Messiah

Messiah
{muh - sy' - uh}
General Information

The term messiah comes from the Hebrew meshiach, meaning "anointed one." In the Old Testament it was used of historical personages such as the anointed kings and priests of Israel. During the Babylonian Captivity (587 - 540 BC), Israelite hopes for a restored monarchy and priesthood flourished. With the return of the exiles to Jerusalem and the emergence of Zerubbabel and Joshua ben Jehozadak as political ruler and high priest, respectively, these hopes were to some extent realized.

The later fortunes of Israel, especially under the Seleucids of Syria, kept alive the hope for a future and final deliverance, sometimes with and sometimes without a messianic figure. The revolt of the Maccabees briefly kindled the hope that in the Hasmonean line an ideal priest - king had emerged. But the corruption of the later Hasmoneans led to the secession of part of the priestly caste to Qumram, where various forms of messianic hope were entertained, sometimes involving two messiahs - one from the house of Aaron (a priest) and one from the house of Israel (a king) together with a prophet. The so called Psalms of Solomon, which expressed the piety of the Pharisees, looked only for a messiah descended from David.

After the death of Herod the Great (AD 4) and the incorporation of Judea into the Roman Empire, a nationalist resistance movement, the Zealots, hailed various leaders as the Messiah, the last being Bar Kochba during the great revolt of AD 132 - 35.

In the Books of Enoch, the figure of the Messiah coalesced with the apocalyptic "Son of Man," a supernatural judge and savior appearing at the end.

Whether Jesus Christ claimed to be the Messiah is disputed, though the Gospels affirm that he did (Mark 14:62). The post Easter Christian community clearly ascribed the title Messiah to him (Acts 2:36) in a sense redefined by the crucifixion and resurrection faith. Translated into Greek, the title became Christos (Christ), which, improperly understood, became a proper name.

Reginald H Fuller

Bibliography
O Cullmann, The Christology of the New Testament (1959); R H Fuller, The Foundations of New Testament Christology (1965); M Hengel, The Son of God: The Origin of Christology and the History of Jewish - Hellenistic Religion (1976); S Mowinckel, He That Cometh (1954); G Scholem, The Messianic Idea in Judaism (1972).

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Messiah

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Messiah (Heb. mashiah), in all the thirty-nine instances of its occurring in the Old Testament, is rendered by the LXX. "Christos." It means anointed. Thus priests (Ex. 28:41; 40:15; Num. 3:3), prophets (1 Kings 19:16), and kings (1 Sam. 9:16; 16:3; 2 Sam. 12:7) were anointed with oil, and so consecrated to their respective offices. The great Messiah is anointed "above his fellows" (Ps. 45:7); i.e., he embraces in himself all the three offices. The Greek form "Messias" is only twice used in the New Testament, in John 1:41 and 4:25 (R.V., "Messiah"), and in the Old Testament the word Messiah, as the rendering of the Hebrew, occurs only twice (Dan 9:25, 26; R.V., "the anointed one"). The first great promise (Gen. 3:15) contains in it the germ of all the prophecies recorded in the Old Testament regarding the coming of the Messiah and the great work he was to accomplish on earth.

The prophecies became more definite and fuller as the ages rolled on; the light shone more and more unto the perfect day. Different periods of prophetic revelation have been pointed out, (1) the patriarchal; (2) the Mosaic; (3) the period of David; (4) the period of prophetism, i.e., of those prophets whose works form a part of the Old Testament canon. The expectations of the Jews were thus kept alive from generation to generation, till the "fulness of the times," when Messiah came, "made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law." In him all these ancient prophecies have their fulfilment. Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, the great Deliverer who was to come. (Comp. Matt. 26:54; Mark 9:12; Luke 18:31; 22:37; John 5:39; Acts 2; 16:31; 26:22, 23.)

(Easton Illustrated Dictionary)

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Messiah

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The study of the rise and development of the figure of the Messiah is primarily historical, and then theological. Confusion arises when specifically Christian ideas about the Messiah invade the OT data. Jesus' concept of his messianic mission did not accord with contemporary popular Jewish expectation.

In the OT
"Messiah" is the hellenized transliteration of the Aramaic mesiha'. The underlying Hebrew word masiah is derived from masah, "to anoint, smear with oil." This title was used sometimes of non-Israelite figures e.g., Cyrus in Isa. 45:1 sometimes of the altar as in Exod. 29:36, sometimes of the prophet as in I Kings 19:16. But most frequently it referred to the king of Israel as in I Sam. 26:11 and Ps. 89:20. It is noteworthy that the word "messiah" does not appear at all in the OT (the AV of Dan. 9:25 is incorrect; it ought to read "an anointed one"), and only rarely in the intertestamental literature. The primary sense of the title is "king," as the anointed man of God, but it also suggests election, i.e., the king was chosen, elect, and therefore honored. It could scarcely be otherwise than that it referred to a political leader, for in its early stages Israel sought only a ruler, visible and powerful, who would reign here and now. But the entire evidence of later Judaism points to a Messiah not only as king but as eschatological king, a ruler who would appear at the end time. David was the ideal king of Israel, and as such he had a "sacral" character, and this sacral characteristic came to be applied to the eschatological king who was to be like David.
How did the national Messiah come to be a future ideal king? After the death of David, Israel began to hope for another like him who would maintain the power and prestige of the country. But Israel came into hard times with the rupture of the kingdom, and with this event there arose a disillusionment concerning the hope for a king like David. Then after the Exile, Zerubbabel, a descendant of David, took the leadership of Judah, but it developed that he was not another David. Gradually the hope was projected into the future, and eventually into the very remote future, so that the Messiah was expected at the end of the age.

This is the mood of the messianic expectations in the latter part of the OT. Such prophecies are common. For example, Jer. 33 promises a continuation of the Davidic line; Isa. 9 and 11 foresee the regal splendor of the coming king; Mic. 5:2 looks forward to the birth of the Davidic king in Bethlehem; and Zech. 9 and 12 describe the character of the messianic kingdom and reign.

The Son of man figure in Daniel is not to be identified with the Messiah; it is later in the history of Judaism that the two figures were seen to be one. The suffering servant of Isaiah by reason of his role is yet another figure. So the Messiah, or future ideal king of Israel, the Son of man, and the suffering servant were three distinct representations in the OT.

In Intertestamental Writings
The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha are the literary remains of the evolution of messianic hopes within Judah between the testaments. As in the OT the formal use of "Messiah" is rare. It is well to remember that in this literature there is a distinction between Messiah and messianic; a book may have a messianic theme but lack a Messiah. The book of Enoch is best known for its doctrine of the Son of man, which has many messianic overtones. Yet he is not the Messiah, but a person much like Daniel's Son of man. It remained to the Psalms of Solomon (ca.48 B.C.) to provide the one confirmed and repeated evidence of the technical use of the term in the intertestamental literature. This literature demonstrates, therefore, a diffuse expectation about the Messiah. It speaks of a Messiah of David, of Levi, of Joseph, and of Ephraim. The Dead Sea Scrolls add to the confusion by referring to a Messiah of Aaron and Israel.
Out of the welter of messianic hopes in this period there emerges a pattern: two kinds of Messiah came to be expected. On one hand, there arose an expectation of a purely national Messiah, one who would appear as a man and assume the kingship over Judah to deliver it from its oppressors. On the other hand, there was a hope for a transcendent Messiah from heaven, part human, part divine, who would establish the kingdom of God on earth. To the popular Jewish mind of the first two centuries before and after Christ these two concepts were not mutually hostile, but tended rather to modify each other. It has been argued by some scholars that the conflation of the concepts of Messiah and suffering servant took place in the intertestamental period, but the sole evidence for this is from the Targums, which are post-Christian.

In the NT
It remained for Jesus to fuse the three great eschatological representations of the OT, Messiah, suffering servant, and Son of man, into one messianic person. Apart from this truth there is no explanation for the confusion of the disciples when he told them he must suffer and die (Matt. 16:21ff.). That Christ knew himself to be the Messiah is seen best in his use of the title Son of man; in Mark 14:61-62 he equates the Christ and the Son of man. "Christ" is simply the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew "messiah." John 1:41 and 4:25 preserve the Semitic idea by transliterating the word "messiah." Jesus willingly accepted the appellation Son of David, a distinct messianic title, on several occasions, the cry of blind Bartimaeus (Mark 10:47ff.), the children in the temple (Matt. 21:15), and the triumphal entry (Matt. 21:9), to name but a few. It has long been wondered why Jesus did not appropriate the title Messiah to himself instead of the less clear title of Son of man. The former was probably avoided out of political considerations, for if Jesus had publicly used "Messiah" of himself it would have ignited political aspirations in his hearers to appoint him as king, principally a nationalistic figure, and to seek to drive out the Roman occupiers. This is precisely the import of the Jews' action at the triumphal entry. Jesus seized on the title Son of man to veil to his hearers his messianic mission but to reveal that mission to his disciples.

The first generation of the church did not hesitate to refer to Jesus as the Christ, and thereby designate him as the greater Son of David, the King. The word was used first as a title of Jesus (Matt. 16:16) and later as part of the personal name (e.g., Eph. 1:1). Peter's sermon at Pentecost acknowledged Jesus not only as the Christ, but also as Lord, and so the fulfillment of the messianic office is integrally linked to the essential deity of Jesus. Acts 2:36 affirms that Jesus was "made" Christ, the sense of the verb being that by the resurrection Jesus was confirmed as the Christ, the Messiah of God. Rom. 1:4 and Phil. 2:9-11 contain the same thought. Other messianic titles attributed to Jesus include Servant, Lord, Son of God, the King, the Holy One, the Righteous One, and the Judge.

D H Wallace

(Elwell Evangelical Dictionary)

Bibliography
S. Mowinckel, He That Cometh; V. Taylor, The Names of Jesus; T. W. Manson, Jesus the Messiah and The Servant-Messiah; F. Hahn, The Titles of Jesus in Christology; R. N. Longenecker, The Christology of Early Jewish Christianity; H. Ringgren, The Messiah in the OT; H. L. Ellison, The Centrality of the Messianic Idea for the OT; H. H. Rowley, The Servant of the Lord; B. B. Warfield, "The Divine Messiah in the OT," in Biblical and Theological Studies; J. Klausner, The Messianic Idea in Israel; E. Schurer, The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ, vol. 2 (rev.).

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Messiah

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Messiah (noun), "anointed one; Messiah." Of the 39 occurrences of masiah, none occurs in the wisdom literature. They are scattered throughout the rest of biblical literary types and periods.

First, masiah refers to one who is anointed with oil, symbolizing the reception of the Holy Spirit, enabling him to do an assigned task. Kings (1 Sam. 24:6), high priests, and some prophets (1 Kings 19:16) were so anointed: "If the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the people..." (Lev. 4:3, the first biblical appearance). In the case of Cyrus, he was anointed with God's Spirit only and commissioned an "anointed deliverer" of Israel (Isa. 45:1). The patriarchs, too, are called "anointed ones": "Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm" (Ps. 105:15).

Second, the word is sometimes transliterated "Messiah." After the promise to David (2 Sam. 7:13) masiah refers immediately to the Davidic dynasty, but ultimately it points to the "messiah," Jesus the Christ: "The kings of the earth [take their stand], and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his Anointed..." (Ps. 2:2). In Dan. 9:25 the word is transliterated: "Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince..." The New Testament also attests the word in this latter meaning (John 1:41). Most frequently in the New Testament the word is translated ("Christ") rather than transliterated ("Messiah").

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Messiah

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Messiah (noun), "anointment." This noun occurs 21 times and only in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. It always follows the Hebrew word for oil. The first occurrence is Exod. 25:6: "Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense."

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Messiah

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Messiah (verb), to smear with oil or paint, anoint." This verb, which appears 69 times in biblical Hebrew, has cognates in Ugaritic, Akkadian, Aramaic, and Arabic. The objects of this verb are people, sacrificial victims, and objects of this verb in Exod. 30:30: "And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office."

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