabel his grandson, "And I will make you as a signet." From here one learns how great is the power of teshuvah, that this man was privileged to be brought close and privileged that Zerubbabel would emerge from his loins.
What Is the Signet?
The Radak explains that this refers to the ring used to seal documents. In their day, the king wore a ring that was wide and flat on top (like traditional Georgian signet rings), engraved with an emblem; and when he wished to seal, he would press it sometimes in ink and sometimes in red wax, imprinting his seal - "and sealed with the king's signet ring." And the meaning of "And I will make you as a signet": the signet is closest to the king, truly attached to him, as in the phrase, "Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm." The ring is not removed from a person's hand, neither by day nor by night. And the lesson: you will have close Divine providence from Hashem - "My servant, says the Lord, and I will make you as a signet," meaning the providence will be constant and close.
The Malbim adds another meaning: that he will be the ultimate purpose and seal of creation. What is the seal of the Holy One, blessed be He? Truth - and truth endures forever. So too, that offspring of David who will sprout will endure forever: there will be no more exiles and no more tribulations, for the Malbim interprets everything as referring to the future Redemption. "And I will make you as a signet" - just as the seal of the Holy One, blessed be He, is truth, which is eternal and endures forever, so I will establish you forever. And why? "For I have chosen you" - for I chose David and his descendants, and consequently I have chosen you through the power of David's election. And through this, the complete and future Redemption will arrive speedily in our days, Amen.
In summary: The prophecy of the twenty-fourth of Kislev opens with a halachic inquiry and concludes with the vision of Redemption. Chaggai asks the Kohanim two questions regarding ritual impurity and purity - and according to the Gemara, Rav and Shmuel disagree over whether they were asked about a fourth degree of impurity regarding consecrated items and erred, or about a fifth degree and were correct, whereas the Malbim interprets "holy flesh" literally and establishes that both of their answers were correct. And from here the parable emerges: an external touch of the holy does not sanctify, whereas an external touch of impurity defiles - and this is his rebuke to the generation: you cling to impurity and do not cling to holiness, because you engage with holiness only superficially. Therefore, "you did not turn to Me," and therefore the work of their hands was struck with blight. But from the moment they placed stone upon stone and set their hearts upon the Temple of Hashem - "From this day on I will bless." And the prophecy concludes with the promise to Zerubbabel, from whom the Redemption will sprout, containing a profound lesson in the power of teshuvah: one concerning whom it was decreed "childless" and "though he were a signet upon My right hand," was privileged that of his seed it would be said, "And I will make you as a signet, for I have chosen you." Thus concludes the Book of Chaggai.