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Writer's pictureRowan Collins

What does Mashiach mean?

Updated: Jan 6, 2024

Mashiach (4899 in Strong's Concordance) is a Hebrew noun and means to be an anointed person. It is used infrequently throughout the Old Testament and most references gravitate around David. He often said that he wouldn't strike Saul, because he was anointed; others called David and his offspring anointed, which became a source of hope for Israel as they awaited the Mashiach.


The New Testament is written in Greek and Christos is the equivalent term. A second less common term with Hebrew origin exists: Messias. It is used twice in Scripture; both times in the book of John. All of these references point to Jesus of Nazareth. Therefore, the unequivocal claim of the Christian Bible is that Jesus Christ is the Anointed One—he is the anointed offspring of David—the Mashiach.


Several stories in the gospels, which at first seem inconsequential to us today, form the foundation of first century belief that Jesus is the Mashiach. Luke and Matthew both include genealogies tracing Jesus back to David. Mark incorporates the claim through the story of a blind man who calls Jesus the 'Son of David'. Jesus' birth in Bethlehem also plays a significant role in the claim he is Christ, as does his triumphal entry into Jerusalem.


Related Terms

The following terms are often used in connection with mashiach:


  • Mashach - to anoint

  • Mashiach - to be anointed

  • Messias - Messiah, Anointed One

  • Christos - Christ, Annointed One

  • Chrió - to anoint

  • Chrisma - an anointing

  • Christianos - a follower of Christ

  • Pseudochristos - False Christ


Usage

Mashiach is used 39 times across 38 verses. Below is a list of all references to mashiach in the New Testament.


...if it is the anointed priest who sins, thus bringing guilt on the people, then he shall offer for the sin that he has committed a bull from the herd without blemish to the Lord for a sin offering.

‭‭Leviticus‬ ‭4‬:‭3‬ ‭ESV‬‬


And the anointed priest shall take some of the blood of the bull and bring it into the tent of meeting...

‭‭Leviticus‬ ‭4‬:‭5‬ ‭ESV‬‬


Then the anointed priest shall bring some of the blood of the bull into the tent of meeting...

‭‭Leviticus‬ ‭4‬:‭16‬ ‭ESV‬‬


The priest from among Aaron’s sons, who is anointed to succeed him, shall offer it to the Lord as decreed forever. The whole of it shall be burned.

‭‭Leviticus‬ ‭6‬:‭22‬ ‭ESV‬‬


The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; against them he will thunder in heaven. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.

‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭2‬:‭10‬ ‭ESV‬‬


And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed forever.

‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭2‬:‭35‬ ‭ESV‬‬


Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me and I will restore it to you.

‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭12‬:‭3‬ ‭ESV‬‬


And he said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”

‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭12‬:‭5‬ ‭ESV‬‬


When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.”

‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭16‬:‭6‬ ‭ESV‬‬


He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my Lord, the Lord’s anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the Lord’s anointed.”

‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭24‬:‭6‬ ‭ESV‬‬


Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the Lord gave you today into my hand in the cave. And some told me to kill you, but I spared you. I said, ‘I will not put out my hand against my Lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed.’

‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭24‬:‭10‬ ‭ESV‬‬


But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand against the Lord’s anointed and be guiltless?”

‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭26‬:‭9‬ ‭ESV‬‬


The Lord forbid that I should put out my hand against the Lord’s anointed. But take now the spear that is at his head and the jar of water, and let us go.

‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭26‬:‭11‬ ‭ESV‬‬


This thing that you have done is not good. As the Lord lives, you deserve to die, because you have not kept watch over your Lord, the Lord’s anointed. And now see where the king’s spear is and the jar of water that was at his head.

‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭26‬:‭16‬ ‭ESV‬‬


The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness, for the Lord gave you into my hand today, and I would not put out my hand against the Lord’s anointed.

‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭26‬:‭23‬ ‭ESV‬‬


David said to him, “How is it you were not afraid to put out your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?”

‭‭2 Samuel‬ ‭1‬:‭14‬ ‭ESV‬‬


And David said to him, “Your blood be on your head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the Lord’s anointed.’”

‭‭2 Samuel‬ ‭1‬:‭16‬ ‭ESV‬‬


You mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain upon you, nor fields of offerings! For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, not anointed with oil

‭‭2 Samuel‬ ‭1‬:‭21‬ ‭ESV‬‬


Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered, “Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the Lord’s anointed?”

‭‭2 Samuel‬ ‭19‬:‭21‬ ‭ESV‬‬


Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever.

‭‭2 Samuel‬ ‭22‬:‭51‬ ‭ESV‬‬


Now these are the last words of David: The oracle of David, the son of Jesse, the oracle of the man who was raised on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, the sweet psalmist of Israel:

‭‭2 Samuel‬ ‭23‬:‭1‬ ‭ESV‬‬


saying, “Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm!”

‭‭1 Chronicles‬ ‭16‬:‭22‬ ‭ESV‬‬


O Lord God, do not turn away the face of your anointed one! Remember your steadfast love for David your servant.

‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭6‬:‭42‬ ‭ESV‬‬


The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭2‬:‭2‬ ‭ESV‬‬


Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever.

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭18‬:‭50‬ ‭ESV‬‬


Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand.

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭20‬:‭6‬ ‭ESV‬‬


The Lord is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed.

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭28‬:‭8‬ ‭ESV‬‬


Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed!

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭84‬:‭9‬ ‭ESV‬‬


But now you have cast off and rejected; you are full of wrath against your anointed.

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭89‬:‭38‬ ‭ESV‬‬


with which your enemies mock, O Lord, with which they mock the footsteps of your anointed.

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭89‬:‭51‬ ‭ESV‬‬


saying, “Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm!”

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭105‬:‭15‬ ‭ESV‬‬


For the sake of your servant David, do not turn away the face of your anointed one.

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭132‬:‭10‬ ‭ESV‬‬


There I will make a horn to sprout for David; I have prepared a lamp for my anointed.

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭132‬:‭17‬ ‭ESV‬‬


Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed:

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭45‬:‭1‬ ‭ESV‬‬


The breath of our nostrils, the Lord’s anointed, was captured in their pits, of whom we said, “Under his shadow we shall live among the nations.”

‭‭Lamentations‬ ‭4‬:‭20‬ ‭ESV‬‬


Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time.

‭‭Daniel‬ ‭9‬:‭25‬ ‭ESV‬‬


And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed.

‭‭Daniel‬ ‭9‬:‭26‬ ‭ESV‬‬


You went out for the salvation of your people, for the salvation of your anointed. You crushed the head of the house of the wicked, laying him bare from thigh to neck. Selah

‭‭Habakkuk‬ ‭3‬:‭13‬ ‭ESV‬‬

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