Messiah

:For other uses, see Messiah (disambiguation).

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In Judaism, the Messiah (מָשִׁיחַ "anointed one", Standard Hebrew {{unicode|Mašíaḥ}}, Tiberian Hebrew {{unicode|Māšîªḥ}}) initially meant any person who was anointed by God. In English today, it is used in two major contexts: the anticipated savior of the Jews, and one who is anticipated as, regarded as, or professes to be a savior or liberator.http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=messiah

Related Topics:
Judaism - Standard Hebrew - Tiberian Hebrew

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In the first century, it was interpreted to refer more specifically to someone appointed by God to lead the Jewish people in the face of their tribulations with the Romans. Christians consider Jesus to be that messiah. The word Christ (Greek Χριστός, Khristos, "the anointed one") is a literal translation of "mashiach".

Related Topics:
Christians - Jesus - Greek - Mashiach

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In Islam, Jesus (Isa) is also considered the Maseeh, or Messiah, and his eventual return to the Earth is expected with that of another messianic figure, the Mahdi.

Related Topics:
Isa - Mahdi

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Some speculate that the Jewish concept of the Messiah did not arise as depicted in the Hebrew Scriptures, but rather originates in the Zoroastrian idea of Saoshyant. For similar figures in other religions, refer to the "See also" section in this article.

Related Topics:
Hebrew Scriptures - Zoroastrian - Saoshyant

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The Septuagint, an ancient Jewish translation of the Old Testament into Greek, translates all thirty-nine instances of the word messiah as Khristos. The New Testament records the Greek form Μεσσίας, Messias, only twice, in John 1:41 and 4:25.

Related Topics:
Septuagint - Old Testament - Greek - New Testament - John

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