This is the ninth month of the Hebrew calendar. The twenty-fourth day is near the middle of December on Western calendars. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/translate-hebrewmonths]] and [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/translate-ordinal]])
"in the second year of the reign of Darius" or "when Darius had been king for more than one year" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/translate-ordinal]])
This idiom is used to introduce a special message from God. See how you translated this in [Haggai 1:1](../01/01.md). Alternate translation: "Yahweh gave a message" or "Yawheh spoke this message" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-idiom]])