Jewish Messianism

In Judaism, messiah (Hebrew: מָשִׁיחַ‎, translit. māšîaḥ‎; Greek: χριστός, translit. khristós, lit. 'anointed, covered in oil') is a title for a savior and liberator of the Jewish people. The concept of messianism originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, a messiah is a king or High Priest traditionally anointed with holy anointing oil. However, messiahs were not exclusively Jewish, as the Hebrew Bible refers to Cyrus the Great, king of Persia, as a messiah for his decree to rebuild the Jerusalem Temple.

In Jewish eschatology, the Messiah is a future Jewish king from the Davidic line, who is expected to be anointed with holy anointing oil and rule the Jewish people during the Messianic Age and World to come. The Messiah is often referred to as "King Messiah" (Hebrew: מלך משיח‎, translit. melekh mashiach‎) or malka meshiḥa in Aramaic.