A Letter on the Messiah

Howdy Partner!

I write to you this week to explain the perspective of messianic figures in the Hebrew Bible with a specific focus on Second Isaiah. Speaking of Second Isaiah, scholars lean towards reading the book of Isaiah as having three distinct authors writing at three different times. Second Isaiah is found in Isaiah 40-55. According to Bandstra and Lester, Second Isaiah is written around 546-538 BCE. Others, like Fried, date Second Isaiah to sometime after 539 BCE. Fried also attributes Isaiah 40-65 as Second Isaiah, rather than stopping at 55. Clearly, scholarship isn’t completely unanimous. The dating of this author might seem close enough to not really matter, but there are some implications based on how it is dated. If Fried is right then Second Isaiah is written after Cyrus of Persia has defeated the Babylonians and freed the Judeans from captivity then the words of hope written in Second Isaiah are there to match what has happened in history. If it is written before Cyrus defeats Babylon then Second Isaiah’s words are truly hopeful and awaiting the Persian’s to come set Israel free. 

Whether written before or after the fact, Second Isaiah makes a bold claim about Cyrus of Persia saying, “Thus says YHWH to his anointed, to Cyrus” (Is. 45:1). The one who is anointed by YHWH is the messianic figure (Messiah literally means “anointed one”). While the Hebrew Bible names many different anointed ones throughout the history of Israel, Fried points out that Cyrus is the only who is given the title of YHWH’s anointed. Cyrus is also the only messiah in the Bible who is a gentile. Thus, this is a break in the Jerusalemite tradition which believed that the title of messiah could only be given to somebody in the Davidic lineage (Bandtsra, 531-532). 

It’s not hard to see why Second Isaiah elevates Cyrus to this title of messiah. Counter to the Babylonian Empire, which had taken the Judeans into exile, Cyrus had a policy of allowing conquered peoples to remain in their lands and maintain their customs. Therefore, it is with Cyrus’ blessing that the Judeans return home from exile and rebuild the Temple that was destroyed by the Babylonian conquest. Cyrus, though not a follower of YHWH, still allows the people of YHWH to worship their God. 

There could also be another reason for Cyrus being given this title of messiah. As Fried points out the Egyptians and Babylonians both called Cambyses (Cyrus’ son and successor) by the names typically reserved for their own royalty. That is, the Egyptians call him Pharaoh and the Babylonian’s call him the Crowned Prince. Both of these titles are reserved for the legitimate King (or soon to be King) in these nations. Therefore, when Second Isaiah calls Cyrus the messiah it is perhaps fitting into the culture in that region to use the language of legitimate royalty to describe the new Persian ruler. 

Of course, Fried also points out that this title isn’t some secular title that is easily bestowed onto somebody. The title of messiah has a full theology wrapped up in its use. This is the theology that says the messiah “is the legitimate king appointed and protected by God” (Fried). Thus, Second Isaiah claims that God has appointed Cyrus as king over the Judeans. Cyrus should then not be opposed by the people as he has God’s blessing. 

Clearly this idea of a messianic figure is a unique one. Not only from the examples in the Hebrew Bible but from our modern idea of what makes a figure messianic through the New Testament lens of Jesus. Cyrus is a good model for understanding why Jesus claim to be the messiah is met with skepticism. Cyrus, while being unique among messianic figures in different ways, still maintains many of the traditional traits of a messiah. He is a king, he saves the Jewish people from an oppressive foreign power, returns them to prominence, establishes peace for Israel, and brings correct worship back to Jerusalem. The context in the time of Jesus is similar to the context of the Judeans in exilic period. While they might not be in exile they are still under an oppressive foreign power, the threat of violence is ever looming, and they are seen as fairly insignificant by the powers that be. Jesus comes to them from a lower status family, does not even talk about overthrowing the foreign power, instead spending lots of time tending to the needs of the socially forgettable and arguing with religious authorities. He is far more concerned with the Jewish authorities than the oppressive empire. This is important to remember. The Hebrew Bible has a certain notion of what a messiah is. Cyrus is unique, but still fits the traditional model in many ways. 

While this idea of what a messianic figure looks like was still prevalent in Jesus time, the post-exilic community began to alter their ideas of what a messiah was. No longer did a messiah have to be a single person who was a king. Joshua (or Jeshua) was the high was anointed (or at least hinted at being anointed in Zechariah 4, specifically the 14th verse) along with the new governor Zerubbabel. So not only is the political leader a messiah figure, now the religious leader is as well. There is also a thought, as can be seen in Lester’s hangout on the subject, that Second Isaiah has a more corporate vision of a messianic figure. That is, not just one person, not just two people, but the entire nation of Israel. The people then are the collective anointed ones. 

I hope this letter was informative for you friend.