““Those who contend with the LORD will be shattered; Against them He will thunder in the heavens, The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; And He will give strength to His king, And will exalt the horn of His anointed.”” (1 Samuel 2:10, NASB95)
10 יְהוָ֞ה יֵחַ֣תּוּ מְרִ֯יבָ֗ו עָלָ֯ו֮ בַּשָּׁמַ֣יִם יַרְעֵ֔ם יְהוָ֖ה יָדִ֣ין אַפְסֵי־אָ֑רֶץ וְיִתֶּן־עֹ֣ז לְמַלְכּ֔וֹ וְיָרֵ֖ם קֶ֥רֶן מְשִׁיחֽוֹ׃ פ (Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia 1 Sa 2:10)
In the Hebrew there are two words which need to be looked at to understand your question. Of course a simple reading of the text in English provokes a sense of the promised Messiah.
These two words are מָשַׁח (verb) and מָשִׁיחַ (Noun)
mashach (מָשַׁח, 4886), “to anoint, smear, consecrate.” A common word in both ancient and modern Hebrew, mashach is also found in ancient Ugaritic. It occurs approximately 70 times in the Hebrew Old Testament.
The word is found for the first time in the Old Testament in Gen. 31:13: “… where thou anointedst the pillar, and … vowedst a vow unto me …” This use illustrates the idea of anointing something or someone as an act of consecration. The basic meaning of the word, however, is simply to “smear” something on an object. Usually oil is involved, but it could be other substances, such as paint or dye (cf. Jer. 22:14). The expression “anoint the shield” in Isa. 21:5 probably has more to do with lubrication than consecration in that context. When unleavened bread is “tempered with oil” in Exod. 29:2, it is basically equivalent to our act of buttering bread.
The Old Testament most commonly uses mashach to indicate “anointing” in the sense of a special setting apart for an office or function. Thus, Elisha was “anointed” to be a prophet (1 Kings 19:16). More typically, kings were “anointed” for their office (1 Sam. 16:12; 1 Kings 1:39). Vessels used in the worship at the sacred shrine (both tabernacle and temple) were consecrated for use by “anointing” them (Exod. 29:36; 30:26; 40:9-10). In fact, the recipe for the formulation of this “holy anointing oil” is given in detail
mashiach (מָשִׁיחַ, 4899), “anointed one.” A word that is important both to Old Testament and New Testament understandings is the noun mashiach, which gives us the term messiah. As is true of the verb, mashiach implies an anointing for a special office or function. Thus, David refused to harm Saul because Saul was “the Lord’s anointed” (1 Sam. 24:6). The Psalms often express the messianic ideals attached to the Davidic line by using the phrase “the Lord’s anointed” (Ps. 2:2; 18:50; 89:38, 51).
Interestingly enough, the only person named V 1, p 6 “messiah” in the Old Testament was Cyrus, the pagan king of Persia, who was commissioned by God to restore Judah to her homeland after the Exile (Isa. 45:1). The anointing in this instance was more figurative than literal, since Cyrus was not aware that he was being set apart for such a divine purpose.
The New Testament title of Christ is derived from the Greek Christos which is exactly equivalent to the Hebrew mashiach, for it is also rooted in the idea of “to smear with oil.” So the term Christ emphasises the special anointing of Jesus of Nazareth for His role as God’s chosen one.
Vine, W. E., Unger, M. F., & White, W., Jr. (1996). Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. Nashville, TN: T. Nelson.
In this manuscript from 1 Samuel the word is מָשִׁיחַ which is translated as 'anointed one" or "king".
Hope that helps. |
