Excursus 1: The Son of Man as Eschatological Judge in the Book of Parables and the New Testament

The title "Son of Man" has played important roles in the development of early Judaism and Christianity. Originally, the "son of man" was not a specific title but was used throughout the Hebrew Bible as well as other Jewish literature to refer simply to humankind. The Hebrew phrase בן אדם occurs fourteen times in the Hebrew Bible and is often synonymous with the simple noun אדם meaning "man." Ps 144:3 also uses בן אנוש for similar purposes. Many times, "son of man" is used within the literary device of parallelism with a more generic word for humanity, for example in Ps 88:5: "What is man/humankind (אנוש) that you are mindful of him, the son of man בן אדם that you care for him?" בן אדם occurs ninety-three times in Ezekiel in what Fitzmeyer refers as a "quasi-vocative." While not yet referring to an angelic or messianic figure, the term no longer is a generic phrase for humanity.

The use of the "Son of Man" in the Hebrew Bible changed most dramatically in the book of Daniel. Instead of referring to humanity or a single prophet, the title shifted to represent a heavenly figure. The Son of Man is first used to describe, at least potentially, a heavenly figure in Dan 7:9-14. In this vision Daniel sees someone "like a human being" (בר אנש), alongside of the Ancient of Days (God). Traditional interpretation of the identity of the Son of Man in Dan 7:13 has generally fallen into three broad categories, which include: 1) an exalted human being; 2) a collective symbol; 3) a heavenly being. The first interpretation was widely held by scholars until the nineteenth century but finds few supporters in current scholarship. The second interpretation, which saw the "one like a human being" as a corporate reference to the Jewish people, was most popular at the end of the nineteenth century. The final, and most accepted by current scholarship, category of interpretation understands the "one like a human being" as an individual angelic being rather than a human messiah. The well-established use of human figures to represent angels in biblical as well as early Jewish literature strengthens this interpretation. Most often, this angelic figure is identified as the archangel Michael. This hypothesis has been strengthened since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Significant developments regarding of the nature and role of the Son of Man occur between the composition of Daniel and the Parables of 1 Enoch. Most noteworthy is the identification of Enoch as the Son of Man in 1 En 71:9-14. Chialà notes that the Son of Man figure in the Parables takes on new functions, the primary of which consists of enacting judgment. Whereas the son of man figure in Daniel 7 enters the heavenly courtroom scene only after the Ancient of Days has pronounced judgment, the Parables (1 En 46:1-4) envision him involved in the punishment of the kings and the mighty. Additionally, the description of the Son of Man both as being present before creation and being a light of the gentiles (1 En 47:3-48:6) demonstrates the shifts within certain schools of thought concerning the Son of Man within Judaism that are reshaped by some NT writers as they applied this title to Jesus.

The Synoptic Gospels, similar to identification of the Son of Man in Parables as Enoch, name the Son of Man as the historical figure Jesus. The Gospels do not portray a coherent view of Jesus as the Son of Man. Mark often associates the title of Son of Man with the suffering and death of Jesus (2:10; 10:45).267 However, Chialà notes that Mark does use the title in reference to Jesus‘ eschatological role. In Mark, the Son of Man: will come "in his Father‘s glory with the angels" (Mk 8:38 cf. 1 En 61:8); will be "coming in the clouds, and…send his angels" (Mk 13:26-27); and will "be seated at the right hand of power" (Mk 14:61-64). The eschatological nature of the Son of Man is expanded upon in the Gospel of Luke (Lk 9:26; 12:8; 12:40; 17:20- 18:8; 21:25-36; 22:69). Luke also records Jesus linking the coming of the Son of Man with the days of Noah and the flood (17:26, 27). The Gospel of Matthew continues to expand the eschatological role of the Son of Man. Most important for this study is that the Son of Man is explicitly given the role of eschatological judge as well as being the one who will exercise judgment (13:41-42; 16:27; 19:28; 25:31-32). While Chialà claims this demonstrates the dependence of Mathew on the Parables, it is also possible that they are both dependent upon a common tradition or cluster of thought concerning the Son of Man.

Later New Testament and other early Christian literature contain fewer instances of the title Son of Man. In the thirteen instances of the Son of Man in Gospel of John, only one describes him as judge (5:27). Jn 12:24 explicitly links the Son of Man with the Messiah. Revelation‘s use of the Son of Man figure is more reminiscent of Daniel that the Synoptic Gospels. However, rather than depicting an angelic figure, the Son of Man in Revelation is identified as the risen Christ (Rev 1:13-15; 14:14).

Therefore, it is evident that both the Parables and the Synoptic Gospels continue a tradition of identifying the Son of Man as the eschatological judge. However, there seems to be a movement away from the title of Son Man for Jesus in the later sections of the NT. At the same time, these NT writers continue to associate Jesus with the apocalyptic imagery previously associated with the Son of Man.