Jewish prophecies of Messiah's arrival for circa 1st c. AD

[rakovsky]

.The First Century, however, especially the generation before the destruction [of the Second Temple] witnessed a remarkable outburst of Messianic emotionalism. This is to be attributed, as we shall see, not to an intensification of Roman persecution, but to the prevalent belief induced by the popular chronology of that day that the age was on the threshold of the Millennium...when Jesus came into Galilee, 'spreading the gospel of the kingdom of God and saying the 'time is fulfilled' and the Kingdom of God is at hand,' he was voicing the opinion universally held that...the age of the kingdom of God-was at hand...it was this chronological fact which inflamed the Messianic hope rather than the Roman persecutions...Jesus appeared in the procuratorship of Pontius Pilate (26-36 c.e.)...It seems likely, therefore, that in the minds of the people the Millennium was to begin around the year 30 C.E. Be it remembered that it is not the Messiah who brings about the Millennium. It is the inevitable advent of the Millennium which carries along with it the Messiah and his appointed activities. The Messiah was expected around the second quarter of the First Century C.E. because the Millennium was at hand. Prior to that time he was not expected, because according to the chronology of the day the Millennium was still considerably removed."

Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver, A History of Messianic Speculation in Israel,

"And the (voice from heaven) came forth and exclaimed, who is he that has revealed my secrets to mankind?.. He further sought to reveal by a Targum the inner meaning of the Hagiographa (a portion of scripture which includes Daniel), but a voice from heaven went forth and said, enough! What was the reason?--because the date of the Messiah was foretold in it!"

Targum of the prophets, in Tractate Megillah 3a, which was composed by Rabbi Jonathan ben Uzziel

"Had I been there, I should have said to them: is it not written, the temple of the Lord the temple of the Lord the temple of the Lord are these, which points to the destruction of the first and Second Temples? Granted that they [the rabbis of the Second Temple period] knew it would be destroyed, did they know when this would occur? Rabbi Abaye objected: and did they not know when? Is it not written, seventy weeks are determined upon the people, and upon the holy city. All the same, did they know on which day?"

Babylonian Talmud (tractate Nazir 32b), words of Rabbi Joseph

[rakovsky]

Here are some writings predicting the millenia of his arrival:

The world endures 6000 years: two thousand before the law, two thousand with the law and two thousand with the Messiah."

(Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 96b-99a)

"The world endures 6000 years and one thousand it shall be laid waste, that is, the enemies of God shall be laid waste, whereof it is said,'the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.' As out of seven years every seventh is a year of remission, so out of the seven thousand years of the world, the seventh millennium shall be the 1000 years of remission, that God alone my be exalted in that day."

Talmud, Rabbi Kattina

"This world is to last 6000 years; 2000 years it was waste and desolate, 2000 years marks the period under the law, 2000 years under the Messiah. And because our sins are increased, they are increased."

~Yalkut on the Psalms

[rakovsky]

Suetonius the ancient pagan writer talks about 1st c messianic expectations among Jews in his Life of Vespasian, 4.5:

There had spread over all the Orient an old and established belief that it was fated at that time for men coming from Judea to rule the world. This prediction, referring to the emperor of Rome, as afterwards appeared from the event, the people of Judea took to themselves; accordingly they revolted and, after killing their governor, they routed the consular ruler of Syria as well, when he came to the rescue, and took one of his eagles.

Ben Smith wrote on the forum that Josephus said something similar, as I also remember, but I don't have the quote.

Maimonides and Rash dated the prophecy in Daniel 9 to the 1st c. AD and considered it messianic, iirc. Maimonides pointed to a Talmudic passage saying not to calculate the coming of the Messiah because people could conclude from it that the messiah should have come already. Maimonides thought the passage was talking about Daniel 9.

[Ben C. Smith]

Suetonius the ancient pagan writer talks about 1st c messianic expectations among Jews in his Life of Vespasian, 4.5:

There had spread over all the Orient an old and established belief that it was fated at that time for men coming from Judea to rule the world. This prediction, referring to the emperor of Rome, as afterwards appeared from the event, the people of Judea took to themselves; accordingly they revolted and, after killing their governor, they routed the consular ruler of Syria as well, when he came to the rescue, and took one of his eagles.

Ben Smith wrote on the forum that Josephus said something similar, as I also remember, but I don't have the quote.

Josephus, Wars 6.5.4 §312-313:

But what lifted them up especially toward the war was an ambiguous oracle likewise found in their sacred writings, as at that time someone from their country should rule the inhabited earth. This they took as belonging to their own house, and many of the wise men were misled in their judgment. But this oracle pointed to the leadership of Vespasian, who was appointed autocrat in Judea.

[rakovsky]

Great find.
You are a scholar sir.

[arnoldo]

Allegedly, there were quite a few pseudo messiahs in the first century. . .
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/artic ... o-messiahs

[rakovsky]

(a) (Rav): All the Ketzim have passed. Now, Mashi'ach depends on Teshuvah and Mitzvos.

(b) (Shmuel): The mourner need not mourn longer than the proscribed period. (Hash-m will not wait forever, even if Yisrael are not worthy. Alternatively, Yisrael has suffered enough in Galus, so they will be redeemed even without Teshuvah.)

Sanhedrin 97B, Talmud

[neilgodfrey]

I know of no evidence supporting the common assumption of widespread popular messianic expectations in the early first century CE. The passages in Josephus often said to be evidence never mention the word messiah and are all part and parcel of normal bandit and rebel movements anywhere and/or point to an interest in non-messianic prophetic figures. See Questioning Carrier and the Conventional Wisdom on Messianic Expectations for some recent arguments that arose from a study of Carrier's own arguments that collate much of the scholarly testimony. Best of all, read chapter 2 of Steve Mason's latest book on the Jewish War for an excellent study on how to do history, how to interpret historical documents, etc.

The myth of messianic expectations at the time of the early first century arose out of Christian apologetics to justify its treatment of the OT in relation to Jesus.

[iskander]

During the Second Temple period... During this time there was intense speculation about the nature of the Messiah...

See attached file

[rakovsky]

The myth of messianic expectations at the time of the early first century arose out of Christian apologetics to justify its treatment of the OT in relation to Jesus.

Hello, Neil.
Have you read the messages posted already in this thread?

Bar Kohba is a well known self-proposed Messianic figure from the early/mid 2nd c. and was able to get a very large following, so he must have been tapping into widespread sentiments.