The English word messiah derives from the Hebrew term Moshiach, meaning The Annointed One. This refers to the ancient custom of annointing the head of a king with oil on his accession. Moshiach is the one who will be king at the "end of days", a time to come, when the whole world will follow G-d's rule and there will be peace and harmony.

In Jewish thought the term Moshiach has a  meaning and significance which is quite different from the commonly understood Christian usage of the word Messiah. There is no idea of Moshiach being an earthly incarnation of G-d or of being in any other way divine, no idea of him being a saviour, no concept of redemption through suffering. Moshiach, in the Jewish view, will be a normal human (we are ALL sons or daughters of G-d). He will be a charismatic political and military leader, a man of great learning and wisdom, well versed in Torah and Jewish Law. He will be a great judge who will make righteous decisions. He will be descended from King David (he is often referred to as Moshiach ben Dovid - Moshiach son of David).

The coming of Moshiach is not mentioned in Torah. The concept seems to have been introduced to Jewish thought during the time of the prophets.

When Moshiach comes he will establish the Olam HaBa, The World to Come. The Olam HaBa will be characterised by:

Whilst the prophets predicted the coming of Moshiach and the establishment of Olam HaBa, they did not specify clearly when he would come. There are 2 basic views about when Moshiach will come:

The key to recognising Moshiach is the establishment of Olam HaBa. There have been many claimed messiahs but, since we patently do not live in Olam HaBa, none of them can have been him.

Although a belief in the coming of Moshiach is one of The Rambam's 13 principles, and is a key feature of the beliefs of many Jews (especially ultra orthodox Jews), for many Jews, Moshiach is seen as being of little consequence or importance, a nice idea and no more.

(In writing this page I have leaned heavily on Tracey Rich's Messiah page on her site: Judaism 101. If you want to learn more about the Jewish Messianic ideas why not click on the link?)