536 Elie Assis To apprehend the implications of the structure of the book in order to understand its meaning it is necessary to define the genre of each oracle and characterise them. The first oracle is an oracle of admonition. Haggai admonishes the people who instead of rebuilding of the Temple took care of their own needs (1,4.9); he demands that they consider their actions and mend their ways (1,5.7). The second oracle is an oracle of consolation. The prophet comforts the people, who are disappointed by the appearance of the Temple, explaining that the glory of the Second Temple will eventually exceed that of the First Temple (2,9). In the second part of the book there is also a similar structure in the third and fourth oracles. The third oracle is again an oracle of admonition. Haggai admonishes the people on their intention or wish to intermingle with the Samaritans. He decisively declares that the Samaritans are unclean, and that if Judah mingle with them, they will also be unclean, and their participation in building of the Temple will make the Temple unclean (2,14). In this oracle, the prophet again demands that the people consider their ways (2,15.18). The fourth oracle is an oracle of consolation. Haggai prophesies that in the future Zerubbabel will be raised from his inferior status, and will be recognised as God’s chosen one (2,23). Two further significant distinctions must be added. The first oracle deals with an existential religious problem. Building the Temple is a religious action, but it also solves the existential problems of economic distress. The third oracle also deals with an existential religious problem. The people apparently expected that the participation of the Samaritans in the building of the Temple will ease the economic stress, Haggai argues that the economic problems will only be solved as soon as the foundations of the Temple are laid. In both oracles, the prophet confronts the people with a practical claim. The second and the fourth oracles are to be classified as cognitive religious oracles. In both oracles, the prophet does not ask the people to do or not to do something; but he deals with the people’s consciousness, he asks the people to change their perception. In the second oracle, he expects the people not to disparage the Temple, and in the fourth, he announces Zerubbabel’s future greatness. Another point must also be made. In the first and third oracles the prophet demands that the people act immediately, and the positive effects of these actions will be seen in the immediate future. Conversely, in the second and the fourth oracles he does not demand any action from the people. Here the action demanded is from God. However, the time of fulfilment of the oracles and the date of God’s action is shrouded in mystery. This is a future that cannot be foreseen, a future beyond the horizon (18). This is a future reality of cataclysmic changes. Structurally, there is a progression between the two oracles in each of the two parts of the book, from admonition to consolation. I believe that the idea latent in this structure concerns the serious religious and existential problems with which the people in Judah contended at the beginning of the return from exile. There is one recurring motif in all prophecies of the Book: the presence of God in the midst of the people. In the first oracle Haggai says to the people: (18) See also CHILDS, Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture, 469-470.