Μεσσίας

From the study of John 1:41

Range of meaning

A Greek rendering of Aramaic meshiḥa / Hebrew mashiaḥ, 'anointed (one)'. In the Hebrew Bible mashiaḥ is used of people set apart by having oil poured on them: above all kings ('the LORD's anointed', 1 Sam 24:6; Ps 2:2), but also the high priest ('the anointed priest', Lev 4:3), and even the Persian king Cyrus as God's appointed agent (Isa 45:1). By the time of Jesus, 'the Messiah' had become a title for an expected end-time agent of God, most often a king from David's line who would free Israel, put down its enemies, purify the people and restore justice.

Against the English

English 'Messiah' is accurate as a transliteration, but many modern readers hear it as a general word for 'saviour' or 'divine redeemer', or simply as another name for Jesus. To Andrew it named a role: God's anointed king, whom many expected and whom some groups imagined differently.

How it drifted

Over centuries of Christian use the title became filled with everything Christians later confessed about Jesus (his divinity, his atoning death). In English it also slid into a general word for any rescuer ('a football messiah').

Used elsewhere in the period

Psalms of Solomon 17–18 (1st century BC) hopes for 'their king, the son of David… the Lord's anointed' who will purge Jerusalem of foreigners and gather the tribes. The Dead Sea Scrolls expect 'the messiahs of Aaron and Israel', a priestly and a royal figure (1QS 9:11). 1 Enoch 48:10 and 52:4 call the heavenly Son of Man 'his Anointed One'. 4 Ezra 12:32 and 2 Baruch 29–30, 72 (late 1st century AD) describe a messianic deliverer. Expectations varied and were not uniform. In the New Testament the Greek transliteration Messias appears only here and in John 4:25 (on a Samaritan woman's lips).

From the study of John 4:25

Range of meaning

A Greek spelling of the Aramaic mešiḥa (Hebrew mašiaḥ), "anointed one." In the Hebrew Bible the word covers anyone set apart by anointing with oil: kings (1 Sam 24:6; Ps 2:2), priests (Lev 4:3), and once even the Persian king Cyrus (Isa 45:1). By the first century it had also become a title for an expected end-time agent of God. That figure was most often a royal son of David (Psalms of Solomon 17-18), but some groups expected a priestly anointed one, a prophet, or several figures together (the Dead Sea Scroll 1QS 9:11: "the prophet and the anointed ones of Aaron and Israel").

Against the English

KJV keeps the Greek form "Messias." Modern versions use "Messiah." Both are accurate, but "Messiah" now suggests a single, uniform expectation, and the first-century picture was varied.

How it drifted

In later Christian and popular usage, "Messiah" came to mean one fixed job description, a divine saviour figure, read back into every first-century speaker.

Used elsewhere in the period

The transliterated form occurs only in John 1:41 and 4:25 in the New Testament. Both times John at once translates it with Christos, which suggests his readers needed the Semitic word explained. In the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint), mašiaḥ is always translated christos.