Anointed, The

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Mashiach, the anointed, is an official title in the Old Testament of those who were to rule for God (1 Sam. 12:3,53Behold, here I am: witness against me before the Lord, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you. (1 Samuel 12:3)
5And he said unto them, The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found ought in my hand. And they answered, He is witness. (1 Samuel 12:5); 1 Sam. 26:9,11,169And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not: for who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord's anointed, and be guiltless? (1 Samuel 26:9)
11The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the Lord's anointed: but, I pray thee, take thou now the spear that is at his bolster, and the cruse of water, and let us go. (1 Samuel 26:11)
16This thing is not good that thou hast done. As the Lord liveth, ye are worthy to die, because ye have not kept your master, the Lord's anointed. And now see where the king's spear is, and the cruse of water that was at his bolster. (1 Samuel 26:16); 2 Chron. 6:4242O Lord God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of David thy servant. (2 Chronicles 6:42); Isa. 45:11Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; (Isaiah 45:1)). In the New Testament the title is restricted to the Lord Jesus ὁ χριστός the Christ — as the One anointed, not with oil, but with the Holy Spirit by God the Father. This had been predicted in Psalm 45:77Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. (Psalm 45:7), of which John the Baptist was the witness (Mark 1:1010And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: (Mark 1:10); John 1:32-3432And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. 33And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. 34And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God. (John 1:32‑34); compare also Acts 10:3838How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. (Acts 10:38)). He was called God’s anointed by Hannah (1 Sam. 2:1010The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the Lord shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed. (1 Samuel 2:10)), and by David (Psa. 2:22The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, (Psalm 2:2)). Daniel spoke of Messiah the Prince, and that He would be cut off and have nothing (Dan. 9:25-2625Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 26And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. (Daniel 9:25‑26)). The Samaritans as well as the Jews expected this anointed One, the Christ; and when He appeared souls were brought into living intercourse with Him, and owned Him as the promised One (John 1:4141He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. (John 1:41); John 4:2525The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. (John 4:25)). In these two passages the Lord is called “Messias,” the word being simply the Greek form of the Hebrew word mashiach. In other places a translation is used and He is called ὁ χριστός, “the Christ,” the anointed One. See CHRIST.