Torah Study Blog

To anoint someone means to indicate that person is put in a position of prominence. Today, we might anoint a successor in business. In biblical times if someone was anointed it meant that God had indicated that person will be of importance to the community.

Biblically, when a person is anointed, oil is put on the person. We can imagine that a person who has oil on them appears to have a special glow, or an inner translucence, that other humans do not have. Perhaps the oil would make that person appear god-like or, at least, having been transformed.

In the Bible, anointed priests have the important job of keeping the Temple going. Prophets are also anointed giving them the authority to warn the people of upcoming calamity. And, finally, kings are anointed and are expected to keep the people safe and protect them from outside enemies.

It would make sense that the people who are anointed in the Bible are Israelites; but one was not. Rabbi Janet Roberts was our guest leader today and she led us in a discussion of Cyrus – the lone non-Israelite who is described in the Bible as God’s “anointed one.” (Isaiah 45:1)

First, a history lesson: In 586 BCE King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon defeated the Israelites, destroyed their Temple, and forced the leaders into exile. But by 539 BCE Cyrus of Persia had defeated the Babylonians. So, less than 50 years later – near enough for people to remember the terror of the Babylonian invasion – the Persians, led by King Cyrus, defeated Babylon and invited the Israelites to come home, rebuild their temple, and worship their god. And, according to the Book of Ezra, Cyrus even recovered the Temple objects that had been stolen by Nebuchadnezzar and returned them to the Israelites. (Ezra 1:7) To the people who experience the Babylonian invasion, Cyrus must have been a welcome change.

Cyrus II of Persia ruled from roughly 560-530 BCE. He created the largest empire the world had yet seen and came to be known as Cyrus the Great. Showing his political astuteness, Cyrus realized that people were attached to their customs and religions, and he chose to show tolerance by respecting the customs and religions of the land. To the people who had been so oppressed, Cyrus indeed must have seemed like a “savior.”

The word “anoint” in Hebrew is “mashiach,” which English-speaking people pronounce as “messiah.” According to the New Oxford American Dictionary, the word “messiah” means “the promised deliverer of the Jewish nation” or a “leader or savior of a particular group or cause.” As we mentioned earlier, in the Bible kings are anointed and are expected to keep people safe and to protect them from outside enemies. Cyrus protected his empire which included the Israelite land – so he filled his anointed role!

It may seem odd to us that the Bible would elevate a non-Israelite. But Isaiah 45 makes it clear that Cyrus was purposefully chosen by God, and God takes Cyrus by the hand and speaks directly to him saying, “I will give you treasures concealed in the dark and secret hoards so that you may know that it is I the Lord, the God of Israel” even “though you have not known Me, I am the Lord and there is none else.”

Interestingly, Isaiah never refers to Cyrus as a king. However, according to Isaiah 44, God told Isaiah that Cyrus “is My shepherd.” Many of our greatest biblical leaders were shepherds, such as Moses and David. When David became king after Saul, God told David, “Your house and your kingship shall ever be secure before you; your throne shall be established forever.” (II Samuel 7:13) But we know that when the Babylonians invaded there was not an Israelite king anymore. Cyrus was also not an Israelite. But by calling Cyrus a shepherd it might have associated Cyrus with King David, quelling any concerns.

In the Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls, in fact, in all Jewish writings, the mashiach is never worshipped. He is there to perform a function at the behest of God. And that function benefits the entire community – whether it be prayer, ritual, warning, or protection. The mashiach provides a public and communal function.

But human beings desire individual attention and religion reacted to that desire. Over time, the mashiach became a personal savior. In Greek, the word “mashiach” is “christos.” It is self-evident in what direction Christianity took the idea of an “anointed one.”

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misquotes or misunderstandings in what Rabbi Roberts taught us are the responsibility of Tara Keiter