Ancient Messianic Expectations

 
There were a variety of opinions concerning the Messiah. The Jewish sects awaiting a Messianic savior seem to have generally agreed that he would be a descendant of David and a political ruler who would restore Israel to former glory. The King Messiah described in Isaiah 11:1-10, is a righteous political ruler and teacher of divine law who would gather the exiles back to the holy land and bring world peace. This expectation is implicit when the apostles imagined that Jesus would immediately bring his kingdom upon the earth. (St. Lk. 19:11; Acts 1:6) It is the Septuagint (LXX) which is the favored translation used by the NT authors. The LXX is not a strictly literal translation and often paraphrases in a way reminiscent of the Targums. Most ancient translations of the Hebrew Bible use the same sort of dynamic translation principles as the LXX. The Septuagint translators seem to have believed in a pre-existent angelic Messiah who would be revealed before the end of the world. This is evident from how the translators interpreted Messianic prophecies; their version of Isa. 9:6 describes the Messiah as "the angel of great counsel," which is not a phrase found in the Masoretic. One of the most often quoted Messianic prophecies in the NT is Psa. 110, (numbered 109 in the LXX), which compares the Messiah to the priestly king Melchizedek. The first verse, Psa. 110:1, is quoted twenty times in the NT from the LXX. (St. Matt. 22:44; 26:64; St. Mk. 10:37; 12:36; 14:62; 16:19; St. Lk. 20:42, 43; 22:69; Acts 2:34, 35; Eph. 1:20; Col. 3:1; 1 Pet. 3:22; Heb. 1:13; 8:1; 10:12-13; 12:2; Rev. 5:1.) There is a clear statement of pre-existence in the LXX of Psa. 110:3 (109:3),

 Μετά σου η αρχή εν ημέρα της δυνάμεώς σου εν ταίς λαμπρότησιν των αγίων εκ γαστρός προ εωσφόρου εξεγέννησά σε.

 "With you is principality on the day of your power, in the splendors of your saints. I have begotten you from the womb before the morning star."

 The Pharisees recognized this Psalm as a Messianic prophecy, as is evident from St. Matt. 22:41-45 and the Midrash. In Greek literature the "morning star" (εωσφόρος) refers specifically to the planet Venus, which is distinctly visible at the close of every day due to its brilliance. Hence, the concept is that before God created Venus and the other celestial bodies the Messiah was begotten. (Gen. 1:16; Psa. 8:3; 2 Kgs. 23:5.) In the MT of Micah 5:2 (5:1) the text says that the "origins" or "goings forth" מוֹצָאָה of the Messiah are "from long ago, from ancient times." The Hebrew text is somewhat vague and may be taken in a genealogical sense; as a reference to his ancient bloodline which can be traced to the house of David. The language may also signify that the Messiah himself has ancient origins and has existed from the beginning. The LXX translators evidently understood the passage in the latter sense by translating the passage, "his goings forth were from the beginning, even from the ages," αι έξοδοι αυτού απ' αρχής εξ ημερών αιώνος. The term έξοδοι is more specific and is often used to designate the "goings forth" and travels of kings, princes and armies. (Herod. Hist. 3.14; 7.223; 9.19.) The NT uses the same term to signify the travels of Jesus and his apostles. (St. Lk. 9:31; 2 Pet. 1:15.) It is also specifically used for the exodus of the Israelites from the land of Egypt and their subsequent wandering. (Heb. 11:22) Therefore, the sense of the LXX rendering of Micah 5:2 is that the travels, goings forth or Targum Jonathan which began to be composed sometime in the first century renders Micah 5:2 (5:1) this way,

 וְאַתְּ בֵּית לֶחֶם אֶפְרָתָה כִּזְעֵיר הֲוֵיתָא לְאִתְמַנָאָה בְּאַלְפַיָא דְבֵית יְהוּדָה מִנָךְ קֳדָמַי יִפּוֹק מְשִׁיחָא לְמֶהֱוֵי עֲבֵיד שׁוּלְטַן עַל יִשְׂרָאֵל דִי שְׁמֵיהּ אָמִיר מִלְקָדְמִין מִיוֹמֵי עָלְמָא

 

"As for you, Bethlehem Ephrath, you were too little to be numbered among the tribes of the house of Judah. From you before me the Messiah will go out to be a servant, a servant of rulership over Israel, whose name has been spoken from the beginning, from days of antiquity."

 There are also various Jewish apocryphal works which depict a pre-existent Messiah, such as the Similitudes of Enoch (1 Enoch 37-71) composed sometime around 40 B.C. which depicts the Son of Man as a figure who literally existed before the creation of the world. (St. James C. Vanderkamp, 1 Enoch: A New Translation (Minneapolis: 2004), p. 1-8.) It is said that the "Elect and the Concealed one existed in his presence before the world was created and forever." (1En. 48:5, 6) "For from the beginning that Son of Man was hidden, and the Most High kept him in the presence of His power, and revealed him only to the chosen." (1En. 62:7) Long before the planets and stars were created he was "named in the presence of the Lord of spirits." (1En. 48:2-3) The Son of Man is properly a heavenly being with "his dwelling-place under the wings of the Lord of the Spirits" where he was kept hidden. (1En. 39:6; 62:6-7; 46:1-3) This is not a mere notional or figurative pre-existence, for the Son of Man sits down upon the "throne of glory" which is beside God himself. (1En. 51:3; 45:3; 55:4; 61:8; 69:27) The Son of man judges and guides the saints, (1En. 48:4; 45:3; 49:4; 61:9; 69:27) and is given worship and honor by "all who dwell upon the earth." (1En. 48:5; 62:6, 9) This heavenly scene echoes the scene of the anointing of Solomon given in 1 Chronicles chapter 29 where the young king sits down upon the throne of David his Father and is given worship and honor by the royal court.

There is a similar pre-existence of the Messiah in 2 Esdras which was composed in the late first century sometime after the destruction of the temple in 70 C.E. and depicts him as a heavenly being who will later become incarnate as the offspring of David. Ezra is given a vision of a lion and is told "this is the Messiah whom the Most High has kept until the end of days, who will arise from the offspring of David and will come and speak with them." (2 Esd. 12:32) It is said that the Messiah has been "kept" and "hidden away" by God for "many ages" until his appointed time. (2 Esd. 13:26, 52) It is finally said that Ezra has been given the privilege of being assumed into heaven to live with the Messiah until his appointed time, God tells Ezra, "you shall be taken up from among humankind, and henceforth you shall live with my Son and with those who are like you, until the times are ended." (2 Esd. 14:9) The author of 2 Esdras believed the Messiah already existed in heaven during the time of Ezra, and other saints who lived with him in heaven. With the Messiah in his heavenly abode are Enoch, Moses, and Elijah, who, according to Jewish tradition, were assumed to heaven so as not to see death. (2 Esd. 6:26, 13:52) Another work written around the same time as 2 Esdras is the Apocalypse of Baruch, also called 2 Baruch, which has the tendency to speak of the Messiah as though he already exists in heaven and awaits God's decree "to be revealed." (29:3; cf. 72:2) It is possible to cite other works which express similar views and delve into the opinions of Philo of Alexandria but these suffice to prove that a pre-existent Messianic figure is well within the scope of Jewish expectations in the first century. We ought not to be shocked if the NT authors express such views, nor should we attribute them to pagan influence. The Jews would often exalt their prophets by depicting them as incarnate angels or spirit beings. In the Dead Sea Scrolls, the priest Melchizedek is depicted as an angelic figure who presides over the heavenly council of spirits in Ps. 82:1, 6 as a sort of Messianic judge who will 'deliver the Jews from the power of Belial.' (Fragment 11Q13.) The Assumption of Moses which was composed sometime before the first century is quoted in St. Jude 1:9 and was a work also known to the Origen of Alexandria. (De Principiis 3.2.1.) The Assumption of Moses asserts the pre-existence of Moses when the prophet is made to say, "He designed me and prepared me before the foundation of the world that I should be the mediator of the Covenant." (Assumptio. Mos. 1:14.) The Prayer of Joseph, which is an early Christian or Jewish work composed sometime in the first century and depicts Jacob as an incarnate angel who says,
"I, Jacob, who is speaking to you, am also Israel, an angel of God and a ruling spirit. Abraham and Isaac were created before any work. But, I, Jacob who men call Jacob but whose name is Israel am he who God called Israel which means, a man seeing God, because I am the first-born of every living thing to whom God gives life…. Uriel, the angel of God, came forth and said that I had descended to earth and I had tabernacled among men and that I had been called by the name Jacob." (Fragment A, 1-7.)

This work was also known to Origen who claims it is Jewish in origin and cites it to suggest that St. John the Baptist may also have been an incarnate angel. (Commentarius in Evangelium Ioannis 2.25.) In the first century the Jews remained absolute monotheists but there was some notion that the Messiah might be an incarnate divine being was not entirely foreign to them.