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  • From: Yigal Levin <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>
  • To: b-hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] Mashiax/Christos
  • Date: Thu, 31 Aug 2006 01:26:36 +0200


----- Original Message ----- From: "Peter Kirk" <peter AT qaya.org>
. So perhaps we
should restrict our discussions to what words like Mashiach and concepts
like anointing mean in the Hebrew Bible as originally intended by its
authors, and keep well away from discussing Christian and Rabbinic
interpretations.



Excellent idea. So what DOES the Tanakh mean when it uses the word Mashiax. We have already established that the word derives from M$X, which in Aramaic is the regular word for "oil" - in Hebrew it seems to mean the act of smearing or pouring shemen (oil). This, as we know, was done as part of the "consecration" (I use the term lightly) of a high priest (cf. Leviticus 7-8 etc.) and of a king. As such, the "mashiax", or "anointed one", is the acting high priest (Lev. 4:3, 5, 16 etc.) or the reigning king - including, as Liz has pointed out, Cyrus in Isaiah 45:1.

However NOWHERE in the Tanakh (with the possible exception of Daniel 9:25-26), is the term "mashiax" used when clearly speaking of a FUTURE savior - Davidic, divine or otherwise. The prophets often speak of a future Davidic king, the "branch" of Jesse etc., but NOWHERE is this figure called "mashiax". The attachment of the title "mashiax" to the future savior is a late Second Temple concept, which was picked up on by the early followers of the "Teacher of Righteousness", of Jesus, of Bar-Kokhba and of others.

Yigal Levin




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