Primary source
Mishneh Torah, Kings and Wars
Maimonides’ legal discussion of kings and messianic criteria.
- Author
- Moses Maimonides
- Publisher
- Sefaria
- Tradition
- Judaism
- Accessed
- 2026-06-16
Citation
Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Kings and Wars, Sefaria, accessed June 16, 2026.
Where this source is used
- Jesus did not bring world peaceThe peace the prophets promised has not come, and Christians do not say it has. Their claim concerns the order of events, and it turns on the resurrection.
- The Messiah cannot die before reigningThe Tanakh and the rabbis both speak of an anointed one who suffers or is killed. The Christian claim joins suffering and reign in one person, and rests on the resurrection.
- Jesus and messianic prophecyIsolated proof texts do not settle the question. A pattern of suffering and reign runs through Isaiah, Zechariah, Daniel, Micah, and the Psalms.
- The resurrection as messianic vindicationA crucified Messiah looked like a contradiction to Jesus' own followers. They read his resurrection as God overturning that verdict, and argued it from the Psalms and Isaiah.