Messiah means anointed one; it included Jewish priests, prophets and kings such as David and Cyrus the Great.Jewish Encyclopedia: Messiah: "In Isa. xlv. 1 Cyrus is called "God's anointed one," ...: Later, especially after the failure of the Hasmonean Kingdom (37 BCE) and the Jewish–Roman wars (66–135 CE), the figure of the Jewish Messiah was one who would deliver the Jews from oppression and usher in an Olam HaBa ("world to come"), the Messianic Age.

Some people were looking forward to a military leader who would defeat the Seleucid or Roman enemies and establish an independent Jewish kingdom. Others, like the author of the Psalms of Solomon, stated that the Messiah was a charismatic teacher who would give the correct interpretation of Mosaic law, restore the monarchy of Israel, and judge mankind.Messiah (overview) on livius.org

This is a list of notable people who have been said to be the Messiah ben David, either by themselves or by their followers. The list is divided into categories, which are sorted according to date of birth (where known).

1st century Jesus of Nazareth (ca. 4 BC–30/33 CE), in Galilee and the Roman province of Judaea. Jews who believed him to be the Messiah were the first Christians, also known as Jewish Christians. As of 2015, it is estimated that there are 2.3 billion Christians in the world, making Jesus of Nazareth the most widely followed and most famous Jewish Messiah claimant in human history. Aside from Christians, Muslims also believe that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah but not the Son of God. Aside from the New Testament, Jesus of Nazareth is mentioned by Josephus in the Antiquities of the Jews and by Tacitus in his Annals. Several Jewish rebels and military leaders lived in the 1st century, including Judas of Galilee, Theudas, Simon of Peraea, and Athronges, all of whom are only documented by Josephus in surviving accounts. None of them was explicitly stated to have been thought of as a Messiah but some scholars make this as an inference.Michael Zolondek, We Have Found the Messiah, Wipf and Stock, 2016, pp. 25-78

2nd century With the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, the appearance of Messiah claimants ceased for a time. Sixty years later, a politico-messianic movement of large proportions took place. Simon bar Kokhba (also known as Bar Kosiba) (?– died ), led a revolt against the Roman Empire in 132–135 CE. Bar Kokhba was hailed as Messiah-King by Rabbi Akiva, who referred to him using Numbers 24:17: "There shall come forth a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite through the corners of Moab," and Haggai 2:21–22: "I will shake the heavens and the earth and I will overthrow the thrones of kingdoms...." (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 97b). Some doubted his messiahship, but Bar Kokhba led a rebellion and founded a short-lived Jewish state. He was killed in the siege of Betar, which was the final battle of the Roman reclamation that devastated Judea.

5th century Moses of Crete: The failed Bar Kokhba revolt halted Jewish messianic movements temporarily but hopes for a messiah remained. Per computations found in the Talmud, the Messiah was expected to appear in the years 440 (Sanhedrin 97b) or 471 (Avodah Zarah 9b). This expectation in connection with the disturbances in the Roman Empire attendant upon invasions may have raised hopes of the Messiah. Moses of Crete appeared about this time and won over many Jews to his movement. He promised to lead the people, like the ancient Moses, dry-shod through the sea back to Israel. In about 440–470, his followers, convinced by him, left their possessions and waited for the promised day, when at his command, many cast themselves into the sea to return to Israel; many found death while others were rescued. The putative Messiah himself disappeared.(Socrates, "Historia Ecclesiastica," vii. 38; Grätz, "Gesch." 3d ed., iv. 354–355) Socrates of Constantinople states that Moses of Crete fled, while the Chronicle of John of Nikiû claims that he perished in the sea. While he called himself Moses, the Chronicle gives his actual name as Fiskis.(John of Nikiu, "Chronicle," LXXXVI.1–11)

7th century The Khuzestan Chronicle records an otherwise-unknown messianic claimant who arose alongside the Muslim conquest of Khuzestan.Robert Hoyland, Seeing Islam as Others Saw It (Princeton: Darwin Press, 1997), 28Khuzistan Chronicle

8th century The claimants that followed contributed to Jewish developments in the Orient and were involved in religious reforms that influenced Karaite Judaism. Claimants who emerged in the early part of the 8th century in Persia included:

Abu Isa,For other forms of his name and for his sect, see "J. Q. R." xvi. 768, 770, 771; Grätz, l.c. v., notes 15 and 17 who lived during the reign of Marwan II (744–750).This is the dating of the Muslim heresiologist Shahrastani. As of 1997, an alternate dating was ascribed to the Karaite Qirqisani: Robert Hoyland, 28. Note 60 cites: L. Nemoy, "Al-Qirqisani's Account of the Jewish Sects", Hebrew Union College Annual 7 (1930), 317–397; 328. Stephen M. Wasserstrom, "The Isawiyya Revisited", Studia Islamica 75 (1992), 57–80; EIr, "Abu Isa Esfahani", Yoram Erder, "The Doctrine of Abu Isa al-Isfahani and its Sources", JSAI 20 (1996), 162-199. To that we may now add Halil Ibrahim Bulut, "ISEVIYYE (Islam Dunyasinda Ortaya Cikan Ilk Yahudi Mezhebi)", Ekev Academic Review, 8.18 (Jan. 2004) 297–318; 300–301. Abu Isa claimed to be the last of the five forerunners of the Messiah and that God had chosen him to free Israel. Having gathered a large number of followers, he rebelled against the caliph in Persia.Hoyland, ibid. He was defeated and killed in Ray. His followers claimed that he was inspired, offering as their evidence that, despite being illiterate, he wrote books. Abu Isa founded a group known as the Isawiyya. Yudghan, called Al-Ra'i (), lived and taught in Persia in the first half of the 8th century. He declared himself a prophet and was regarded by his disciples as the Messiah. He came from Hamadan and taught doctrines he claimed to have received through prophecy. According to Shahristani, he denied an anthropomorphic deity, taught the doctrine of free will, and held that the Torah had an allegorical meaning in addition to its literal one. He admonished his followers to lead an ascetic life, abstain from meat and wine, and pray and fast often, per Abu Isa's instruction. He held that the observance of Shabbat and festivals was merely a matter of memorial. After his death, his followers formed a sect, the Yudghanites, who believed he had not died but would return at a future date. Serene (his name is given variously in the sources as Sherini, Sheria, Serenus, Zonoria, Saüra, Severus) the Syrian was born a Christian. He preached in the district of Mardin between 720 and 723. Those Christian sources dependent on Theophilus's history report that "Severus" proclaimed himself Messiah,Hoyland, 654. Also Theophanes, trans. Harry Turtledove (U. of Penn. Press, 1982), 93 but without naming him. and the Zuqnin Chronicle reports that he proclaimed himself Moses "sent again for the salvation of Israel".Hoyland, 28; on the publications of this Chronicle up to 1997: Hoyland, 739. Serene promised "to lead [his followers] into the desert in order to introduce [them]... to the inheritance of the Promised Land which [they would] possess as before";Zuqnin Chronicle apud Hoyland. more akin to "prophet like Moses" than Davidic "anointed one". The immediate occasion for his appearance may have been the restriction of the liberties of the Jews by the caliph Omar II (717–720) and his proselytizing efforts.Jewish Encyclopedia 1901–1905. Hoyland cites instead Leo III's forced baptism of Jews, but if that were the case, then Serene should have been agitating against Constantinople rather than against the Muslim emirate. Serene had followers even in Spain, where the Jews were suffering under the oppressive taxation of the new Arab rulers they had previously welcomed, and many left their homes to follow the supposedly Moses-like prophet.Jewish Encyclopedia His followers paid instead a tithe to Serene rather than the Muslim leadership of the emirate.Hoyland, citing Theophilus. This must be from the synopsis between Agapius, the 1234 Chronicle, and Michael the Syrian. Theophanes says only that he "deceived" them. Like Abu Isa and Yudghan, Serene also was a religious reformer. According to Natronai ben Nehemiah, a gaon of Pumbedita during 719–730, Serene was hostile to Rabbinic Judaism and Halakha. His followers disregarded Kashrut, rabbinically instituted prayers, and the prohibition against the "wine of libation". They worked on the second day of Jewish festivals, forewent marriage and divorce contracts instituted by Talmudic authorities, and ignored the Halakhic prohibition against marrying close relatives.Heinrich Grätz, Geschichte der Juden, l.c. note 14. This is the source of the 1901-6 Jewish Encyclopedia;, Grätz had this information from Natronai's Gaonic Responsa [Moda'i] Serene was arrested. Brought before Caliph Yazid II, Serene declared that he created his sect only in jest; the caliph gave Serene to the Jewish community’s authorities for punishment.Theophilus in Hoyland, 654, says that Yazid had him executed. Ben Nehemiah established criteria for Serene's former followers to rejoin the synagogal community, and most of them presumably agreed to follow these guidelines.Hoyland 28 n. 59 cites Gaonic Responsa 3.V.10.

12th century Under the influence of the Crusades the number of Jewish Messiah claimants increased, and the 12th century records many of them: One appeared in France (c. 1087) and was slain by the French. , a Moroccan teacher, gained a large following. He was convinced that the Messiah would free the Jews in the Almoravid countries at Passover 1127.Moses al-Dar'i (c.1127) on livius.org David Alroy, who was born in Amadiya, appeared in Persia about 1160 declaring himself a Messiah. Taking advantage of his personal popularity, the disturbed and weakened condition of the caliphate, and the discontent of the Jews, who were burdened with a heavy poll tax, he set out upon his political schemes, asserting that he had been sent by God to free the Jews from the Muslim yoke and to lead them back to Jerusalem. For this purpose he summoned the warlike Jews of northern Persia and his coreligionists of Mosul and Baghdad to come armed to his aid and to assist in the capture of Amadia. From this point his career is enveloped in legend. His movement failed, and he is said to have been assassinated, while asleep, by his father-in-law. A heavy fine was exacted from the Jews for this uprising. Alroy had many followers in Khoy, Salmas, Tabriz, and Maragheh, and after his death, these formed a sect called the Menahemists, from the Messianic name "Menahem," assumed by their founder. Benjamin Disraeli wrote the novel Alroy based on Alroy's life. The Yemenite Messiah, was an anonymous alleged forerunner of the Messiah from Yemen, who appeared in Fez. The Muslims were making determined efforts to convert the Jews living there. He declared the misfortunes of the time to be prognostications of the coming Messianic kingdom, and called upon the Jews to divide their property with the poor, preaching repentance that those who gave their worldly possessions to the poor would gain a treasure in heaven. This anonymous Messiah candidate was the subject of Maimonides' Iggeret Teman. He continued his activity for a year, when he was arrested by the Muslim authorities and beheaded at his own suggestion, it is said, in order that he might prove the truth of his mission by returning to life.The Yemenite Messiah (c.1172) on livius.org Nothing is known beyond the mention of him in Maimonides' "Iggeret Teman" (The Yemen Epistle).

13th century