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The full uncensored text of Maimonides's Laws of Kings Chapter 11 and 12 in which he discusses his view of Moshiach. The parts that were censored are included in the footnotes.
Chapter 11
1. In future time, the Melech HaMoshiach
(the anointed King) will arise and renew the Davidic dynasty, restoring
it to its initial sovereignty. He will rebuild the Temple and gather in
the dispersed remnant of Israel. Then, in his days, all the statutes
will be reinstituted as in former times. Sacrifices will be offered and
the Sabbatical and Jubilee years will be observed according to all
their particulars as commanded in the Torah.
Whoever does not believe in him, or does not await his coming,
denies not only [the statements of] the other prophets, but also
[those of] the Torah and of Moshe, our teacher, for the Torah attests
to his coming, stating (Deuteronomy 30:3-5.):
And the L‑rd your G‑d will bring back your captivity and have
compassion upon you. He will return and gather you [from among all the
nations].... Even if your dispersed ones are in the furthest reaches of
the heavens, [from there will G‑d gather you in].... G‑d will bring you
[to the land]....
These explicit words of the Torah include all that was said [on the subject] by all the prophets.
There is also a reference [to Moshiach] in the passage concerning
Bilaam, who prophesied about the two anointed [kings]: the first
anointed [king], David, who saved Israel from her oppressors, and the
final anointed [king] who will arise from among his descendants and
save Israel [at the End of Days].[1] The following [quoted] phrases are from that passage (Numbers 24:17-18):
"I see it, but not now" - This refers to David; "I perceive it, but not in the near future" - This refers to King Moshiach.
"A star shall go forth from Yaakov" - This refers to David; "and a staff shall arise in Yisrael" - This refers to King Moshiach.
"He shall crush all of Moab's princes" - This refers to David, (as
it is written (II Samuel 8:2.), "He smote Moab and measured them with
a line"); "he shall break down all of Seth's descendants" - This refers
to King Moshiach, (about whom it is written (Zechariah 9:10), "He will
rule from sea to sea").
"Edom will be demolished" - This refers to David, (as it is written
(Cf. II Shmuel 8:6 and 8:14.), "Edom became the servants of David");
"his enemies, Seir, will be destroyed" - This refers to King Moshiach,
(as it is written (Ovadiah 1:21.), "Saviors will ascend Mount Zion [to
judge the mountain of Esau....]").
2. Similarly, in regard to the Cities of Refuge,
it is stated (Deuteronomy 19:8-9.), "When G‑d will expand your
borders... you shall add three more cities." This command has never
been fulfilled. [Surely,] G‑d did not give this command in vain, [and
thus the intent was that it be fulfilled after the coming of Moshiach].
There is no need to cite prooftexts on the concept [of the Moshiach]
from the words of the prophets, for all [their] books are filled with
it.
3. One should not entertain the notion that the
King Moshiach must work miracles and wonders, bring about new phenomena
within the world, resurrect the dead, or perform other similar deeds.
This is [definitely] not true.
[A proof can be brought from the fact that] Rabbi Akiva, one of the
greatest Sages of the Mishnah, was a supporter [lit., "an arms-bearer"]
of King Ben Koziva, and would describe him as the King Moshiach. He and
all the Sages of his generation considered him to be the King Moshiach
until he was killed because of [his] sins. Once he was killed, they
realized that he was not [the Moshiach]. The Sages did not ask him for
any signs or wonders.
[Rather,] this is the main thrust of the matter: This Torah, with
its statutes and laws, is everlasting. We may neither add to them nor
detract from them.[2]
4. If a king will arise from the House of David,
who, like David his ancestor, delves deeply into the study of the Torah
and engages in the mitzvos as prescribed by the Written Law and the
Oral Law; if he will compel all of Israel to walk in [the way of the
Torah] and repair the breaches [in its observance]; and if he will
fight the wars of G‑d; - we may, with assurance, consider him Moshiach.
If he succeeds in the above, defeats all the nations around him,
builds the [Beis Ha]Mikdash on its site, and gathers in the dispersed
remnant of Israel, he is definitely the Moshiach.[3]
He will perfect the entire world, [motivating all the nations] to
serve G‑d together, as it is written (Zephaniah 3:9), "For I shall then
make the peoples pure of speech so that they will all call upon the
Name of G‑d and serve Him with one purpose."
Chapter 12
1. One should not entertain the notion that in the Era of Moshiach
any element of the natural order will be nullified, or that there will
be any innovation in the work of creation. Rather, the world will
continue according to its pattern.
Although Yeshayahu (Isaiah 11:6) states, "The wolf will dwell
with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat,"
these [words] are an allegory and a riddle. They mean that Israel will
dwell securely together with the wicked gentiles who are likened to
wolves and leopards, as in the verse (Isaiah 5:6), "A wolf of
the deserts despoils them, a leopard watches over their cities." [In
this Era, all nations] will return to the true faith and no longer
plunder or destroy. Instead, at peace with Israel, they will eat that
which is permitted, as it is written (Isaiah 11:7.), "The lion shall eat straw like the ox."
Similarly, other prophecies of this nature concerning Moshiach are analogies. In the Era of the King Moshiach, everyone will realize what was implied by these metaphors and allusions.
2. Our Sages taught (Talmud, Berachos 34b): "There will be no difference between the current age and the Era of Moshiach except [our emancipation from] subjugation to the [gentile] kingdoms."
The simple meaning of the words of the prophets appears to imply that the War of Gog and Magog (Ezekiel
ch. 38) will take place at the beginning of the Messianic Age. Before
the War of Gog and Magog, a prophet will arise to rectify Israel's
conduct and prepare their hearts [for the Redemption], as it is written
(Malachi 3:23): "Behold, I am sending you Elijah [the prophet, before the advent of the great and awesome Day of G‑d]."
He will not come [in order] to declare the pure, impure, nor to
declare the impure, pure; nor [will he come in order] to disqualify the
lineage of those presumed to be of flawless descent, nor to validate
lineage which is presumed to be blemished. Rather, [he will come in
order] to establish peace in the world; as [the above prophecy]
continues (Malachi 3:24), "He will bring back the hearts of the fathers to the children."
Some of the Sages say that Eliyahu will appear [immediately] before the coming of Moshiach.
All these and similar matters cannot be [clearly] known by man until
they occur, for they are undefined in the words of the prophets. Even
the Sages have no established tradition regarding these matters, beyond
what is implied by the verses; hence there is a divergence of opinion
among them.
In any case, neither the sequence of these events nor their precise
details are among the fundamental principles of the faith. One should
not occupy himself at length with the aggadot and midrashim
that deal with these and similar matters, nor should he deem them of
prime importance, for they bring one to neither the awe nor the love
[of G‑d].
Similarly, one should not try to calculate the appointed time [for the coming of Moshiach]. Our Sages declared (Sanhedrin 97b): "May the spirits of those who attempt to calculate the final time [of Moshiach's
coming] expire!" Rather, one should await [his coming] and believe in
the general conception of the matter, as we have explained.
3. During the Era of the King Moshiach,
once his kingdom has been established and all of Israel has gathered
around him, the entire [nation's] line of descent will be established
on the basis of his words, through the prophetic spirit which will rest
upon him. As it is written (Malachi 3:3), "He shall sit as a refiner and purifier."
He will purify the lineage of the Levites first, stating that "This
one is a priest of defined lineage" and "This one is a Levite of
defined lineage." Those whose lineage he does not recognize will be
relegated to the status of Israelites. This is implied by the following
verse (Ezra 2:63): "The governor said to them, ‘[They shall not eat of the most holy things] until a priest arises [who will wear] the Urim and Tumim.' "
From this verse one can infer that the genealogy of those presumed to
be of unquestioned [priestly and levitical] lineage will be traced by
means of the prophetic spirit, and those found to be of such lineage
will be made known.
He will define the lineage of the Israelites according to their
tribe alone; i.e., he will make known each person's tribal origin,
stating that "This one is from this tribe" and "This one is from
another tribe." However, concerning a person who is presumed to be of
unblemished lineage, he will not state that "He is illegitimate," or
"He is of slave lineage," for the law rules that once a family has
become intermingled [within the entire Jewish people], they may remain
intermingled.
4. The Sages and prophets did not yearn for the
Messianic Era in order that [the Jewish people] rule over the entire
world, nor in order that they have dominion over the gentiles, nor that
they be exalted by them, nor in order that they eat, drink and
celebrate. Rather, their aspiration was that [the Jewish people] be
free [to involve themselves] in the Torah and its wisdom, without
anyone to oppress or disturb them, and thus be found worthy of life in
the World to Come, as we explained in Laws of Repentance (9:2).
5. In that Era there will be neither famine nor
war, neither envy nor competition, for good things will flow in
abundance and all the delicacies will be as freely available as dust.
The occupation of the entire world will be solely to know G‑d. The Jews
will therefore be great sages and know the hidden matters, and will
attain an understanding of their Creator to the [full] extent of mortal
potential; as it is written (Isaiah 11:9), "For the world will be filled with the knowledge of G‑d as the waters cover the ocean bed."
Footnotes:
1. At this point, before being censored by medieval ecclesiastical authorities, the Rambam's
original text continued: "...and save Israel from the hands of Eisav's
descendants." This and two other such deletions have been copied
verbatim in these footnotes from the celebrated Yemenite manuscript in
the hands of Chacham Yosef Kapach of Jerusalem. (See footnotes 558 and
559, below.)
2. At this point, the uncensored original text continued as follows: "Whoever adds to [the mitzvos] or detracts from them, or misinterprets the Torah, implying that the mitzvos are not intended to be understood literally, is surely a wicked impostor and a heretic."
3. The whole of the following passage was deleted from most of the editions published since the Venice edition of 1574:
"If he did not succeed to this degree or was killed, he surely is
not [the redeemer] promised by the Torah. [Rather,] he should be
considered to be like all the other proper and legitimate kings of the
Davidic dynasty who died. G‑d caused him to arise only in order to test
the multitude. As it is written (Daniel 11:35), ‘Some of
the wise men will stumble, to purge, to refine and to clarify, until
the appointed final time, for it is yet to come.'
[At this point Maimonides proceeds to describe the results of one
historical instance of this process:] "...Can there be a greater
stumbling block than [such teachings]? All the prophets spoke of
Moshiach as the redeemer of Israel and their savior, who would gather
their dispersed ones and strengthen their [observance of the] mitzvos.
In contrast, [this innovator] caused the Jews to be slain by the sword,
their remnants to be scattered and humiliated, the Torah to be altered,
and the majority of the world to serve a god other than the L‑rd.
"Nevertheless, the intent of the Creator of the world is not within
the power of man to comprehend, for [to paraphrase Isaiah 55:8] His
ways are not our ways, nor are His thoughts, our thoughts.
[Ultimately,] all the deeds of [this innovator] and that Ishmaelite who
rose after him will only serve to pave the way for the coming of Moshiach
and for the improvement of the entire world, [motivating the nations]
to serve G‑d together, as it is written [Zephaniah 3:9], ‘For I shall
then make the peoples pure of speech so that they will all call upon
the Name of G‑d and serve Him with one purpose.'
"How will this come about? The entire world has already become
filled with talk of [the supposed] Messiah, as well as of the Torah and
the mitzvos. These matters have been spread among the
furthermost islands and among many spiritually insensitive nations,
who discuss these matters as well as the mitzvos of the Torah.
Some of them say: ‘These commandments were true, but are not in force
in the present age; they are not applicable for all time.' Others say:
‘Implied in the commandments are hidden concepts that cannot be
understood simply; the Messiah has already come and revealed them.'
"When
the true Messianic king will arise and prove successful, his [position
becoming] exalted and uplifted, they will all return and realize that
their ancestors endowed them with a false heritage; their prophets and
ancestors caused them to err."
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