This is a fairly straightforward issue to resolve. I’m not sure why we, as a church, haven’t cleaned this up in our Bible translations.
In the Old Testament Hebrew, the word “Mashiyach” is translated as Messiah or anointed. The Strong’s Concordance definition is “a consecrated person (as a king, priest, or saint); specifically the Messiah: – annointed, Messiah.” It is used 39 times. Let’s check a few of them out:
The first usage is in Leviticus 4:3-6.
Leviticus 4:3-6 — If the priest that is mashiyach sins according to the sin of the people, then let him bring for his sin which he has sinned, a young bull without blemish to YHWH for a sin offering. And he shall bring the young bull to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before YHWH and shall lay his hand upon the bull’s head and kill the bull before YHWH. And the priest that is mashiyach shall take the bull’s blood and bring it to the tablernacle of the congregation. And the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle the blood seven times before YHWH before the vail of the sanctuary.
Within this verse, we see that the priest is consecrated (meaning “set apart or dedicated to the service of God”). When he sins (as we all do), he must sacrifice a young bull on his behalf as a sin offering.
In Samuel 2:35 we see a possible prophecy of Jesus.
1 Samuel 2:35 — [YHWH] “And I will raise up a faithful priest that will do according to that which is in my heart and in my mind. And I will build him a firm house and he will walk before my mashiyach forever.”
In Daniel, we see THE MESSIAH prophesied.
Daniel 9:25 — Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks. The street shall be built again and the wall also, even in troublous times. And after sixty-two weeks the Messiah shall be cut off but not for himself. And the people of the prince that shall come will destroy the city and the sanctuary and in the end will be a flood and to the end of the war desolations are determined.
In the New Testament Greek, the word “Christos” is translated as anointed. The Strong’s Concordance definition is “anointed, that is the Messiah, an epithet of Jesus: – Christ”. It is used 569 times. Let’s briefly look at some examples:
The second use of the word is in Matthew 1:16.
Matthew 1:16 — And Jacob had Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christos.”
We can see that Jesus is called the Christ.
Another verse is from Matthew 2:4, concerning the prophesied birth of the Christ.
Matthew 2:4 — And when he had gathered all of the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them to where Christos should be born.
This indicates that Jesus’s arrival was expected – prophesied from before His birth.
Lastly, we can see in Luke 2:26 that the anointed one was prophesied to come.
Luke 2:26 — And it was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen God’s Christos.
It is straightforward and almost an immediate word for word translation. The only difference is that Christos is reference to a specific Anointed Person (Jesus) where as mashiyach can be any anointed person (such as a priest). If we refer to “The Messiah” or “The Anointed” or “The Christ”, we understand this to be referring to a specific person from God who would free us from our bondage. This person is Jesus.
