MESSIAH AND MESSIANISM. - From the Hebrew māšīah = anointed, a leader sent by God to rule his people. In the Old Testament the term is applied to priests (Ex. 28:41), who received the power and the special mission of guiding or governing Israel. Every instrument of God was therefore in this sense a m. (Ps. 115:15). The term, used in Ps. 2:2 to indicate the king and founder of the new covenant, promised by Yahweh, later became, in apocryphal and rabbinic literature (Enoch, 48:10; Ps. Sol., 17:36; 18:6 etc.), his exclusive title; the anointed par excellence, hammāšīah, claimed by the Redeemer himself (Mt. 16:15 ff.; Mk. 15:61), or "the Christ," the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew passive participle.
A late clarification that does not prevent grouping under the same subject the different prophecies in which the one chosen to accomplish the great work of Yahweh is called: "David my servant" (Ex. 37:25), "Yahweh our righteousness" (Jer. 23:6; 33:16), "servant of Yahweh" (Is. 52:13), "Shepherd" (Ex. 33:23; cf. Mic. 5:3), "shoot, branch" (Is. 4:2; 11:1; Jer. 23:5) (M.-J. Lagrange, Le judaïsme... [v. bibl.], p. 365).
The M. is inseparable from his kingdom; the two realities are joined both in expectation (Old Testament) and in realization (New Testament). The word and the concept are exclusive to Judaism and Christianity; they constitute the central point of encounter (in prophecy) and of opposition (in realization) between the two religions (A. Vaccari, s. v. in Enc. Ital., XXII, p. 953). The essential lines of messianism, or the doctrine concerning the M., are the following: a) Yahwism, concretized in the covenant of Sinai, is the only true religion, but it will issue in a more perfect and definitive covenant, extended to all peoples; b) Israel will be its vehicle; c) a descendant of David will be its fulfiller and, eternally, its king and high priest (J. Touzard, Juif, peuple, in DFC, II, col. 1614 f.).
The first messianic revelation goes back to the very origins of humanity. Satan's attempt to make man his permanent follower against the Eternal is checked by God: the human race from that moment is his enemy and will inflict on Satan a total and definitive defeat (Gen. 3:14 f.). Unanimously, Jewish tradition (Targum of Onkelos, Septuagint, etc.) and Christian tradition rightly identify this victory (of the "seed of the woman" = the human race, but eminently Christ) with the redemptive work of Jesus, as the subsequent revelations will specify and the realization demonstrates (A. Bea [v. bibl.], pp. 198-204; L. Dennefeld, Le messianisme [v. bibl.], pp. 15-20; F. Ceuppens, De Proto-Evangelio, Rome 1932). It is the "protoevangelium," the first announcement of the good news. It defines the spiritual and universal nature of the future triumph. Then follow ever more detailed and varied specifications. God will make use, for this victory, of the descendants of Shem (Yahweh is called "God of Shem"), in whose spiritual goods the peoples (Japheth) will become participants with him and through him: "May Japheth dwell in the tents of Shem" (Gen. 9:25 ff.; cf. Rom. 1:16; 11:13-27). Among the Semites he chooses the line of Abraham, who will be "a source of blessing for all peoples" (Gen. 12:1-3; cf. 13:14-17; 17:1-9; 18:18 f.; 22:16 ff.) and makes with him a solemn covenant (ibid. 15:8-21; 17), for whose fulfillment he pledges his omnipotence. He confirms the universality of salvation and the intermediary mission of the people descended from Abraham, through the line of Isaac and Jacob (ibid. 26:3 ff.; 27:28 ff.; cf. A. Bea [v. bibl.], pp. 203-206). In the blessing of Jacob (Gen. 49:8-12), everything is restricted to the tribe of Judah. It will retain the spiritual supremacy (= scepter, staff of command: v. 10), until the M., "to whom šellāh belongs: Ex. 21:32 [Vulg. 27]) such sovereignty and whom the peoples will obey" (v. 10 b), has founded the new kingdom. The temple of Jerusalem, seat of the cult of Yahweh, was the sensible expression of the aforementioned supremacy; its destruction (A.D. 70) was to demonstrate to the Jews that the M. had come and his kingdom had already begun (A. Bea [v. bibl.], pp. 206-12); vv. 11 f. belong to the accessory and transient element of messianism (Bea [v. bibl.], p. 211 f.): the prediction of an extraordinary material happiness and prosperity, which is often the actual fruit of Yahweh's blessing for the nation elected to the mission indicated above, when it is faithful to him; but ordinarily it is a symbol of the abundance of spiritual goods in the kingdom of the M. At Sinai the nation arises as "the particular portion of Yahweh," "his royal reserve"; and with the covenant, which takes up and specifies that with Abraham, the mission of Israel is sanctioned: a people and worshiper of the one true God, Yahweh (Ex. 19:5 f.; 20:1-17; cf. L. Cerfaux, Regale sacerdotium, in Revue des sciences philos. et théol., 28 [1939], pp. 5-39). The temporary character of the covenant is indicated in the sanction (Ex. 20:5; cf. Lev. 26; Deut. 28; 34:29 ff.).
The other books of the Pentateuch and the historical books down to David have no messianic references, except for Num. 24:15-19 and Deut. 18:15-19; they narrate the fulfillment of the covenant of Sinai on the part of Yahweh (Exodus-Joshua), and the alternating, defective response on the part of Israel (Judges-I Samuel). With the monarchy, more precisely with Yahweh's covenant with David, the messianic hopes are taken up and strengthened. With the prophecy of Nathan (II Sam. 7), "Israel is established forever as the people of God," governed forever by the dynasty of David.
The pious David, taking up the thread of the earlier promises, understands the design of Yahweh, and, divinely inspired, celebrates the mysterious liberator whom God associates with himself for the realization of his kingdom: Ps. 2; 21 [22]; 71 [72]; 109 [110]. Son (Ps. 2:7; Heb. 1:5) and equal of Yahweh (Ps. 99 [100]:1: Yahweh invites him to sit at his right hand = Heb. 1:13; Mt. 22:41-46), sovereign of Israel and of the peoples (Ps. 2:6, 8; 71:8-11); priest forever (Ps. 109:4 = Heb. 5:6; 7) = exemplar of righteousness (Ps. 71:7), he will perfectly realize the kingdom of God in humanity. The priesthood of the M., clearly distinct from that of Levi, temporary like the covenant of Sinai, participates in the stability of the kingdom of God, is eternal and definitive. The M., finally, as a descendant of David (II Sam. 7:16), is a man; and David describes his sufferings (Ps. 21 [22]) and his Resurrection (Ps. 15 [16]; cf. Acts 2:25-32; 13:35 ff.; A. Vaccari, La Redenzione, Rome 1934, pp. 165-90). Certainly the contemporaries of the great King and, at times, the prophet himself (Sum. Theol., 2a-2ae, q. 173, a. 4), besides not perceiving the manner in which these different aspects of the future liberator would be realized, did not understand the full value of the individual predictions.
From the death of Solomon to the prophets of the 8th century there runs a sad period of drift. The northern tribes depart from the covenant of Sinai and, once Samaria is destroyed (despite the final call of Yahweh's justice [Amos] and love [Hosea]), they are absorbed by the idolatrous world. The covenant of Sinai was in fact restricted to the kingdom of Judah alone (= the covenant with David). Nor did the latter understand the lesson of the terrible collapse of Samaria (Ez. 16, 44-52; 23); it grew worse rather in the way of idolatry, injustice and immorality (Is. 1, 5 ff.; Mic. 3; 7, 2-6; Jer. 2; 5, 19-31; Ez. 4-6, etc.), reducing relations with Yahweh to external worship alone (like the other peoples with their deities) and wholly neglecting the precepts of the covenant: monotheism and the moral law (Hos. 2; Mic. 6, 6 f.; Is. 1; 5, 1-7; Jer. 2; 7, 11; Ez. 15; 16; 20; 22; etc.). The prophets therefore, combating these deviations, set forth the essence of the Sinaitic covenant, announce its consequences, and give its ultimate purpose: a) Judah, for the honor and the justice of Yahweh, must be destroyed (Ez. 7; 14, 12-21; 15; 16; etc.; Jer. 8, 4-12; 11, 9-17; 16, 10-17; etc.); b) in order to realize his designs (Is. 48, 9 ff.; Ez. 20, 22-44; 36, 21-32), Yahweh however does not annihilate it; he reserves a "remnant," which he will purify in the long exile and lead back to Palestine to reconstitute the new Israel; this, in due time, will be raised up and absorbed into the kingdom of the M., the end of the whole divine economy (Am. 4, 11; 9, 9; Mic. 4, 6 f.; 7, 19; Is. 1, 9; 7, 3; 10, 20 ff.; 40-66; Jer. 3, 14, 16; 23, 3; 24, 6; 30-31; 33; Ez. 11, 13-20; 34; 37, 12; etc.). Therefore the prophets describe as closely joined the return from exile, the theocratic restoration and the messianic salvation, the first being the prelude and immediate preparation of the latter. Dan. 9 states this expressly. The restoration foretold by Jer. 25, 11 f.; 29, 10 (cf. II Chron. 36, 21) will begin after 70 years from 605 B.C., but will come about slowly. Three periods precede: the first ends with the edict of Cyrus (538 B.C.); the second, longer, sees the rebuilding of the Temple and of Jerusalem amid adversities of every kind, and will close with the killing of Onias III (171 B.C.); the third sees the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes with the profanation of the sanctuary (abominatio desolationis), for three and a half years, and ends with the death of the persecutor and the beginning of the worship restored by Judas Maccabeus (Dan. 9, 25 ff.; cf. 2, 7-12). The restoration will be complete only with the advent of the kingdom of the M., when "every sin will be blotted out and everlasting justice will reign" (ibid. 9, 24). This connection remains intact even in the exegesis that extends the 70 weeks to the death of Christ.
It is the manifest demonstration that the covenant with David is ordered solely to the future M.; for this reason Judah cannot perish (Is. 7, 7; A. Pohl, Historia populi Israel, Rome 1933, p. 133 f.); this is why the prophets give the most beautiful messianic prophecies immediately after the announcement of the devastations and the ruin of the kingdom (Is. 4, 1 ff.; 7, 14 b after v. 25; 8, 5-8; 8, 23-9, 1 [Heb.]; 11, 1; Ez. 17, 22 f.; etc.). It is a logical and by no means temporal connection; so too for the other, between restoration and the kingdom of the M. Nor is this a new orientation in the messianism of the prophets, but only an enrichment and a clearer formulation.
The characteristics of the M. will be: a) he is of the stock of David: Is. 11, 1; Jer. 23, 5; 33, 15; Ez. 17, 22 (cf. Lk. 1, 32); b) he will be born in Bethlehem: Mic. 5, 1 = Mt. 2, 6; c) of a Virgin: Is. 7, 14 b = Mt. 1, 23; cf. Mic. 5, 2 (the pearl of the messianic prophecies; the sign offered to Ahaz is the son of Is. 7, 3, 16 [Sē'ār jātiūb], like the other son in Is. 8, 4; "before he reaches the age of discretion, that is, within a few months, the lands of the two feared kings will be devastated"; vv. 21 f. announce the prosperity and abundance [also in the texts of Rās Samrah: cf. R. Dussaud, Les découvertes de R. S..., Paris 1937, p. 79 f.] of messianic times; d) he will be filled with the spirit of Yahweh: Is. 11, 1-5; 42, 1 (cf. 61, 1 f. = Lk. 4, 18 f.; divine strength granted temporarily, which in the M. is a permanent gift for his high mission: cf. P. van Imschoot, in Ephem. theol. Lovan., 16 [1939], pp. 357-67); e) he will be the "servant of Yahweh," that is, his worshipper par excellence: Is. 42, 1; 49, 3-5; 52, 13; to whom he will give full glory (ibid. 49, 3), faithfully fulfilling the spiritual mission (ibid. 42, 1, 6 ff.; 59, 3, 6; 50, 4; 53, 11) entrusted to him, namely: to establish the definitive covenant with Israel (ibid. 42, 6 f.; 49, 5, 8; 53, 8), extended to all the nations (ibid. 42, 1, 3; 49, 6 f.; "It is too little that you should be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you the light of the nations, so that my salvation may extend to the ends of the earth"); to proclaim the divine law which is its norm (ibid. 42, 1, 3); to redeem humanity by offering himself to unheard-of moral and physical tortures (ibid. 49, 4, 7; 50, 6 f.; 52, 14; 53, 2 f. 5, 7 ff.), culminating in capital punishment (ibid. 53, 8 ff.). The nations will learn later, with wonder (ibid. 53, 1), of the sacrifice of the "Servant of Yahweh," his vicarious expiation and the marvelous consequences that followed; they will hasten to the chosen one whom Yahweh will exalt (ibid. 49, 7; 52, 13-53, 12). The Jewish people will expiate with a national mourning the killing of the M.: Zach. 12, 8-13, 1 (= Mt. 24, 30; Jn. 19, 37). V. ADADREMON.
The M. will have the divine nature: he will be called (the name expresses the nature) "wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace" (Is. 8, 8; 9, 5); he will have knowledge of hidden thoughts: "he will not judge by what his eyes see and will not give sentence by what his ears hear"; he will have divine power: "he will strike the violent man ('arīš) with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips he will put the wicked to death" (ibid.
11, 3 f.); he will be king forever (Ez. 37, 25); cf. Mic. 5, 1, whose terms are so strong as to allow one easily to conclude to the pre-existence of the M., although in themselves they express only a very remote origin; Dan. 7, 13 f. says he is of heavenly origin.
His kingdom will be universal, definitive and spiritual: Is. 11, 10; 42, 1-7; 49, 5 ff.; 61, 1 ff.; Jer. 31, 31-34 (= Hebr. 8, 8-12); Dan. 7, 14-27; 9, 24; its center of diffusion will be Zion (Hos. 2, 19-24; Is. 2, 2 ff.; Mic. 4, 2 ff.; Jer. 31, 33; Ez. 16, 60 ff.; 17, 23; etc.); it will be a source of blessings for all the nations (Ez. 34, 26 = Gen. 12, 2). Characteristics of the kingdom of the M.: the remission of sins and holiness: Is. 56, 6; 57, 13; Jer. 31, 23-34; Ez. 36, 25-28; etc. (cf. Lk. 1, 77 ff.); peace, the perfect order in the relations of each one with God and with neighbor: Is. 9, 6 f.; Mic. 5, 5; Ez. 34, 25 f.; etc.; the abundance of spiritual goods, expressed symbolically with the most vivid images of an extraordinary fertility: Is. 7, 21 f.; 9, 3, 6; 32, 1-5.15-18; Ez. 47, 1-12; etc. (cf. the image of the table set: Mt. 22, 4; Lk. 14, 15-24). To the reborn Israel, the assistance of Yahweh (Is. 40-66) assures the triumph over present enemies (Ez. 35-36) and future ones (Ez. 38-39; Dan. 7-12) and every prosperity (Is. 31, 10-14; Ez. 34, 25-29; etc.).
These wonderful promises preserved Jahvism among the exiles and the hope in the glorious future of their nation. Certain of being the "remnant" or "holy seed" that Jahweh had reserved for himself (Ezra 2, 26; 9, 8.13 ff.), those who undertook the long desert road for the return to their homeland (537 B.C.) thought that they would be realized in them integrally; the difficulties encountered (cf. Ezra-Nehemiah) shook their enthusiasm (cf. Ps. 125 [126]; 84 [85]). Haggai and Zechariah rekindled their spirits with the messianic hope; and with Joel and Malachi they brought to completion the work indefatigably carried on by Ezra and Nehemiah. True, the repatriates are the foretold "remnant" (Hag. 1, 12; Zech. 8, 6.11; cf. 2, 9.14 [Vulg. 2, 5.10]), the Israel of the promises (Zech. 1, 7-17; 2, 5-17 [Vulg. 2, 1-13]; Mal. 1, 1-5; Joel 2, 18 f. 26 f.), the heirs of the covenant of Sinai or of David (Hag. 2, 5; which now has its full realization: Zech. 2, 16; 8, 8; Joel 2, 17; 4, 2.16 f. [Vulg. 3, 2.16 f.]), and they are blessed by Jahweh (Hag. 2.18 f.; Zech. 8.14 f.), while Edom and all who rejoiced at the ruin of Judah are about to be punished (Zech. 1, 7-17; Mal. 1, 1-5; Joel 4, 4-8). But the present is only a shadow of the future greatness: the reconstituted theocracy is preparation and prelude to the kingdom of the M. (Hag. 2, 6-9; Zech. 6; Mal. 1, 11; 3, 1; Joel 4), therefore it cannot perish until the fulfillment of its mission, notwithstanding the extreme attempt of the pagan forces (Hag. 2, 20-23; Joel 4, 9-18; which reflect Ez. 38-39). The visions of Zechariah and the prophecies of Joel have as their central idea this perpetuity of the reborn Israel.
The chronicler, in his history of the theocracy, demonstrates that Jahweh has a particular design in the becoming of humanity and directs to that end, as absolute sovereign, the nations and Israel. This divine design begins to be realized in the covenant with Abraham (I Chron. 16, 15 ff.), develops in that of Sinai (II Chron. 5, 10; 6, 11), to be concretized and narrowed in that with David, as king of Judah (I Chron. 17, 16-27; 28, 4-8). This covenant, now realized in the reborn theocracy, flows into the kingdom of the M., the single and final object intended by Jahweh (I Chron. 17, 10-14). The post-exilic prophets emphasize: a) the triumph of the M., a gentle king, who comes on a donkey, and will rule peacefully over all the earth: Zech. 9, 9 f. = Mt. 21, 5; b) a single perfect, immaculate sacrifice, offered to Jahweh throughout the world, will take the place of the Mosaic sacrifices: Mal. 1, 11; c) a precursor will immediately prepare the people for the work of the M. (Mal. 3, 1 ff.; cf. Is. 42, 6; 49, 8; Hag. 2, 9). Such a precursor, of whom Elijah (v.) is the type, "will turn the heart of the fathers toward the children" and vice versa (Mal. 4, 5 f. = Lk. 1, 16 f.; Mt. 11, 10; 17, 10-13). There is no lack of allusions to the messianic hope in Sir. 36, 6-22; 45, 22, etc.; and in Wis. 18, 4; 14, 11-14.
The Maccabean period, with the struggle against the Seleucids, oriented the Jews toward an erroneous interpretation of the M., which asserts itself in the apocryphal and rabbinic literature. Their never-extinguished particularism, as the book of Jonah (v.) demonstrates, found in that political situation a new and decisive impulse. Messianic salvation was directed entirely to the sole benefit of Israel, the elect; and it was understood, almost exclusively, as the political predominance of this over all the nations. The essential ideas of messianism were neglected in order to put in their place the transient and accessory element, with a literal exegesis, often exaggerated to the point of ridicule (S. Szekely, Bibliotheca apocrypha, Freiburg im Br. 1913, pp. 69-74; v. APOCALYPTIC). The prophecies of Daniel, published and divulged in that period (cf. Dan. 8, 26; 12, 4, 9), probably served as the basis for such a transformation. The kingdom of the M. is described there as an empire that replaces the preceding ones. From this simple chronological succession one passed to the analogy concerning its nature, assimilating it as to genesis, form and government to the empires of the nations (cf. Lk. 17, 20 f.). The M. therefore was considered, in a prevalent if not exclusive way, as a warrior king and conqueror (cf. Jn. 6, 15; 18, 34 ff.). The forgiveness of sins (H. L. Strack-Billerbeck [v. bibl.], I, p. 493), redemption, were entirely ignored, and the sufferings of the M. were resolutely denied (cf. Mt. 16, 21 ff.; Mk. 8, 31 ff.; 9, 31 ff.; Lk. 18, 34; 24, 21; Jn. 12, 34).
In the apocrypha the M. still has supernatural and divine characteristics (Enoch 49, 1-4; 52, 5-9; 71-72; Ps. Sol. 17; Test. Patr., Levi, 18; etc.; cf. J. Bonsirven [v. bibl.], I, pp. 362, 370-74); the rabbis, on the other hand, assimilate him to a pure man, even if adorned with the gifts of the Spirit of Jahweh (Is. 11, 1 ff.; Sanhedrin, 93 a b; midrash on Ruth 3, 15; etc.); they did not see how otherwise to save the dogma of monotheism (cf. Dial. c. Tryph., 49-50). His Davidic origin is undisputed (Ps. Sol. 17, 5, 23; IV Esd. 12, 32; Sanhedrin, 97 a, 98 a; cf. Mt. 22, 41-46); he will appear suddenly (cf. Jn. 7, 27), discovered and consecrated by Elijah, who, among other things, with the trumpet of the M. will gather the Israelites scattered throughout the world (Sanhedrin, 10, 3; etc.; cf. Mt. 17, 10). The advent of the M., held to be imminent and ardently awaited, will be preceded by a period of grave tribulations (from Dan. 12, 1 ff.; cf. Enoch 80, 7 f.; 100; Apoc. Bar., 70, 2-8; etc.; H. L. Strack-P. Billerbeck [v. bibl.], IV, pp. 977-86). Palestine and Jerusalem, after the triumph over the nations, will be physically transformed; the inhabitants will have every wealth, long life, free from every evil (Apoc. Bar., 29, 3 ff.; 73; Enoch 10, 16-19; Sib. 3, 371-80; 710-26; etc.; H. L. Strack-P. Billerbeck, I, p. 593 ff.). The kingdom of the M., for the apocrypha, will be eternal (Ps.-Sol. 17, 4 f.; etc.; cf. Jn. 12, 34); the rabbis established its duration differently, with figures (from 40 to 365,000 years) perhaps symbolic.
The opposition between the Revelation accomplished by Christ and the dominant Jewish interpretation could not have been more strident; it was fatal to Israel, which remained outside of salvation (cf. Mt. 8, 11 f.; etc.).
The source of messianism is divine Revelation. The impossibility of otherwise giving a plausible explanation of it clearly demonstrates this. For the school of J. Wellhausen (K. Marti, B. Stade, and, at a distance, without better criterion or fortune, A. von Gall), it would have arisen after the exile, from three coefficients: the national disaster, the influence of Parsiism in the exile, the return and especially the victory of the Maccabees. The ancient prophets were merely messengers of adventure; they could not offer to the guilty Israel the rosy messianic promises. The oracles attributed to them are recent insertions. But the arbitrary evolutionist schema did not withstand the pickaxe of archaeology; ideas and institutions of the Old Testament, defined by Wellhausen as "recent," turned out to conform to those attested in the ancient East.
"At the beginning of the 20th century the comparative school (H. Gunkel, H. Gressmann) overturned the terms; the idea of a savior M. is among the most ancient elements of the prophetic message; it has its roots in the mythology of cosmic origins (Babylon). The world must end as it began: with the victory of a creator god over the op-
demonic forces; it will end with the victory of a savior god over the malevolent adversaries in order to inaugurate a new world" (A. Vaccari). The Israelites would have taken over (2nd millennium B.C.) these mythological ideas, purifying them, transforming them, applying them to the destinies of their nation: the cosmic upheaval would have ruined the pagans, while it would have given Israel definitive happiness. "This theory is a pure chimera" (L. Dennefeld, Le messianisme, p. 256): there is no Babylonian eschatology; there is nothing in Babylonia and in Egypt (ibid., pp. 268-78) that could in any way approach biblical messianism (spiritual redemption of humanity, an entirely particular work of Yahweh, accomplished by his "servant" the M.), from which every cosmic eschatology is excluded. Against the influence of Persian Mazdeism (asserted by R. Reitzenstein), which would be possible only after the exile, stands the antiquity of messianism and of the Hebrew sources.
«An indigenous origin, albeit with a distant dependence on Babylon, was asserted by S. Mowinckel (G. Holscher, H. Schmidt). In the temple of Jerusalem, on the first day of the civil year, the feast of the kingship of Yahweh would have been celebrated, like a similar feast celebrated at Babel in honor of Marduk. The kingdom of Yahweh, dramatized in the liturgy of that day, not seeing itself realized in the present, was projected into the future, and thus the messianic idea arose already in the times of the monarchy. More things are assumed (even in this brilliant theory) without solid foundations. There is no trace among the Jews of a feast of Yahweh-king; nor at Babel did the New Year feast have the meaning given to it here: Marduk was honored as the distributor of destiny for the new year» (A. Vaccari). Too artificial to be true, unfounded from the historical and exegetical point of view, it is psychologically implausible: worship presupposes, does not create, religious ideas; it makes them more intense, it does not transform them.
The M. and his kingdom is the ultimate purpose intended by God in the "covenant" of Sinai, which specifies and determines the ancient "covenant" with Abraham, the "promise" (ἐπικητελία; Rom. 4:13-16; 9:8; Gal. 3:16-29; 4:28) formulated for his posterity. The admirable and varied development of messianism, with its later enrichments and specifications, occurring sporadically, and yet so harmoniously converging into a single picture, without contrasts and contradictions, despite the various aspects noted above, remains inexplicable without the Revelation of Yahweh. The prophets are its conscious and convinced assertors. The admirable correspondence between the predictions of the prophets and their realization is, finally, the ultimate seal of divine inspiration (Isa. 41:22 ff.; 44:7 ff.; 44:26; 45:21; 46:10 ff.).
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