Using historical-critical methods, Joachim Becker reconstructs, in chronological order, the ideas and institutions related to the messianic expectations of ancient Israel. While the first and last chapters of this succinct inquiry touch on the understanding of the messiah in the New Testament, the substance of the work deals with the mainstreams of thought up to the threshold of the New Testament. Among topics that come under Becker's careful scrutiny are the anti monarchical tendency in Israel, kingship (including the possibility of sacral kingship), theocracy and the transference of the royal idea to the people as a whole. Throughout, Becker's historical reconstruction is based upon sound literary judgment as the early prophetic words are distinguished from the redactional layers.