Haggai: Structure and Meaning 541 SUMMARY This article uncovers a sophisticated structure of the Book of Haggai and its significance. The structure of the book is part of the rhetoric of the prophet to contend with the people’s thoughts that reality did not meet their hopes. They expected in vain the renewal of the ‘old days’ to be immediate. Therefore, they believed that God was not with them and felt they were still rejected by Him. Haggai argues to the contrary: God was with them despite the seemingly desperate situation, and the anticipated reality was bound to materialize, but only gradually. The Book’s structure also shows that it is not a random collection of oracles but one unified literary work.