Language Studies

Hebrew Thoughts

mâshîyach - משיח (Strong's #4899)
Messiah, anointed one

There are 39 or 40 Old Testament references to the word משיח mâshîyach Messiah (Strong's #4899), though 30 or more of these don't refer to THE Messiah! Gesenius in his Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon went so far as to say that it was "never" used "of the future Messiah", to which the evangelical editor in the Baker Book House edition wrote, "This is an awfully false statement". The Anchor Bible Dictionary agrees with Gesenius, "in the OT the term 'anointed' is never used of a future savior/redeemer"^F1.

Nonetheless, Jewish expectation of the Messiah was real in the period leading up to the coming of Jesus. Indeed, both then and later, the clear indications of a messiah figure with all the accompanying and sometimes contradictory indications led to a more developed Jewish expectation, possibly of two messiahs or one who would come twice. These were variously named including messiah of Aaron, messiah of Israel and especially later messiah son of David and messiah son of Joseph. The latter was regarded as a suffering or defeated messiah and the former in the mould of David and davidic Psalms as a victorious figure. Many now regard Jesus' first coming as "son of Joseph" to suffer, only to return as "son of David" riding on Revelation's white horse to conquer and rule.

משיח mâshîyach comes from משח mâshach "to anoint" (Strong's #4886), more accurately it is "to spread out/over" but it was typically used with the spreading by hand of oil over something. For example a cake (Leviticus 2:4; 7:12), a shield - thereby strengthening the leather on it (Isaiah 21:5; 2 Samuel 1:21), or, a priest (Exodus 28:41), prophet (1 Kings 19:16) or king (1 Samuel 10:1) as an act of consecration.

Probably the most significant use of the verb is in Isaiah 61:1 which Jesus, at the Nazareth synagogue, interpreted of himself as the "anointed one" sent to "preach good tidings". "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing" (Luke 4:21), he finished with.

"The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD" (Isaiah 61:1-2a; Luke 4:17-20)

The masculine noun derived from the passive form of the verb משח mâshach, i.e., "one who is anointed", rather than the anointer, is משיח mâshîyach. It is used, just as the verb, of kings (Saul - 1 Samuel 24:6, David - 2 Samuel 22:51; 23:1, and Solomon etc), princes, priests (Leviticus 4:3, first use in the Bible), and the prophets (1 Chronicles 16:22), who have been anointed. It is also used of one non-Jewish king, Cyrus, king of Persia (Isaiah 45:1), indicating that the task and anointer cause the recipient to attract the title not the inherent nature of the one anointed. The anointed is consecrated and made holy by his selection for the task of rulership or service. The passive nature of the noun marks out the anointed one as a receiver of anointing not a giver.

The constant references to not "touching the Lord's anointed" speak of not interfering with God's election and the anointed's task. This is especially true of David's relationship with the soon to be passed over Saul. In Psalm 105:15 the anointed messiahs, not to be harmed, are God's prophets. In the Dead Sea Scrolls, Damascus document, War scroll and Melchizedek text, the prophets are again referred to as the "anointed ones".^F2

As with the verbal use in strengthening the hide on a shield, so the noun is linked with strength too. In the following verse horn and strength are paralleled as synonyms, just as king and "anointed one" are.

"He will give strength / to His king,
And exalt the horn / of His anointed."
(1 Samuel 2:10)

קרן qeren 'horn' (Strong's #7161) is used of a musical horn, or a horn used as a container for oil, and as a Hebrew idiom for strength.

Contrary to Gesenius above, Psalm 2 and Daniel 9 are interpreted by Jews and Christians alike as referring to the Messiah to come, and as we have noted Isaiah 61 uses the verb of the Messiah's first coming.

"The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the LORD and against His Anointed" (Psalm 2:2)

Psalm 2 goes on to describe the Messiah-King as God's son, "You are my son, today I have begotten you" (v7). Although this is language sometimes ascribed to kings, especially David, Jews and Christians have regarded it as messianic and unfulfilled.

"... Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks ... after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself ..." (Daniel 9:25-26)

According to a number of Jewish sources cited by John Gill in his commentary on Daniel 9:26, "R. Nehemiah, who lived about fifty years before the coming of Christ, declared the time of the Messiah, as signified by Daniel, could not be protracted longer than those fifty years. The Jews also say the world is divided into six parts, and the last part is from Daniel to the Messiah".

Our English word Christ is simply a transliteration of the Greek χριστος christos "anointed" (Strong's #5547). There is however another Greek term μεσσιας messias (Strong's #3323) which is itself a transliteration of the Hebrew. This term is only used in John 1:41 and 4:25 where the woman at the well expresses the Jewish belief that "Messiah (called Christ) is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us." Either way whether believers in Jesus call themselves christians or messianics they using the same terminology to associate themselves with the Christ or Messiah.

FOOTNOTES:
F1: Freedman, D. N., The Anchor Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1996, c1992)
F2: CD 2:12; 5:21-6:1; 1QM 11:7, 8; 11QMelch 18

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