The Son of Man

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The Lord Jesus refers to himself as the Son of Man.

 

 

INTRODUCTION

 

In the Old Testament, the phrase “Son of Man” is a form of address. It is used in three ways:

  • As a way of addressing someone
  • To contrast humans against God and the angels
  • To refer to a future eschatological figure whose coming will signal the end of history and the time of God’s judgment

In the New Testament, the phrase “Son of Man” is used in an indefinite way:

In the four gospels, the Lord Jesus uses this familiar phrase in a definitive way: ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου. That literally means “the Son of the Man.”

 

BIBLE VERSES

 

The phrase “son of man” appears more than a hundred times in the Bible. The following is a representative sampling:

 

Numbers 23:19. God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and he won’t do it? Or has he spoken, and he won’t make it good?

Psalm 8:4. what is man, that you think of him? What is the son of man, that you care for him?

Daniel 7:13. I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of the sky one like a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.

2 Esdras 13:3. I saw, and behold, [this wind caused to come up from the midst of the sea something like the appearance of a man. I saw, and behold,] that man flew with the clouds of heaven. When he turned his face to look, everything that he saw trembled.

Mark 2:10. But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic—

Mark 14:62. Jesus said, “I am. You will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of the sky.”

Luke 21:27. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

Hebrews 2:6. But one has somewhere testified, saying, “What is man, that you think of him? Or the son of man, that you care for him?

Revelation 1:13. And among the lamp stands was one like a son of man, clothed with a robe reaching down to his feet, and with a golden sash around his chest.

Revelation 14:14. I looked, and saw a white cloud, and on the cloud one sitting like a son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.

 

Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.