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Article: Messianism, Jewish
- Article from:
- Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World
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MESSIANISM, JEWISH
MESSIANISM, JEWISH.
The hope for national redemption from exile and the ultimate reinstatement of Jewish self-government under a messianic (from the Hebrew for 'anointed') king descended from the House of David was an integral and unquestioned element of early modern Judaism. The Messiah was read into biblical texts like Jeremiah 36, referred to often in the Talmud, and rehearsed daily in the liturgy.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT FROM THE LATE FIFTEENTH CENTURY
Events encouraged speculation about an imminent end of days and moved dreams of redemption to the forefront of Jewish thought. Great wars in Europe, the breakdown of Christian unity with the Reformation, and even the ...