True Messiah - Properly Anointed;

False Messiah - Smeared with Ointment

 

 

I.            Introduction

 

The ninth chapter in the Book of Daniel has been a popular component in the portfolio of Christian apologists and missionaries.  The passage that is commonly extracted from this chapter as an example of a definitive "messianic prophecy" is Daniel 9:24-27 because, according to most Christian translations, it contains two direct references to the Messiah (Dan 9:25-26), which are claimed to be references to Jesus.  With the help of mistranslations and some mathematical hocus-pocus, they transform this passage into a prophecy that allegedly foretells the coming of Jesus and his crucifixion. 

 

The analysis presented in this essay demonstrates that these claims concerning Daniel 9:25-26 are inconsistent with the teachings of the Hebrew Bible.  Moreover, since these claims also include references to being anointed, the anointing process, as defined and applied in the Hebrew Bible, is cast into a template against which the "anointing" of Jesus, as described in the New Testament, is compared in order to test its validity.

 

II.            Christian and Jewish Translations of Daniel 9:25-26

 

Table II-1 shows side-by-side English renditions and the Hebrew text of the passage Daniel 9:25-26.  The Hebrew term  (mashia'h) and its respective renditions in the two translations are shown in highlighted form.

 

Table II-1 – Daniel 9:25-26

 

 

A significant disagreement exists between the two translations in their respective renditions of the noun .  A study of the applications of this term in the Hebrew Bible helps resolve this issue.

 

III.            Review of Hebrew Terminology

According to the Hebrew Bible, the men who were selected to fill the positions of the high priest [ (ha'kohen ha'gadol)] and king [ (melech)] had to go through a ritual anointing ceremony.  The Hebrew root verb  (mashah), [to] anoint, appears in the Hebrew Bible 70 times in various conjugations.  This verb is used on 63 occasions to describe an act of anointing, i.e., applying a specially prepared oil or compound to someone or something for the purpose of sanctification or consecration; and on the seven remaining occasions, it is used in the context of covering something with paint or oil for various other purposes.

 

Someone who went through the process of anointing was referred to as  (mashi'ah), an anointed one, in the Hebrew Bible.  The noun  derives from the root verb , [to] anoint, and it appears in various conjugations and forms in the Hebrew Bible on 39 occasions.  The salient fact about the noun  is that not one of these 39 instances refers to the Messiah.  The reason is that the usage of the noun  as the present Hebrew term for Messiah is a product of the first century B.C.E., which is interesting information that emerged from research done on the Dead Sea Scrolls.  Around that time, the Jewish messianic vision experienced a significant paradigm shift from the expectation of an era (i.e., “End of Days”) to an expectation of a Jewish leader who will deliver Israel ("Redeemer").  This fact alone defeats the claim by Christian apologists and missionaries concerning references to the Messiah in Daniel 9:25-26.

 

IV.            Application of the Noun  in the Hebrew Bible

 

An analysis of the 39 applications of the noun  in the Hebrew Bible, and how these are rendered in most Christian Bibles, provides the Biblical evidence that refutes the claims concerning its occurrences in Daniel 9:25-26.  Table IV-1 shows the 39 applications of the noun  in the Hebrew Bible.  Each form of the noun is shown separately along with the frequency of occurrence, a pronunciation guide (CAPS identify the accented syllable), the respective Scriptural citations, the correct English translation, and the respective KJV rendition.  References indicate chapter and verse numbers in the Hebrew Bible; verse numbers in Christian Bibles, if different from the Hebrew Bible, are shown in brackets.

 

Table IV-1 – The term  in the Hebrew Bible and its KJV renditions

 

 

The KJV rendition of the term  differs from the generic an anointed one in only two cases out of the 39 applications, with both instances occurring in Daniel 9:25-26.  The question is: "What motivated the KJV translators to cast the term  as a reference to the Messiah in Daniel 9:25-26, particularly in view of the historical fact that this association of the two terms came much later than the Book of Daniel?"

 

A related issue arises from the way some other Christian Bibles render the noun  in Daniel 9:25-26, as shown in Table IV-2.

 

Table IV-2 – The term  as rendered in other Christian Bibles

 

 

The translation of  as the Anointed One, although closer to the correct an anointed one, still contains Christological bias, though it is more subtle.  The use of the definite article, the, and the capitalization of the terms in the expression, Anointed One, is a design that implicitly points to Jesus.

 

For the sake of fairness, it should be noted, however, that not all Christian Bibles have mistranslated  in Daniel 9:25-26.  Among the Christian Bibles that translate the term correctly are: Basic Bible in English (BBE), Revised Standard Version (RSV), and New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

 

V.            Anointing According to the Hebrew Bible

 

1. The process of anointing

 

According to the Hebrew Bible, the substance used and the ritual performed are the two significant components of the anointing process.

 

1.      The substance

 

In order to be considered properly anointed, a king (or high priest) had to be sprinkled with a special substance that was stored in a special container, and which was prepared from pure olive oil, according to the following formula:

 

Exodus 30:22-25 – (22) And the L-rd spoke to Moses, saying, (23) "And you, take for yourself spices of the finest sort - of pure myrrh five hundred [shekel weights]; of fragrant cinnamon half of it, two hundred and fifty [shekel weights]; of fragrant cane two hundred and fifty [shekel weights], (24) and of cassia five hundred [shekel weights] according to the sacred shekel, and one hin of olive oil. (25) And you shall make it onto an oil of sacred anointment [ (shemen mish'hat-qodesh)] a perfumed compound according to the art of the perfumer; it shall be an oil of sacred anointment [ (shemen mish'hat-qodesh)]."

 

No other substance is acceptable for anointing and, being a holy substance, this anointing oil had to be stored in the (portable) Tabernacle while the Israelites were in the wilderness, and in the Temple in Jerusalem later on.

 

2.      The ritual

 

Moses was commanded to anoint his brother Aaron as the first high priest:

 

Exodus 29:7 – And then you shall take the anointing oil, and pour [it] upon his head, and anoint him.

 

The Hebrew Bible contains several accounts of the anointing of royalty in Israel.

 

a.      King Saul

Saul was anointed as King of Israel when the prophet Samuel poured the special oil on his head:

1 Samuel 10:1 - And Samuel took the vial of oil, and poured it on his [Saul's] head, and kissed him. And he [Samuel] said, "Indeed, the L-rd has anointed you to be a ruler over His inheritance."

 

b.     King David

David, the son of Jesse, was anointed as King of Israel when the prophet Samuel poured the special oil on his head:

1 Samuel 16:13 - And Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him [David] in the midst of his brothers. And a spirit of the L-rd passed over David from that day forth, and Samuel arose and went to Ramah.

 

c.      King Solomon

This is who anointed Solomon to be King of Israel, and how it was done:

1 Kings 1:34,39,45 - (34) And Zadok the [high] priest and Nathan the prophet shall anoint him [Solomon] there as king over Israel, and blow the horn and say, "[Long] live King Solomon."
(39) And Zadok the [High] Priest took the horn of oil from the Tabernacle [the Sanctuary] and anointed Solomon, and they blew the shofar [ram's horn], and all the people said, "Long live king Solomon."
(45) And Zadok the [high] priest and Nathan the prophet anointed him [Solomon] king in Gihon, and they came up from there rejoicing, and (therefore) the city was in an uproar; that is the noise you were hearing.

 

2. A template for the anointing of kings

 

The Biblical accounts of the anointing of the first three kings of Israel, Saul, David, and Solomon, contain the necessary elements for the construction of a template for the process of anointing royalty of Israel, one of which will be the promised Jewish Messiah.  According to the Hebrew Bible, these elements are:

 

[1]    A special preparation from pure olive oil was used as the oil of anointing.

 

[2]    Being sacred, the anointing oil was stored in the Temple.

 

[3]    A universally recognized prophet performed the ritual of anointing a king.

 

[4]    The prophets used the vial of oil, or the horn of oil, to anoint the new king, not merely a vial of oil or a horn of oil.[1]

 

[5]    The oil of anointing was poured only on the head.

 

[6]    Anointing was tantamount to crowning a king (or appointing a high priest).[2]

 

I.            Anointing According to the New Testament

 

This template for the anointing process can now be used to test the validity of the anointing of Jesus, as deduced from the accounts in the New Testament.

 

1. The process of anointing

 

1.      The substance

 

The four Gospel authors describe the substance used on Jesus as follows:

 

Matthew 26:7-9(KJV) – (7) There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat. (8) But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? (9) For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.

 

Mark 14:3-5(KJV) – (3) And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head. (4) And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made? (5) For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her.

 

Luke 7:37(KJV) - And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,

 

John 12:3-5(KJV) – (3) Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. (4) Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him, (5) Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?

 

1.      The ritual