Answers to Quora Questions by Yair Davidiy
Why is a messiah in Judaism a title for a savior and liberator?
(17 April, 2018, 7 Iyar, 5778)
There seems to be a confusion between the Hebrew words for 'Anointed' and for 'Savior' when these words are transliterated into English.
'Anointed' in Hebrew is 'Mashiach' which in Sephardic Hebrew can sound a little like 'Mashiah' with a slight guttural emphasis on the final '-ah'.
In Ashkenazic Hebrew the end '-ch' type sound is far more noticeable so that it can be written 'Mashiach' or 'Moshiach'.
The word for savior is 'Moshiah' with an ordinary '-ah' sound at the end [apart from an "ayin" which is often not pronounced nowadays]. In spoken Hebrew the two words are quote distinct and there is no confusing them. In transliteration however they could be spelt in the same way or almost so.