The term messianism is derived from messiah, a transliteration of the Hebrew mashiaḥ ("anointed"), which originally denoted a king whose reign was consecrated by a rite of anointment with oil. In the Hebrew scriptures (Old Testament), mashiaḥ is always used in reference to the actual king of Israel: Saul (1 Sm. 12:3–5, 24:7–11), David (2 Sm. 19:21–22), Solomon (2 Chr. 6:42), or the king in general (Ps. 2:2, 18:50, 20:6, 28:8, 84:9, 89:38, 89:51, 132:17). In the intertestamental period, however, the term was applied to the future king, who was expected to restore the kingdom of Israel and save the people from all evil.

At the same time, prophetic oracles referring to an ideal future king, though not using the word messiah, were interpreted as prophecies of this same eschatological figure. These passages include Isaiah 9:1–6 and 11:1–9, Micah 5:2–6, and Zechariah 9:9, and certain of the "royal" psalms, such as Psalms 2, 72, and 110. Precedence for this later conception lies in the royal ideologies of the...