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Are there any sources that say explicitly that the Mashiach will NOT be a woman?

I am specifically asking about the person who is to be crowned Mashiach (either ben Yosef or ben David) at the end of days.

I am not referring to people who embodied attributes of mashiach in their respective times. As the students of the Vilna Gaon in Kol HaTor (2:8) have already suggested that women such as Queen Ester manifested MBY in her generation. (They also include other women such as Shifra and Puah (see Kol HaTor 2:2) Devorah (ibid can't remember where…) , Chuldah (ibid 2:75),

Double AA
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3 Answers3

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The Moshiach is considered a King and the Halacha is as stated in the Rambam (Melachim 1:5):

אין מעמידין אשה במלכות שנאמר עליך מלך ולא מלכה וכן כל משימות שבישראל אין ממנים בהם אלא איש.‏

We may not appoint a woman as king. When describing the monarchy, the Torah employs the male form of the word king and not the female.

This principle also applies to all other positions of authority within Israel. Only men should be appointed to fill them.

(Translation from Chabad.org)

Although this may not appear to directly answer your question of whether there are explicit references to a woman not being moshiach. However, the point is that a woman may not be crowned, so it is a halachic impossibility, and thus there would be no need to state it explicity.

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Shoel U'Meishiv
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  • I have edited your answer to make it a little bit clearer, in my opinion. But I think you might have missed an opportunity to argue more strongly that this actually is an explicit answer. A woman cannot be crowned king. Period. That's what the question is asking. Done. – Seth J Jun 13 '14 at 13:10
  • @seth j יישר כח – Shoel U'Meishiv Jun 13 '14 at 13:11
  • How do you know this? What if they appoint her anyway. Would she not be a Queen? – Double AA Jun 13 '14 at 13:19
  • you mean i avid lo mehani? and thats not the tpic. the question is whether a woman could be messiah ie. chosen by G-d himself... – Shoel U'Meishiv Jun 13 '14 at 13:27
  • @Nafkamina No. The topic is if a women does all the things the messiah is supposed to, would it count. – Double AA Jun 13 '14 at 13:39
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    I dont see that at all in the question and even so thats definitly NOT what you are addressing – Shoel U'Meishiv Jun 13 '14 at 13:40
  • Who else do you think is going to be crowned messiah if not the one who "does all the things the messiah is supposed to"? The question becomes, if that happened to a women would it work? – Double AA Jun 13 '14 at 19:32
  • @DoubleAA We still have to crown Moshiach, and according to the Rambam, we would not be permitted to crown a Queen. So we'll just have to wait for the next candidate. – ertert3terte Jun 13 '14 at 23:33
  • @ShmuelBrin And what if people crowned her anyway? Would it work? Or would you reject it and wait for another candidate? – Double AA Jun 14 '14 at 00:02
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I am not even addressing the Rambam and the rules that only a man can take the throne. That goes without saying. Since part of the definition of Mashiach is that he will take the throne and his children will continue to hold it, the mashiach cannot be a woman. However, I address other logic as well below.

Since the Mashiach will be a king and will have children who will be of the lineage of King David, then he cannot be a woman. The children of any women are of the lineage of the husband. Thus, since the next king must be a child of a king, then a queen's children would not be able to be of that lineage. The rules for a king are similar to those of a kohen.

I explained in another answer, which kings must Moshiach descend from?, how the Mashiach needs to be a descendant of Zerubavel because once each king takes the throne, then the lineage continues through him. The circumstance in which Tzidkiyahu became the king was very unusual and the Tanach does not even consider that the lineage could have continued with him. We also see with Athaliah that she was never considered legitimate when she killed all of her grandchildren (except for Yoash) even when it was not known that he was alive.

Since the lineage must be father to son from Zerubavel, then the queen and the king could not both be of the same lineage. Only one particular line from Zerubavel would have led to the mashiach. Once the mashiach is revealed, any one else (from a different line of fathers) would have been shown to be ineligible. For the king and queen to be of the correct lineage would make them brother and sister (even if from different mothers).

Note that the promise that the line would continue means that the mashiach would have children and the kingship would continue in his descendants.

Leadership (as with Devorah) is not inherited as opposed to kingship and kehuna..

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sabbahillel
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    Thanks for the answer, sabbahillel. I humbly suggest that providing sources for your answer will improve its credibility and acceptability. – Lee Jun 13 '14 at 10:11
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    is the fact that we refer to the person as "ben David" in, and of itself an answer? – rosends Jun 13 '14 at 10:54
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    Why couldn't Mashiach's husband from the lineage of David? Then her children would also be of his lineage. – Daniel Jun 13 '14 at 11:14
  • Why must a king be the son if a king? Perhaps the next king will be her brother or nephew – Double AA Jun 13 '14 at 13:18
  • Who says Mashiah will have children? – Seth J Jun 13 '14 at 14:18
  • @SethJ Rambam says that the promises to Dovid and Shlomo that thier children will inherit hte throne applies to the mashiach as well (he will not be immortal). Rambam says that this is before techiyas hameisim. – sabbahillel Jun 13 '14 at 22:33
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No, Moshiach is a King, and woman cannot halachically be a king