Messiah
In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (Hebrew: מָשִׁיחַ, romanized: māšīaḥ; Greek: μεσσίας, messías; Arabic: مسيح, masīḥ; lit. 'the anointed one') is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of mashiach, messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism,[1][2] and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a mashiach is a king or High Priest traditionally anointed with holy anointing oil.
For other uses, see Messiah (Handel) and Messiah (disambiguation).
In Judaism, Ha-mashiach (המשיח, 'the Messiah'),[3][a] often referred to as melekh ha-mashiach (מלך המשיח, 'King Messiah'),[5] is the Jewish leader, physically descended from the paternal Davidic line through King David and King Solomon. He will accomplish predetermined things in a future arrival, including the unification of the tribes of Israel,[6] the gathering of all Jews to Eretz Israel, the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem, the ushering in of a Messianic Age of global universal peace,[7] and the annunciation of the world to come.[1][2]
The Greek translation of Messiah is Khristós (Χριστός),[8] anglicized as Christ. It occurs 41 times in the Septuagint and 529 times in the New Testament.[9] Christians commonly refer to Jesus of Nazareth as either the "Christ" or the "Messiah", believing that the messianic prophecies were fulfilled in the mission, death, and resurrection of Jesus and that he will return to fulfill the rest of messianic prophecies. Moreover, unlike the Judaic concept of the Messiah, Jesus Christ is considered the Son of God, although in the Jewish faith the King of Israel was also called the Son of God.
In Islam, Jesus (Arabic: عيسى, romanized: Isa) is held to have been a prophet and the Messiah sent to the Israelites, who will return to Earth at the end of times along with the Mahdi, and defeat al-Masih ad-Dajjal, the false Messiah.[10]
In Ahmadiyya theology, these prophecies concerning the Mahdi and the second coming of Jesus are believed to have been fulfilled in Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908),[11] the founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement, wherein the terms Messiah and Mahdi are synonyms for one and the same person.[12]
In controversial Chabad messianism,[b] Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (r. 1920–1950), sixth Rebbe (spiritual leader) of Chabad Lubavitch, and Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902–1994), seventh Rebbe of Chabad, are Messiah claimants.[13][14][15][16]
Etymology[edit]
Messiah (Hebrew: מָשִׁיחַ, mašíaḥ, or המשיח, mashiach; Imperial Aramaic: משיחא; Classical Syriac: ܡܫܺܝܚܳܐ, Məšîḥā; Latin: Messias) literally means 'anointed one'.[17]
In Hebrew, the Messiah is often referred to as melekh mashiach (מלך המשיח; Tiberian: Meleḵ ha-Mašīaḥ, pronounced [ˈmeleχ hamaˈʃiaħ]), literally meaning 'the Anointed King'. The Greek Septuagint version of the Old Testament renders all 39 instances of the Hebrew mašíaḥ as Khristós (Χριστός).[8] The New Testament records the Greek transliteration Messias (Μεσσίας) twice in John.[18]
al-Masīḥ (Arabic: المسيح, pronounced [maˈsiːħ], lit. 'the anointed', 'the traveller', or 'one who cures by caressing') is the Arabic word for messiah used by both Arab Christians and Muslims. In modern Arabic, it is used as one of the many titles of Jesus, referred to as Yasūʿ al-Masih (يسوع المسيح) by Arab Christians and Īsā al-Masīḥ (عيسى المسيح) by Muslims.[19]