The Sunday Mail
Shingai Rukwata Ndoro Chisel The Debris
In mainstream Christianity, also called “Pauline/Literalist” Christianity, “Jesus” (Yahoshua the Nazarene Rabbi) is referred to in English as the “Messiah”. In Hebrew, the word is “Mashiach” (Strong’s Hebrew Concordance #4899), meaning “usually a consecrated person (as a king or priest)”.
It was Myriam of Magdala who “christed” (derived from “chrio” or “chriso” which means anointed with scented ointment) Yahoshua on his head with oil through a “Rite of Anointing” that took place at Bethany, six days before Passover and subsequent persecution (Matthew 26:7-12, Mark 14:3-9 and John 12:3).
She is the only one who made him a “Christ/Messiah” – the anointed one.
To “anoint”(verb) that is “to smear with oil on the head”.
“Mashach” (Hebrew Concordance #4886), “Chrisma” (Greek Concordance #5545).
“The anointed one” (noun) is called “Maschiach” (Hebrew Concordance #4899), “Christos” (Greek Concordance #5547).
There are many instances of anointing or consecration of kings and priests in the Hebrew Scriptures.
Anointing was a process done using oil.
The oldest reference in Hebrew Scriptures of such anointing was of Aaron and his sons to create the priestly lineage.
“And you shall put them upon Aaron your brother, and upon his sons with him, and shall anoint them and ordain them and consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests.” (Exodus 28:41)
“The legitimacy of the priesthood. . . was supposed to descend lineally from Aaron through the Tribe of Levi. Thus, throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, the priesthood is the unique preserve of the Levites. The Levite high priests who attend David and Solomon are referred to as ‘Zadok’ – though it is not clear whether this is a personal name or an hereditary title.” – Baigent, Leigh & Lincoln, The Messianic Legacy.
“The High Priest in particular was termed ‘the Anointed (Mashiah) of the Divine’. With the establishment of the monarchy, the same term was applied to the king: he was ‘the Anointed of the Lord’ because he was installed in the high office by receiving the sacrament of anointment.” – Raphael Patai, The Messiah Texts.
David was anointed to be a king – “Arise, anoint him. . .” (1 Samuel 16:12)
Solomon was also anointed by Zadok, thereby becoming “the Anointed One”, the “Messiah” – “ha-mashi’ah” in Hebrew” – Baigent, Leigh & Lincoln, The Messianic Legacy.
The Hebrew word “Mashiah” is derived from an ancient Egyptian term “messeh”, a term for a crocodile whose fat or oil was used to ritually anoint Pharaohs.
This was a way of associating Pharaohs with the mythical Osiris, whose male part had been swallowed by a crocodile after he was murdered by his jealous brother, Seth.
“A third type of the divinely elected, the prophet, could also undergo the ceremony of anointing: Elizah, we read, was commanded by (the Divine) to anoint Jehu as king over Israel and Elisha as prophet in his own place.” – Raphael Patai, The Messiah Texts.
Water was not used for anointing but for ritual purification at birth and initiation, which is a ceremony called “mikveh” in Hebrew.
“It is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism. The word ‘mikveh’, as used in the Hebrew Scriptures, literally means a ‘collection’ – generally, a collection of water. . .Full immersion in water is required to regain ritual purity (‘tahara’) after ritually impure (‘tumah’) incidents have occurred.
“A person was required to be ritually pure in order to enter the Temple. In addition, a convert to Judaism is required to immerse in a mikveh as part of his/her conversion and a woman is required to immerse in a mikveh after her menstrual period or childbirth before she and her husband can resume marital relations.” – Mikvah, Wikipedia.
Earlier in ancient Egypt, a Pharaoh was made a “Messiah” through a ritual of anointing by his bride or priestess and made a “Christ” (Christos) after death as a way of immortalisation through the process of mummification.
“In Israel, the ritualistic act of anointing was performed to inaugurate people into certain specific offices and only offices that had no earthly superior and were subsequently only to (the Divine).
“Thus, only a high priest (Leviticus 4:3), a prophet and a king would be anointed into office (I Kings 19:16). Regular priests and certain venerable objects would be concentrated by receiving a mere sprinkling of the oil (Exodus 30:26, Leviticus 8:30).” – ArieUittenbogard, www.abarim-publications.com.
One who anoints another must have already attained that level and is specifically chosen to do so.
In Greek, this oil was called “chrism” (a derivation of the ancient Chaldean word, “chrs” or with vowels “chris”, in turn, derived from “krs” of ancient Egypt).
“To be ‘anointed’ in ancient Hebrew culture meant to be chosen as the rightful heir to authority, either as a priest or king or both.
“It was a rite of special consecration to have oil poured upon one’s head from a ram’s horn by a previously chosen servant of (the Divine).
“Several kings and priests of Israel received this rite, most notably King David, who was himself called ‘mashiach’, an anointed one. It was prophesied that a son of his would one day come to rule perpetually. This son came to be known as the promised Mashiach, who would rule the world from the throne of David. The prophets said David’s son would be more than a mere man (Micah 5:1, 2) since he would rule forever.” – Who is the Messiah? www.messianic.com/articles/messiah.htm.
According to Judaic tradition, the highly regarded oil for the purposes of anointing was specially manufactured based on a precise recipe (Exodus 30:22-25) and its misuse was strictly forbidden (Exodus 30:21-33).
From the gospels in the Greek Scriptures, there is no other instance where Yahoshua was anointed with oil as a king or priest apart from this incident involving Myriam of Magdala.
Next week, we continue to go deeper.
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