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The Ancient World Behind the Text: Ideas

The customs, offices and ideas a first reader knew without being told, what each meant then, and the nearest thing you already know.

The Son of Man

Plain Aramaic for a human being, and also the figure in Daniel 7 who comes on the clouds and receives a kingdom. It is Jesus' favorite way of speaking about himself in the Gospels.

Jewish life and lawWhat people were waiting for

First, in plain English

A guy like me doesn't get invited to these things. Son of man could simply mean a person, or a modest way of saying I. But Jews also knew a vision in the book of Daniel where one like a son of man comes on the clouds to God and is given everlasting rule. Jesus used the phrase so that both meanings stayed in the air.

What it meant then

In Hebrew or Aramaic the phrase simply means a mortal or a human being, and in later Judaism it could mean I or someone like me. In Daniel 7:13 a human figure is brought to the Ancient of Days on the clouds, vindicated after suffering and given kingly power. Daniel itself explains the figure as the holy people of the Most High. Even so, some Jews of the first century took it as a promise of the Messiah (Wright). At Mark 2:28 hearers could take the phrase as human being, so that human need comes before the Sabbath, though the context points to a larger claim (Keener). Mark 2:10 echoes Daniel 7:13-14. The Son of Man was expected to reign, but in Mark 10:45 he comes to serve and give his life, as in Isaiah 53. The ESV Study Bible calls it Jesus' favorite self-designation in Mark, its full meaning revealed only gradually. A Son of Man who commands angels, as in Matthew 13:41, is no ordinary human. Paul draws on the same picture. The Lord coming with the clouds in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 recalls Jesus' teaching about his coming, which alludes to Daniel 7:13. Wright reads it as Daniel's vindication of the suffering people of God. In Hebrews 2:6, quoting Psalm 8, the phrase seems to mean simply a human being, though Wright allows the Messiah's sense as well.

The bridge to today

An analogy: a modest nickname, like the new guy, that can just mean me, but in one company's history is also what everyone called the founder. Each time it is used, the room has to decide which is meant.

What it changes in the reading

The phrase moves between an ordinary human being and Daniel's exalted figure, so each use, as in Mark 2:10 or Matthew 13:41, has to be read for which it carries. A Son of Man who sends angels to gather the wicked is doing what no ordinary man could. Stephen sees him standing at God's right hand in Acts 7:56.

Where the analogy breaks

Not a nickname from a company's past. The second meaning came from Scripture, Daniel's vision of a human figure given everlasting rule, and Daniel itself reads that figure as the people of the saints. The phrase is neither a statement that Jesus was only human nor, in the sources here, a plain title of divinity.

Where scholars disagree

What the coming on the clouds means. Keener lists three views. Some scholars tie it strictly to Jesus' exaltation. Others tie it to the judgment of AD 70, and more of them to his return at the end. Wright argues that in Daniel 7 the son of man comes to God, not back to earth. The line is then about vindication after suffering and judgment on the system that opposed him. The ESV Study Bible reads the title as pointing to his humanity and his deity together.

Passages where it appears

{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/matthew-13-24-52\/","n":"Matthew 13:24-52, Darnel, mustard, yeast, treasure and a net","s":"More parables of the kingdom: weeds sown among wheat, a mustard seed, yeast in flour, treasure in a field, a pearl, and a dragnet, with the weeds and the net explained as the judgment at the end of the age.","r":"Matthew 13:24-52"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/matthew-24-29-51\/","n":"Matthew 24:29-51, The Son of Man on the clouds and the slave in charge","s":"After the distress, sun, moon and stars fail and the Son of Man comes on the clouds to gather his chosen. No one knows the day, so the household must stay ready, like a slave left in charge.","r":"Matthew 24:29-51"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/matthew-25-31-46\/","n":"Matthew 25:31-46, Sheep, goats and the least of these","s":"The Son of Man comes in glory with his angels, gathers the nations, and separates them as a shepherd separates sheep from goats, judging them by how they treated the least of his brothers and sisters.","r":"Matthew 25:31-46"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/matthew-28-16-20\/","n":"Matthew 28:16-20, Make disciples of all nations","s":"On a mountain in Galilee the risen Jesus claims all authority in heaven and on earth and sends the eleven to make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching them.","r":"Matthew 28:16-20"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/mark-2-23-3-6\/","n":"Mark 2:23-3:6, Grain and a withered hand on the Sabbath","s":"Jesus defends his disciples for picking grain on the Sabbath, heals a man's hand in the synagogue, and the Pharisees start plotting with the Herodians.","r":"Mark 2:23-3:6"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/mark-8-27-9-1\/","n":"Mark 8:27-9:1, Peter's answer at Caesarea Philippi","s":"Asked who he is, Peter says the Messiah. Jesus says the Son of Man must suffer, rebukes Peter, and calls followers to take up the cross.","r":"Mark 8:27-9:1"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/mark-9-2-13\/","n":"Mark 9:2-13, The transfiguration","s":"On a high mountain Jesus is changed before three disciples, Elijah and Moses appear, and a voice says to listen to him. Coming down, they ask about Elijah.","r":"Mark 9:2-13"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/mark-10-32-45\/","n":"Mark 10:32-45, James and John ask for the best seats","s":"On the road to Jerusalem Jesus predicts his death a third time. James and John ask to sit at his right and left, and he tells them the first must be slave of all.","r":"Mark 10:32-45"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/mark-13-1-37\/","n":"Mark 13:1-37, The temple's fall and the Son of Man","s":"Leaving the temple, Jesus says not one stone will be left on another. On the Mount of Olives he warns of what is coming and of the Son of Man on the clouds.","r":"Mark 13:1-37"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/mark-14-53-72\/","n":"Mark 14:53-72, At the high priest's house","s":"The council tries Jesus at night. He says he is the Messiah and quotes the Son of Man coming with the clouds, and is condemned for blasphemy while Peter denies him in the courtyard.","r":"Mark 14:53-72"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/luke-12-35-48\/","n":"Luke 12:35-48, Slaves waiting up for the master","s":"Jesus tells his followers to be dressed for action with lamps lit, like slaves waiting for their master to come home from a wedding, and asks what a slave left in charge will do if the master is delayed.","r":"Luke 12:35-48"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/luke-21-5-38\/","n":"Luke 21:5-38, The temple's stones and Jerusalem surrounded","s":"When people admire the temple's stones, Jesus says not one will be left on another. He warns of false claimants, arrests in synagogues, Jerusalem surrounded by armies, and signs in the sky before the Son of Man comes.","r":"Luke 21:5-38"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/john-1-35-51\/","n":"John 1:35-51, Come and see","s":"Two of John's disciples follow Jesus and spend the day with him. Andrew brings his brother Simon, Philip brings Nathanael, and Jesus promises they will see heaven opened and angels going up and down on the Son of Man.","r":"John 1:35-51"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/john-5-19-47\/","n":"John 5:19-47, The Son sent by the Father, and his witnesses","s":"Jesus answers the charge of making himself equal with God: the Son does what he sees the Father doing, gives life and judges, and has witnesses in John, in his works, in the Father and in the Scriptures.","r":"John 5:19-47"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/john-12-20-50\/","n":"John 12:20-50, Greeks at the feast, and the ruler of this world cast out","s":"Some Greeks who came up to worship ask to see Jesus. He says his hour has come, that the ruler of this world will be driven out, and that when he is lifted up he will draw everyone to himself; many leaders believe but stay silent.","r":"John 12:20-50"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/acts-1-1-11\/","n":"Acts 1:1-11, The kingdom question and the cloud","s":"Luke's second volume opens with the risen Jesus speaking about God's kingdom for forty days. Asked whether he will now restore the kingdom to Israel, he promises the Spirit, sends the apostles as witnesses to the end of the earth, and is taken up in a cloud.","r":"Acts 1:1-11"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/acts-7-54-8-3\/","n":"Acts 7:54-8:3, The stoning of Stephen","s":"Stephen sees the Son of Man standing at God's right hand, and his hearers drag him out and stone him while a young man named Saul looks after their coats. Persecution scatters the church.","r":"Acts 7:54-8:3"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/1thessalonians-4-13-18\/","n":"1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Grief with hope, and the welcoming party","s":"Paul tells a grieving church that believers who have died are not lost: when the Lord comes down from heaven with a shout, the archangel's voice and God's trumpet, the dead in Christ will rise first, and the living will be caught up with them to meet the Lord in the air.","r":"1 Thessalonians 4:13-18"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/hebrews-2-5-18\/","n":"Hebrews 2:5-18, The world to come is not for angels","s":"God did not put the world to come under angels. Psalm 8 promised rule to human beings; it is not yet seen, but Jesus, made a little lower than the angels for a while, is crowned with glory, and he shared flesh and blood to break the devil's power and become a merciful and faithful high priest.","r":"Hebrews 2:5-18"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/revelation-1-1-8\/","n":"Revelation 1:1-8, a revelation sent as a letter","s":"The book opens as a revelation God gave Jesus, sent by his angel to his servant John, with a blessing on the one who reads it aloud and on those who hear. It then greets seven churches in Asia like a letter, from the one who is, was and is to come, and from Jesus, ruler of the kings of the earth, who is coming with the clouds.","r":"Revelation 1:1-8"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/revelation-1-9-20\/","n":"Revelation 1:9-20, Patmos, the Lord's day, lampstands and stars","s":"On the island of Patmos, in the Spirit on the Lord's day, John hears a voice like a trumpet telling him to write to seven churches. He turns and sees one like a son of man among seven golden lampstands, holding seven stars, who holds the keys of death and Hades and explains what the stars and lampstands mean.","r":"Revelation 1:9-20"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/revelation-14-6-20\/","n":"Revelation 14:6-20, Babylon fallen, the harvest and the winepress","s":"Three angels announce an eternal gospel, the fall of Babylon and the undiluted cup of God's wrath for those who worship the beast, and a voice blesses those who die in the Lord. Then one like a son of man reaps the earth's grain with a sickle, and an angel gathers its grapes into the great winepress, from which blood flows as high as the horses' bridles.","r":"Revelation 14:6-20"}

Beings in the Gods of the Bible

{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/gods-of-the-bible\/the-son-of-man\/","n":"The Son of Man","s":"A human-looking figure in Daniel's vision who arrives on the clouds and is handed authority over everything.","r":"Daniel 7:13-14"}

In the Divine Council Index

{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/divine-council-index\/daniel-7-9-14\/","n":"Daniel 7:9-14","s":"Thrones are set in place, plural, the court sits, and one like a son of man comes on the clouds.","r":"Daniel 7:9-14"}

Sources

N. T. Wright, Mark for Everyone, comments on Mark 2:1-12, Mark 8:31-9:1 and Mark 13:14-27, and Glossary, entry son of man
NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, notes on Mark 2:10, 2:28, 8:38, 10:45 and 13:26
ESV Study Bible, study notes on Mark 2:10 and 10:45
NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, note on Matthew 13:41
NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, note on 1 Thessalonians 4:17
Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
N. T. Wright, Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians, comment on 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on Hebrews 2:6-7
NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, note on Hebrews 2:6
N. T. Wright, Hebrews for Everyone, comment on Hebrews 2.5-9

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