Daniel 7:13 and the New Testament Son of Man -- By: Michael B. Shepherd

Journal: Westminster Theological Journal
Volume: WTJ 68:1 (Spring 2006)
Article: Daniel 7:13 and the New Testament Son of Man
Author: Michael B. Shepherd


Daniel 7:13 and the New Testament Son of Man

Michael B. Shepherd

Michael B. Shepherd is a Ph.D. student in Old Testament Studies at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, N.C.

I. Introduction

No small amount of literature on the phrase “son of man” was produced over the course of the twentieth century. Indeed, perhaps no other phrase has been the subject of so many journal articles, monographs, and book chapters. It may even be asked whether or not there is really anything left to say. Two questions have always stood at the forefront of the discussion. Is the “son of man” in Dan 7:13 individual or collective? And is the use of “son of man” in the NT titular or non-titular? Debates over the origin of the “son of man” in Dan 7:13 and over the relationship of pre-Christian “son of man” concepts to the NT have surrounded these two basic questions.

The linguistic and exegetical tools of modern scholarship have been wielded for every conceivable interpretation of Dan 7:13 with the exception of what has been called by James Montgomery the earliest and past prevailing interpretation among Jews and Christians—the messianic interpretation.1 Although a point of interest will occasionally be addressed by a scholar who holds to the messianic interpretation,2 a sustained argument based on all the contextual evidence is nowhere to be found. This situation creates a host of problems for understanding the relationship between Dan 7:13 and the NT. The overwhelming consensus among critical scholars is that there is fundamental discontinuity between the “son of man” of Dan 7:13 and the “son of man” of the NT.

Here the proposed solution to the problem is that the “son of man” of Dan

7:13 is in fact an individual figure as identified by Jesus and the NT authors. Whatever else may be said about discontinuity between the testaments, a significant line of continuity is in view with the use of Dan 7:13 in the NT. In what follows, Dan 7:13 is examined in its immediate and larger biblical context with attention to alternative views (e.g., symbolic, angelic, mythological). Once the interpretation of Dan 7:13 has been established, the most widely accepted instances of dependence upon

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