Messiah #5

Mashiach comes from a root meaning “to anoint” or “to smear with oil,” the ritual act by which Israel’s kings, priests, and occasionally prophets were formally set apart for their office (1 Samuel 16:13, of David). Anyone anointed in this sense could be called “the LORD’s anointed” — the term was a functional title, not originally the name of a single expected figure.

Biblical Usage

Over time, especially in the exilic and post-exilic prophets, “the Messiah” narrowed into the title for one specific, future, divinely-sent deliverer who would restore Israel and establish God’s kingdom — Daniel 9:25-26 speaks of “an anointed one, a prince” who would be “cut off.” By the New Testament era this expectation was widespread enough that Andrew could tell his brother Simon, “We have found the Messiah” (John 1:41), using the Hebrew term directly before the Gospel writer glosses it with its Greek equivalent, Christos.

Theological Significance

“Christ” is not Jesus’s surname but the Greek translation of this same Hebrew title — every time the New Testament calls Jesus “Christ,” it is making the claim that he is the mashiach Israel’s Scriptures had promised. The New Testament writers work hard to show Jesus fulfilling the office in all three of its Old Testament anointed roles at once: prophet, priest, and king.