Son of man

"Son of man" is a phrase used in the Hebrew Bible, various apocalyptic works of the intertestamental period, and in the Greek New Testament. In the indefinite form ("son of man", "one like a son of man") used in the Hebrew Bible and intertestamental literature it is a form of address, or contrasts human beings against God, or signifies an eschatological figure due to come at the end of history. The New Testament uses the earlier indefinite form while introducing a novel definite form, "the son of man."

History

Old Testament

The Hebrew expression "son of man" (בן–אדם, ben-'adam) appears 107 times in the Hebrew Bible, the majority (93 times) in the Book of Ezekiel. It is used in three main ways: as a form of address (Ezekiel); to contrast the lowly status of humanity against the permanence and exulted dignity of God and the angels (Book of Numbers 23:19, Psalm 8:4); and as a future eschatological figure whose coming will signal the end of history and the time of God's judgement (Daniel 8:17).

Son of man (Christianity)

Son of man is an expression in the sayings of Jesus in Christian writings, including the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles and the Book of Revelation. The meaning of the expression is controversial. Interpretation of the use of "the Son of man" in the New Testament has remained challenging and after 150 years of debate no consensus on the issue has emerged among scholars.

The expression "the Son of man" occurs 81 times in the Greek text of the four Canonical gospels, and is used only in the sayings of Jesus. The singular Hebrew expression "son of man" (בן–אדם i.e. ben-'adam) also appears in the Hebrew Bible over a hundred times.

The use of the definite article in "the Son of man" in the Koine Greek of the Christian gospels is novel, and before its use there, no records of its use in any of the surviving Greek documents of antiquity exist.Geza Vermes has stated that the use of "the Son of man" in the Christian gospels is unrelated to Hebrew Bible usages.

For centuries, the Christological perspective on Son of man has been seen as a possible counterpart to that of Son of God and just as Son of God affirms the divinity of Jesus, in a number of cases Son of man affirms his humanity. However, while the profession of Jesus as the Son of God has been an essential element of Christian creeds since the Apostolic age, such professions do not apply to Son of man and the proclamation of Jesus as the Son of man has never been an article of faith in Christianity.

Son of man (Judaism)

"Son of man" is the translation of Hebrew phrases used in the Hebrew Bible.

The Hebrew expression "son of man" (בן–אדם i.e. ben-'adam) appears one hundred and seven times in the Hebrew Bible. This is the most common Hebrew construction for the singular, appearing 93 times in the Book of Ezekiel alone and 14 times elsewhere. In thirty two cases, the phrase appears in intermediate plural form "sons of men". As generally interpreted by Jews, "son of man" denotes mankind generally in contrast to deity or godhead, with special reference to their weakness and frailty

Hebrew Bible

Numbers

Within the Hebrew Bible, the first place one comes across the phrase son of man is in Book of Numbers Bamidbar 23:19:

Job

In the Book of Job, we see son of man used a total of three times (all of which fall within poetry):

Iyov 16:18-21

Iyov 25:1-6

Iyov 35:6-8

Psalms

Within the Book of Psalms, we find the same classical forms employed within Numbers and Job wherewith son of man is used in parallel with man to describe humanity as a whole.