Charles Ellicott Commentary Ezra 5:1-2

"Now the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem; in the name of the God of Israel [prophesied they] unto them. Then rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem; and with them were the prophets of God, helping them." — Ezra 5:1-2 (ASV)

Now the intervention of the two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, occurs, whose testimonies and predictions should at this point be read. They reveal a state of apathy to which Ezra does not allude—a state of affairs that, in fact, would have thwarted the whole design of Providence if it had not been changed. Hence the abrupt return of the spirit of prophecy, some of whose last utterances provoked or “stirred up”—as Cyrus had been stirred up—the spirit of the two leaders and of the heads of the families.