מָשִׁיחַ
māšîaḥ
Hebrew 'anointed one,' used for consecrated kings and priests and later developed in messianic expectation.
- Pronunciation
- mā-shí-aḥ (approximate Tiberian-based)Pronunciation is approximate and may vary by period, dialect, and scholarly reconstruction.
- Morphology
- masculine passive participle/substantive from the root משׁח
- Semantic range
- anointed one
- consecrated king
- priest
- messianic ruler
- Key passages
Corpus usage
- Hebrew Bible usage applies to multiple anointed figures; later Jewish traditions develop eschatological meanings.
Common interpretive errors
- Assuming every occurrence is a technical prediction of one future figure.
- Collapsing Jewish and Christian definitions.