 | Jewish eschatology: Encyclopedia II - Jewish eschatology - Mashiach/Messiah
Jewish eschatology - Mashiach/Messiah
The Hebrew word Mashiach (or Moshiach) means anointed one, and refers to a mortal human being. Within Judaism, the Mashiach is a human being who will be a descendant of King David continuing the Davidic line, and who will usher in a messianic era of peace and prosperity for Israel and all the nations of the world.
- All of the people of Israel will come back to Torah
- The people of Israel will be gathered back to the land of Israel
- The Holy Temple in Jerusalem will be rebuilt
- Israel will live free among the nations, and will have no need to defend itself
- War and famine will end, and an era of peace and prosperity will come upon the Earth
The traditional Jewish understanding of the messiah is non-supernatural, and is best elucidated by Maimonides (Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon), in his commentary to tractate Sanhedrin, of the Babylonian Talmud. He writes:
"The Messianic age is when the Jews will regain their independence and all return to the land of Israel. The Messiah will be a very great king, he will achieve great fame, and his reputation among the gentile nations will be even greater than that of King Solomon. His great righteousness and the wonders that he will bring about will cause all peoples to make peace with him and all lands to serve him.... Nothing will change in the Messianic age, however, except that Jews will regain their independence. Rich and poor, strong and weak, will still exist. However it will be very easy for people to make a living, and with very little effort they will be able to accomplish very much.... it will be a time when the number of wise men will increase...war shall not exist, and nation shall no longer lift up sword against nation.... The Messianic age will be highlighted by a community of the righteous and dominated by goodness and wisdom. It will be ruled by the Messiah, a righteous and honest king, outstanding in wisdom, and close to God. Do not think that the ways of the world or the laws of nature will change, this is not true. The world will continue as it is. The prophet Isaiah predicted "The wolf shall live with the sheep, the leopard shall lie down with the kid." This, however, is merely allegory, meaning that the Jews will live safely, even with the formerly wicked nations. All nations will return to the true religion [monotheism, although not necessarily Judaism] and will no longer steal or oppress. Note that all prophecies regarding the Messiah are allegorical - Only in the Messianic age will we know the meaning of each allegory and what it comes to teach us. Our sages and prophets did not long for the Messianic age in order that they might rule the world and dominate the gentiles....the only thing they wanted was to be free for Jews to involve themselves with the Torah and its wisdom."
This principle is accepted by Orthodox Jews whereas Conservative Jews vary in their beliefs, some affirm a personal messiah, while others affirm a messianic era. "We do not know when the Messiah will come, nor whether he will be a charismatic human figure or is a symbol of the redemption of humankind from the evils of the world. Through the doctrine of a Messianic figure, Judaism teaches us that every individual human being must live as if he or she, individually, has the responsibility to bring about the messianic age. Beyond that, we echo the words of Maimonides based on the prophet Habakkuk (2:3) that though he may tarry, yet do we wait for him each day..." [Emet ve-Emunah: Statement of Principles of Conservative Judaism]
Reform Jews generally concur with this latter position; they are more likely to believe in a messianic era than a personal messiah. Reconstructionist Jews reject the idea that God can send a personal messiah or bring about a messianic age, but they do teach that man can use the power or process to help bring about such a world.
Like Jews, Christians use the word "messiah" to refer to the Davidic king promised to Israel. However, Christians believe that the messiah has already appeared, and that he was Jesus of Nazareth. Since most Christians believe that Jesus was himself God incarnate, their understanding of the messiah as a Davidic king is often overshadowed by their understanding of Jesus as the revelation of God to humanity.
Other related archives1 Samuel 28:19, 2 Kings, Aaron, Abraham, Babylonian, Book of Daniel, Christianity, Christians, Conservative Jews, Davidic line, Deuteronomy, Ecclesiastes, Eschatology, Exodus, Garden of Eden, Gehenna, Genesis, Hebrew, Hereafter, Isaac, Isaiah, Ishmael, Israel, Jacob, Jesus of Nazareth, Jewish Messiah, Job, Judaism, King David, Leviticus, Maimonides, Mashiach, Messiah, Moses, Nahmanides, Orthodox Jews, Psalms, Purgatory, Reconstructionist Jews, Reform Jews, Samuel, Sanhedrin, Saul, Sheol, Shiv'ah, Talmud, Tanakh, Temple in Jerusalem, Torah, afterlife, angel, heaven, land of Israel, paradise, purgatory, soul
 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Mashiach/Messiah", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
