Son of Man

Son of Man (υἱός τοῦ ανθρώπου, huios tou anthrōpou) is a title probably translated from the Aramaic בַר אֱנָש (var enash). It is found almost exclusively in the Gospels and is always used by Jesus in the third person. The term is not a Greek idiom and must be a translation of a Semitic expression. The phrase rarely occurs with the definite article in Hebrew and Aramaic (Collins, The Origin of the Designation, 394).

It has been suggested that Jesus borrowed the term from Ezekiel (בֶן אֲדָם, ven adam), which reflects a Semitic idiom for a human being (Fuller, The Foundations, 43). In this case, it would not be a title but a generic reference. Jesus also may have used this idiom as a circumlocution for self-reference (e.g., Hurtado, New Testament Christology, 312). Others dispute this claim on the grounds that all known Semitic uses of the term are employed in the generic sense and not as individual self-reference (Collins, The Origin of the Designation, 397–98). This is further complicated by occasional plural “sons of man” (e.g., Mark 3:28–29). Regardless of how it was originally employed, Son of Man was understood as a title by the evangelists (Garnet, The Baptism of Jesus, 49). The term may have also been borrowed from the book of Daniel, which speaks “one like a son of man” appearing “with the clouds of heaven” and coming “to the Ancient of Days” to be presented before him (Dan 7:13–14; compare Mark 8:38).

For more information on “Son of Man” as a title for Jesus, see this article: Son of Man.