Teeple (1965:213) argues that the 'Son of man' is clearly conceived of as the Messiah as he will perform the vital messianic functions: He will terminate the gentile rule over the earth introduce the new age or new kingdom be king over all nations, and a light to the Gentiles. This being is then derived by Jesus from texts like 1 Enoch 47-71 (in the Similitudes of Enoch that forms 1 Enoch 37-71) and 4 Ezra 13 (Loba-Mkole 2013:839). Where does Jesus get the term Son of man from, and what is the implications of his intertextual reference? There are two arguments presented by scholars.Įarlier scholars like Bousset (1970:31-55), Mowinckel (1954:348-353) and Tödt (1965:22-31) pose that Jesus (at least in some references to 'Son of man', as in Mk 8:38 and 13:26-27, 34) does not refer to himself but to an apocalyptic figure, a divine nonterrestrial being such as an angel, who would appear at the end of time to judge all people and complete final salvation for the people of God. This necessitates a discussion of its origin and source in Mark before the Markan texts will be discussed. The Greek phrase, ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, is so ungriechisch that a Greek reader would only have been able to make sense of the phrase if he or she knew about the references to it somewhere else, as in Ezekiel, Daniel, or apocalyptic texts (Van Iersel 1993:207). John uses language that Daniel 7 employed in its Aramaic description of the Ancient of days ( ןיִמוֹי קיִּתַע ) and 'One like a Son of man' ( כְּבַ֥ר אֱנָ֖שׁ ). In Acts 7:56, Stephen says that he sees the heaven open and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God Hebrews 2:6 quotes Psalm 8:4 and applies the words to Jesus: 'What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the Son of man, that you care for him' and in Revelation 1:13-15 and 14:14 Jesus is 'One like a Son of man' ( ὅμοιον υἱὸν ἀνθρώπου ) and described in terms that evoke the imagery of Daniel 7: He is clothed with a long robe his head and hair are white as white wool or snow his eyes are like a flame of fire his feet are like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace and his voice is like the sound of many waters. The term occurs only five times in the rest of the New Testament outside the Gospels. The identification with Jesus is, however, in most texts clear, and in some texts even explicit (e.g., Mk 2:10 8:31). in Mk 13:26-27, 34 where Jesus refers in the third person to the 'Son of man' cf. In some texts the reference is cryptic enough that some interpreters speculate whether Jesus is speaking about Himself or about another person (e.g. In all these texts Jesus is the speaker no one ever addresses him as Son of man. The term, Son of man, is used by Jesus 80 times as a way to refer to himself (32 times in Matthew 14 times in Mark 26 times in Luke and 10 times in a qualitatively different way from the Synoptic Gospels in John).
What are the origin and source, as well as the meaning of the term Son of man as it appears in Mark? Is the background of the term to be found in the Old Testament, in Ezekiel and Daniel 7, or in the apocalyptic figure presented in 1 Enoch 47-71 and 4 Ezra 13? What does the intertextual reference of the term imply? Did the historical Jesus use the term as a reference to himself or to a divine (extraterrestrial) deliverer he believed was coming to save the Jewish people, or is the term a post-Easter title applied retrospectively by the Gospel writer upon the pre-Easter Jesus? Did Jesus use the title as a self-designation, or did he use it in a self-effacing way to refer to himself as a mortal in contrast with God? Did he use the title as a generic designation for all humankind? What is the essence of the Gospel writer's usage of the term? These questions are discussed in terms of the passages where Mark utilises the term.
Faculty of Theology, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, South Africa
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