What sort of messiah was expected by the Jews?

Answer 1

The messiah was expected to be a human being, born of two human beings, who would end war,
suffering and persecution, return the Jews to their homeland, resurrect the dead, and usher in
world peace. The messiah proclaimed and accepted by a Jewish faction at the time failed on all counts.

Answer 2

AnswerThe term 'messiah' means anointed, and the ancient kings and priests were the ones to be anointed. In the post-Exilic Hellenistic and Roman times, Jews gradually began to hope for a messiah, but some were hoping for a great king and others were hoping for a spiritual leader.

The most common expectation was for a king or military leader who would lead the Jews out of foreign domination.

Answer 3

The Jews were subjects of Rome, and the Jews therefore expected the promised Savior to be a warrior king who would free them from Roman bondage. They did not expect, nor did they accept a Savior born as a baby who came to free them from their sin and who would die for them.

Answer:The Jewish belief in the moshiach (messiah) has nothing to do with Rome. It is one of the 13 principal Jewish beliefs, and goes back much further than our contact with the Romans.

To answer the question, the Jewish messiah will:

• Build the Third Temple (Ezekiel 37:26-28)
• Gather all Jews back to the Land of Israel (Isaiah 43:5-6)
• Usher in an era of world peace, and end all hatred, oppression, suffering and disease. "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall man learn war anymore." (Isaiah 2:4)
• Spread universal knowledge of the God of Israel, uniting humanity as one. "God will be King over all the world -- on that day, God will be One and His Name will be One" (Zechariah 14:9)
• The messiah will be descended on his father's side from King David (Genesis 49:10 and Isaiah 11:1).
• The messiah will lead the Jewish people to full Torah observance. The Torah states that all mitzvot (commands) remain binding forever, and any prophet coming to change the Torah is immediately identified as a false prophet. (Deut. 13:1-4)

Additionally, this is not only the belief of "Ancient Jews", but of current Judaism.

Answer 4

The expectations of a Moshiach 2000 years ago are the same as they are today:

The word 'messiah' is the anglicisation of the Hebrew 'moshiach'. The word moshiach translates to 'anointed'. The title of moshiach was given to any person who was appropriately anointed with oil as part of their initiation to their service of HaShem. We have had many moshiachim (pl) in the form of kings, priests, prophets, and judges. There is absolutely nothing supernatural about a moshiach.

This being said, there is a prophecy of a future moshiach, who will be the leader of Israel, however, this is a relatively minor topic in Judaism and the Tanach.

The Jewish requirements of hamoshiach are:

* Build the Third Temple (Ezekiel 37:26-28)

* Gather all Jews back to the Land of Israel (Isaiah 43:5-6)

* Usher in an era of world peace, and end all hatred, oppression, suffering and disease. As it says: "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall man learn war anymore." (Isaiah 2:4)

* Spread universal knowledge of the God of Israel, which will unite humanity as one. As it says: "HaShem will be King over all the world -- on that day, HaShem will be One and His Name will be One" (Zechariah 14:9)

* Hamoshiach must be descended on his father's side from King David (Genesis 49:10 and Isaiah 11:1)

* Hamoshiach will lead the Jewish people to full Torah observance. The Torah states that all mitzvot remain binding forever, and anyone coming to change the Torah is immediately identified as a false prophet. (Deut. 13:1-4)

There is no prophecy of a virgin birth - Isaiah 7 contains a short term prophecy that was fulfilled in Isaiah's lifetime. The prophecy itself makes no mention of a virgin. The Hebrew word for virgin is 'b'tulah' which Isaiah uses throughout his writings. However, in this chapter, the word 'almah' is used. Almah means young woman and in this chapter, the young woman in question was already pregnant. The issue was that the Greeks did not have a word that was the equivalent to 'almah', instead, the translators used the word 'parthenos' which can mean either young woman OR virgin. In the prophecy itself, young woman's child simply served as the timeline for the prophecy itself: by the time the child is old enough to know good from bad, X would have occurred.

There is no specification as to where hamoshiach will be born. Mentions of Bethlehem are in reference to hamoshiach being a descendant of King David.

There is no specification as to when hamoshiach will be born. Daniel was talking about the destruction of the first Temple, construction of the second Temple, and then the destruction of the second Temple.

Answer 5

The same "type" that we still are awaiting. The messiah will be the person who:
* Builds the Third Temple (Ezekiel 37:26-28).
* Gathers all Jews back to the Land of Israel (Isaiah 43:5-6).
* Ushers in an era of world peace, and end all hatred and oppression. As it says: "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, nor shall they learn war any more" (Isaiah 2:4).
* Spreads universal knowledge of the God of Israel, which will unite humanity as one. As it says: "God will be King over all the world. On that day, God will be One and His Name will be One" (Zechariah 14:9).
* The messiah must be descended on his father's side from King David (Genesis 49:10 and Isaiah 11:1).
* The messiah will lead the Jewish people to full Torah-observance. The Torah states that all of its mitzvot (commands) remain binding forever.

Answer 6

1. They wanted a King because at that time Jews had no king.

Answer 7

They expected a Messiah that would be victorious of Israel's enemies.