WI: Judah and Israel survive

The idea of the Messiah is much older than even Greek occupation, much less Roman.
It's true that the popular image of the Messiah was shaped by the hardships endured through the various occupations - but the idea of a Messiah goes back to the OT itself, most clearly, but not exclusively, the prophet Isaiah (and no, I don't really think much of the current Jewish interpretation, that "the suffering servant" is Israel. This is a view that has been developed in direct opposition to the Christian interpreatation, more or less a: "Oh, you say this? Then we say THIS!"-view).
The idea that the suffering servant isn't the messiah is not a new idea, if it was considered a messianic prophecy (by the Jewish scholars at the time) and the messiah was believed to be a peaceful scholar type who gets tortured (rather than a warrior/leader who drives away the oppressors) then there wouldn't so many people (Jesus included, he led an attack on the Temple and drove away money changers Mark 11:15, Matthew 21:12-17) who claimed to be the messiah and "proved" it by attacking the Romans.
 
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