Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 16:3 (Summer 1973)
Article: Sabbatai Zvi And Jewish Messianism
Author: Eugene H. Merrill

JETS 16:3 (Summer 1973) p. 159

Sabbatai Zvi And Jewish Messianism

Eugene H. Merrill

Berkshire Christian College, Lenox, Mass. 01240

The belief in the coming of a Messiah has been, down through the ages, a cardinal tenet of Judaism. Though many Jewish thinkers would not make this belief essential to Judaism—only a relatively minor issue—the vast majority concur that such a hope is nonetheless an important feature of Judaism.1 Yet, it must be stressed that the Jewish view of Messianism differs radically from the Christian. The latter thinks in terms of a personal Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, who came once and for all in history; the former maintains that “Messiah son of Joseph appears from generation to generation. This is the suffering Messiah, who always, again and again, suffers mortal pain for God’s sake.”2 Buber suggests that Jesus was the first in a long series of men who acknowledged both to themselves and to others that theirs was a messianic mission; but that that admission was tantamount to their lack of true messianic character. That is, true or genuine messiartism is seen not in its self-proclamation but in its self-imposed secrecy. To Buber “Messianic self-disclosure is the bursting of Messiahship.”3

If Jesus was the first of the Messiahs, the last, it seems, was Sabbatai Zvi of Smryna. The apostasy of this pretender, tragic enough in itself, was, moreover, the very means of bringing the Messianic series to an end for most of Judaism. This one, from whom so many had expected so much, plunged them into such despair that the concept of a self-revealing Messiah was forever lost. It is fitting, therefore, that any discussion of Jewish Messianism include a treatment of Sabbatai Zvi. The current within Judaism which led to his rise and wide acceptance and the contemporary interpretations of Messiahship which have followed in his wake find meaning only as they are related to this enigmatic personality.

Jewish Messianism has its roots, of course, in the Bible, and throughout history there have been various claimants to the Messianic office. But Messianic activity found its greatest impetus in the Middle Ages, an impetus provided largely by the Kabbalistic mystical movements found in large segments of Judaism in Europe. The speculative nature of Kabbalism naturally lent itself to Messianic speculation, and the emphasis on number and letter manipulation provided keys to unlocking Messianic secrets, including the identification of Messiah and the date of his advent. As Green-

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stove points out, many Jews “regard...