Son of Man

SON OF MAN: An expression occurring in the four Gospels as referring to Jesus no less than eighty-one times, elsewhere in the New Testament in this sense only once (Acts vii. 56). In addition to these instances, it is found in Dan. vii. 13 and Enoch xxxvii.-lxxi (cf. Job xxv. 6; Ps. viii. 4; Num. xxiii. 19; Ezek. ii. 1 et passim; Rev. xiv. 14). In the Gospels this title is associated with Jesus in three relations: his earthly life (Mark ii. 10; Luke xix. 10), his sufferings (Mark viii. 31), and his second advent (Matt. xxv. 31, xxvi. 64). The obscurity which veils the origin of the term whether traced to the book of Enoch, or to Daniel, or to both, as well as the various and contrasting uses of it, has given rise to wide diversity of interpretations. Among these are: (1) he was man and nothing human was foreign to him (F. C. Baur, ZWT, 1860, pp. 274 sqq.); (2) he is the heavenly ideal man (W. Beysehlag, Die Christologie des Neuen Testaments, pp. 9 sqq., Berlin, 1866); (3) he is head of the race in which type and ideal are realized (V. H. Stanton, Jewish and Christian Messiah, p. 246, New York, 1886); (4) it indicates a Messiah to whom suffering and sympathy are natural, destined to glory through suffering (A. B. Bruce, Kingdom of God, p. 176, New York, 1889); (5) it calls attention first of all to the lowliness of his appearance (H. H. Wendt, Die Lehre Jesu, p. 440, G�ttingen, 1890; Eng. transl., Teaching of Jesus, ii. 139, Edinburgh, 1892); (6) as man, his glory lies through suffering, as the servant of Yahweh (V. Bartlett, Expositor, Dec., 1892, pp. 427-443), or as in the book of Daniel (R. H. Charles, Book of Enoch, Appendix B, Oxford, 1893); (7) a contrast is set up between his lowliness and his greatness (G. Dalman, Die Worte Jesu, Leipsic, 1898; Eng. transl., The Words of Jesus, pp. 255 sqq., Edinburgh, 1902); (8) it contains a veiled designation of messiahship (G. B. Stevens, Theology of the New Testament, p. 53, New York, 1899; cf. Otto Holtzmann, Life of Jesus, p. 168, London, 1904); (9) it signifies Jesus' human nature, i.e., "man" in general (N. Schmidt, Prophet of Nazareth, p. 120, New York, 1905). The expression "son of man" means that the kingdom of God, although originating in a supersensible world (Dan. vii. 13-14), is established among men by one who is exempted from no position or lot which belongs essentially to his fellow-men in the purpose of God. If by virtue of inner ethical unity with the Father Jesus has become aware of his unique vocation as Messiah, yet he will interpret this consciousness by a term which, instead of dissolving the tie between him and other men, only discloses the deeper identity of ideal aim which belongs to him and them alike. C. A. BECKWITH.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: The subject is discussed in the principal treatises in the life of Jesus Christ, e.g., Keim, and Weiss; of course in the commentaries on Daniel and on the Gospels, some of which contain excursuses on the subject; in the works on messianic prophecy (see under MESSIAH, MESSIANISM); in the commentaries on Enoch (see under PSEUDEPIGRAPHA); and in the discussions of Biblical theology, especially H. J. Holtzmann's, i. 246-284, Freiburg, 1896. Consult further: C. H. Weisse, Die Evangelienfrage, pp. 22 sqq., Leipsic, 1856; F. C. Baur, in ZWT, 1860, pp. 277 sqq.; T. Colani, Jesus Christ et les croyances messianiques, pp. 74 sqq., Strasburg, 1864; W. C.. Van Manen, in ThT, 1890, p. 544, 1894, pp. 177 sqq.; H. H. Wendt, Die Lehre Jesu, pp. 441 sqq., G�ttingen, 1890; W. Baldensperger, Selbstbewusstsein Jesu, pp. 169 sqq., Strasburg, 1892; R. H. Charles, Book of Enoch, pp. 312-317, Oxford, 1893; J. Wellhausen, Israelitische and j�dische Geschichte, pp. 346 sqq., Berlin, 1895; idem, Skizzen und Vorarbeiten, vi. 187 sqq., ib. 1899; H. Lietzmann, Der Menschensohn, T�bingen, 1896; idem, in Theologische Arbeiten aus dem rheinischen Predigerverein, 1898, part 2, pp. 1-14; N. Schmidt, JBL, 1898, pp. 36-53; A. R�ville, Jesus de Nazareth, ii. 190 sqq., Paris, 1897; G. Dalman, Die Worte Jesu, pp. 191 sqq., Leipsic, 1898, Eng. transl., The Words of Jesus, Edinburgh, 1902; Schmiedel, in Protestantische Monatshefte, 1898, pp. 252-267, 291-308, 1901, pp. 333 sqq.; J. F. H. Gunkel, in ZWT, 1899, pp. 581 sqq.; P. Fiebig, Der Menschensohn, T�bingen, 1901; J. Drummond, in JTS, Apr. and July, 1901; G. B. Stevens, Teaching of Jesus pp. 91 sqq., New York, 1901; W. Bousset, Jesus, New York, 1906; F. Bard, Der Sohn des Menschen. Eine Untersuchung �ber Begriff und Inhalt and Absicht solcher Jesubezeichnung, Wismar, 1908; E. A. Abbott, The Message of the Son of Man, New York, 1909; DB, iv. 579-589; EB, iv. 4705-40; DCG, ii. 659-665.