חגי, פרק א׳, פסוק ט״ו

Less than a month after hearing the initial prophecy, the people organized and took practical action [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. The narrative flows directly from their arrival to their immediate engagement in the work, continuing a single uninterrupted thought despite a structural break in the text [אבן עזרא, רד״ק].

These efforts began on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month [מצודת דוד], known as the month of Elul [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. However, there is an important distinction regarding the nature of the work that started at this time. The activity launched in the sixth month was not the physical construction of the Temple. Instead, this period was dedicated entirely to preparation, focusing on gathering and organizing the necessary materials for the project. The actual building process would only begin three months later, on the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month [מצודת דוד, רד״ק].