Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/396

* MESSIAH. 362 MESSIAH. the account of Josephus {Ant. xviii. 8.5 sqq.). There are many indications that after this time a more transcendental cliaracter was given to the ilessianic conception, not only among the Jews who looked forward to a return of Jesiis as the ^lessiah, but also in other circles of Jewry. Theudas, who announced himself as the Jtessiah in the reign of Claudius, did not depend upon military strength or political diplomacy, but looked for a miraculous establishment by God of the Kingdom of Israel in place of the Roman Empire. He was beheaded by Cuspius Fadus in a.d. 4G (Josephus, Ant. xx. 07 sqq.). The Egyptian (c..58 a.u. ) mentioned by .Jo- sephus {Ant. XX. 169 sqq.) probably only claimed to be what the historian calls him — a prophet. But Menahem, son of .Judah, the Galilean, who appeared during the siege of Jerusalem, led the attack upon the Koman garrison clothed in royal garments, and fell a victim of his ilessianic pride and arbitrariness. An apocalyptic frag- ment of Jewish origin, preserved in Revelation xi. 1, 2, xii., sets forth figuratively how the ilcs-siah has already l)een born, but is hidden secure against Roman persecution, to appear in due time. This idea that the Jlessiah has been born in the Jewish community, but has already as a chihl been translated, is similar to the con- ception found in the Babylonian Talmud {San- hedrin, 08 b ), where the Messiah is a deceased descendant of David who rises from the dead to accomplish the delivery of Israel. Both of tliese notions were due to the conviction that God would provide a genuine son of David. .V trans- lated hero would naturally return on the clouds of heaven. Thus in the .Ifjonilifpsr of Baruch, written after the fall of .Terusaleiii, the Messiah is 'revealed' (xxix. 3: xxxix. 7), and 'returns in glory' ( xx.x. I ) to rule until the world of cor- ruption is at an end (xl. 3), sparing some and putting others to death (Ixxii. 2-0). In the Apocalypse of Ezra, written in A.u. 07, the Mes- siah is to be revealed during four hundred years and then die together with all men, whereupon the present age will end and a new world begin, after .seven days of silence, with the resurrection of the dead and the appearance of the Most High on the judgment seat (vii. iS sqq.). The woman that brings forth a child, as in Revelation xii., loses him when she is about to give him a wife and flees into the wilderness (ix. 43 sqq.). The lion rebuking the eagle is said to be the Mes- siah who has been preserved for the end from the seed of David (xii. 3 sqq.). Finally the man- like or angelic being that rises from the sea and flies with the clouds of heaven, destroying an army with the fire proceeding from his mouth, is declared to be tin- ifessiah (xiii.). In spite of tlio marked influence of JeAvish-Christian thought, the emphasis is strongly put upon the assertion that God is not to judge His creation tlirongh any one (v. 56, vi. 0). It is po.ssible, however, that even this step was taken by the .Tewish interpolator of the hortatorr addresses of Knoch il'.lhiopir Knoch, 37-71. (On the Cfimposite character of this section of the book, consult Schmidt, article "ICnoch." in the .fnri.ih F.n- ciiclopmlln.) In the original vision God alone is the judge, and there is no Messiah; but the hook seems to have Iteen annotated and expanded by a writer who lookeil forward to the revelation of n chosen instrument, not merely for the pun- ishment of the nations, but for the judgment of the world — a man destined to sit upon a glorious throne to judge angels and men (xlv. 3, 4; xlvi. ; li.; liii. 0; Iv. 4; Ixi. S, 9). This picture has finally been retouched by a Christian hand. The Ai-amaic original is lost, but even the IClhiopie translation renders it possible to distinguish be- tween the early passages, where a bar nasha in the generic sense of 'man' occurred, and the places where the Christian title has been subse- quently introduced. The Jewish expansion prob- ably took place in the reign of Domitian. After this a reaction against the transcendental -Mes- sianic idea set in. This was developed in Chris- tianity as it separated itself from .hidaisni. The Messianic ide.a became fused with metaphysical speculation of (ireck origin to such an extent that 6 XP'""''*'; '""' anointed one.' the etymolog- ical e(|uivalent of "the Messiah,' finally conveyed a meaning absolutely foreign to the original con- ception. The figure of Simon bar Kozeba (or Bar-Coch- ba was probably as close a realization of the popular Jewish i<leal of a Messiah as history ever produced. Of him alone can it be saiil that he was not only recognized by his peo- ple as the Messiah at a time when the Mes- sianic idea had reached its full development and regarded himself as such, but also suc- ceeded temporarily in redeeming Jerusalem from foreign oppression. In less than a year he conquered ,50 fortified cities and 045 towns and villages. His army consisted of "iOO,- 000 men. For two years and a half he reigned as king. Only after 52 battles coiild Julius Severus vanquish liim in .v.n. 13.5. There is some- thing sublime in this King of Zion bidding Im- perial Rome defiance. The terrible persecutions that followed the lladrianic insurrection did not quench the Jlessianic hope. This is shown by the "Eighteen Prayers" by Trypho. who told Justin JIartyr that all Jews believed the Mes- siah would come, a man born of men ; and by Celsus, who in a.d. 178 no doubt correctly repre- sented his Jew as cherishing this exi)ectation. The Targums also indicate its continuance. The idea of a Messiah ben .Joseph who is to rule untQ Messiah ben David comes may be an early Jew- ish concession to the Ebionitish Christians who believed that .Jesus was the son of .Joseph. Only in late writings is there any reference to a suf- fering Jlessiah, though the notion of sutTeringI of Israel previous to the establishment of the Jfessianic kingdom is common. The end of the Roman Knipire and the victories of the .Mohani- niedans naturally stirred afresh the Impc of a return (o Palestine and the coming of the .Mes- siah. In 71(5-721 Serenus, a Galilean, appeared as a Messianic refmmer, after the fasliion ol Mohammed, rejecling certain Rabbinic regula- tions as to food and marriage and gaining many followers. But when he was brought to task by Yezid. the Caliph, he lacked the courage of his convictions, ami was handed over to the .Tewish authorities for punishment. From 74.5 to 755 .bu Isa exerci-icd a great inlluence as a reformer, abolishing the law of divorce and the sacrificial cult, an<I maintaining himself with a large army against Merwan II. and Abdallah. .fter hl» death he had followers into the tenth century. Yudghan of Hamadan. on the other hand, pur- sued no political ends. He sought only to re- form .Tudaism. being an ascetic and a believer in the transmigration of souls and the allegorical