BSN: CHRIST – MESSIAH – ANOINTED – (King)

Audio Capsule of Jesus Christ as the Christ
Audio Capsule of Jesus Christ as the Anointed

Christ = Messiah = Anointed
“Christ” (Greek), “Messiah” (Hebrew), and “the Anointed” (English) are all the same word, just coming through different languages. “King” and “Prince” are synonyms for that one word.
Synonyms:
- Primary: King (“the Anointed” or “the Lord’s Anointed” referred to Israel’s king, beginning with Saul and ending with Jesus)
- Others: Ruler, Prince
“The” Anointed
- God told Samuel to anoint (with oil) Saul to be the first king in Israel (1 Sam 10).
- When Saul failed as king, God told Samuel to anoint (with oil) David as king (1 Sam 16)
- God anointed (with the Holy Spirit) Jesus (Acts 10:38).
(The) Messiah – the great Jewish leader promised many times and in many ways by the Old Testament prophets; Messiah = Christ = Anointed (because the Jews “anointed” their kings as a sign of the king being God’s choice); thus, the Messiah was to be “King of Israel” – but much more than that as well
- messianic – having to do with the Messiah
(The) Christ – same as Messiah above.
(The) Prince – In 1 Sam 9:16, the Lord tells Samuel “you shall anoint him to be prince over My people Israel” referring to Saul becoming the first king of Israel. The Hebrew word for “prince” (Strong’s 5057) is more often translated “leader” or “ruler.” Thus this Hebrew word has a more general meaning than the narrow “king junior” meaning we are used to because of British royalty. Their current king was a prince for over 64 years (1958 to 2022) before he became king. By contrast, in this biblical context “prince” and “king” are essentially synonymous terms.
See also