section_path: Name/Jesus Christ
section_name: Jesus Christ
paragraph_text: Jesus Christ
  
  Since the early period of Christianity, Christians have commonly referred to Jesus as "Jesus Christ". The word Christ was a title or office ("the Christ"), not a given name. It derives from the Greek Χριστός (Christos), a translation of the Hebrew mashiakh (משיח) meaning " anointed ", and is usually transliterated into English as " messiah ". In biblical Judaism, sacred oil was used to anoint certain exceptionally holy people and objects as part of their religious investiture.
  
  Christians of the time designated Jesus as "the Christ" because they believed him to be the messiah, whose arrival is prophesied in the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. In postbiblical usage, Christ became viewed as a name—one part of "Jesus Christ". Etymons of the term Christian (meaning a follower of Christ) have been in use since the 1st century.