ABSTRACT
I use the terms “messiah” and “messianic” with some trepidation. The modern belief in the importance of “messianic expectations” in the first century is extremely strong and widespread, despite a number of warning voices raised by those specialists who best know the literature. The reason seems to be a distinctive understanding of the NT in general and Jesus in particular. The problem is not in assuming that messianism was an important concept during the Second Temple period but in recognizing the diversity of beliefs and the various developments that took place over time. Although messianic expections were important to some groups, they seem to have been central to few, if any; others appear not to have had any sort of belief in a messianic figure.
