MESSI'AH (Heb. lfashicteh), equivalent to the Greek Christos, the Anointed, designates, in the Old Testament, the great deliverer and Savior whom the Jews expected to be sent. by God, not only to restore their country to the power and splendor which it exhibited in the days of David, but even, by compelling the Gentiles to acknowledge the supremacy of the theocratic people, to raise it to the summit of universal dotninion. This large con ception, however, first begins to develop itself after the time of Solomon ; for the oldest biblical records in their Messianic indications refer rather to the high degree of prosperity which the chosen people were to expect for themselves. This expectation, already visible in the Abrahamidm, appeared for a moment to have realized itself in the conquest of Canaan; but the subsequent, and often disastrous wars (in the period of the " Judges'' and of Saul), as well as the internal feuds and dissensions of the Hebrews themselves- left it, in point of fact, unfulfilled. Nevertheless, the hope of the appearance of the Mes siah had rooted itself strongly in the people, and, during the glorious and peaceful reigns of David wad Solomon, had so grown and enlarged that even after the secession of Israel, and during the momentous ages that elapsed until its destruction as a kingdom, not only was the hope of a universal world-sovereignty, and of an extraordinary degree of prosperity, warmly cherished, but it was also confidently expected that God would raise up a branch from the stem of David as the _Messiah, the founder of the national pros perity, and the bringer-in of the all-embracing theocracy. That branch was declared to be " the anointed of the Lord," and since David applied that epithet to himself, the Jews transferred it to the deliverer whom they expected, and called him " Son of David.'' The prophetic writings contain many such allusions to the Messiah, whose coming was expected shortly, and even during the time of the generation then living, whose birth place, in congruity with his Davidic descent, was announced to be Bethlehem and who, it was believed, was to be endowed with divine attributes. These prophetic allusions are commonly termed MESSIANIC PROPHECIES. Along with such, the prophets associated the idea of a forerunner (Elijah, Jererniah, or Moses), whose function was to prepare the people for the appearance of the Messiah. The coming of the Messianic kingdom was.
to be preceded by a period of severe misfortune and bitter sorrows, the purpose of which was the reconciliation of the people with God (Isaiah i. 2',1, etc.; Joel iii. ; Dan. ix. ; Zech. xiii.). These sorrows are called the woes of the Messiah; they are minutely described in the second book of Esdras--an apocryphal work. Hence sprung up the idea of a suffering Messiah—wiklely diffused among the Jews—who, by enduring grief and shame, should make atonement for the people, and reconcile them with God. This conception was greatly strengthened by the picture in Isaiah (chapters lii. and liii.), of a " servant of God," which, in fact, is generally regarded as the most distinct prophecy of the Savior. Hence the step further of considering the _Messiah an offering and sacrifice for the sins of the people was an easy one; yet, on the other hand, it is singular that no trace of this is found in the Apocrypha, not to mention the popular belief of the Jews, that the Messiah was to live forever (John xii. 34), that a crucified Savior was a stum bling-block to them (1 Cor. i. 23), that even the disciples of Jesus did not comprehend his allusions to his death, and that their faith in him as the Messiah was for long dim and doubtful. In faet this' popular belief of the Jews was the very retison why they did not.
recognize Jesus as the Messiah. In the later Judaism (as it shows itself in the Talmud) the conceptions of the Messiah are rich in singularities. It was believed that the true Messiah, the son of David, would be preceded by another Messiah, a son of Joseph or Ephraim, who should suffer death for men as a sin-offering. Century after century the Jews have expected the former, and repeatedly have they risen and placed themselve,s under the standard of dreamers, fanatics, and impostors, who took to themselves the sacred name; as, for example, Bar-Cochba (q.v.) in the 2d. c.; one Moses in the isle of Candia in the 5th c.; one Julian in Palestine in the 6th b.; several in Persia and Arabia m the 12th c.; and as late as thel8th c., Sabatai Zevi in Aleppo. Even yet the hope of a Messiah is not dead in the hearts of the strict Talmudistic Jews.