page_title: Son of man (Christianity)
section_title: Johannine literature
hierarchical_section_title: Son of man (Christianity) / New Testament references / Johannine literature
caption_attribution_description: English: First page of the Gospel of Saint John, from the 1526 Peter Schöffer printing of William Tyndale's English translation of the Bible.
context_page_description: Son of man is an expression in the sayings of Jesus in Christian writings, including the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles and the Book of Revelation. The meaning of the expression is controversial. Interpretation of the use of "the Son of man" in the New Testament has remained challenging and after 150 years of debate no consensus on the issue has emerged among scholars.
  The expression "the Son of man" occurs 81 times in the Greek text of the four Canonical gospels, and is used only in the sayings of Jesus. The Hebrew expression "son of man" also appears in the Torah over a hundred times.
  The use of the definite article in "the Son of man" in the Koine Greek of the Christian gospels is original, and before its use there, no records of its use in any of the surviving Greek documents of antiquity exist. Geza Vermes has stated that the use of "the Son of man" in the Christian gospels is unrelated to Hebrew Torah usages.
  For centuries, the Christological perspective on Son of man has been seen as a possible counterpart to that of Son of God and just as Son of God affirms the divinity of Jesus, in a number of cases Son of man affirms his humanity.
context_section_description: The first chapter of the Book of Revelation refers to "one like a Son of man" in Revelation 1:12-13 which radiantly stands in glory and speaks to the author. In the Gospel of John Jesus is not just a messianic figure, nor a prophet like Moses, but the key emphasis is on his dual role as Son of God and Son of man.
  John 1:49-51 states:
  Nathanael answered and said to Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And He said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
  This passage may be an allusion to Jacob's Ladder. In any case, the implication is that seeing the angels ascending and descending on the "Son of man" (i.e. the speaker, Jesus) would be a great wonder.
  John 5:25-27 states:
  Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of man.
  John 8:28 states:
  When you see the Son of man lifted up, then you shall know I am.
  John 9:35-37 states:
  Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of man'?" "Who is he, sir?" the man asked. "Tell me so that I may believe in him." Jesus said, "You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you."
  John 12:34-36 states:
  The crowd answered him, ‘We have heard from the law that the Messiah remains for ever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of man?’ Jesus said to them, ‘The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.’ After Jesus had said this, he departed and hid from them. (emphasis added)
  John's vision of the Son of Man is a key Johannine reference to the Son of man. In both Revelation 1:12 and 14:14, John reports seeing one "like the Son of Man". In 1:12, he is identified as the author of the letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3.
caption: First page of the Gospel of John from the Tyndale Bible, 16th century
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