Caves of Dead Sea Scrolls
[This article is post #5 of Dr. Richard Bauckham’s book, “Son of Man:” Volume 1: Early Jewish Literature. Click here to see post #1.]
In Bauckham’s book that we are reviewing, “Son 0f Man,” he shows from early Jewish literature that Jews understood the Son of Man in Daniel 7:13-14 as no more than a man. Yet Bauckham is a Trinitarian and therefore has always believed this Son of Man refers to Jesus of Nazareth and that he is not only a man as Israel’s promised Messiah but that he also is God, which is what the Catholic church of the 4th and 5th centuries determined.
Jesus Mostly Identified Himself as “Son of Man”
Jesus of Nazareth did not go around publicly claiming he was the promised Messiah of Israel, even though the New Testament documents that account for the early life of the church often say he was. Instead, Jesus often said publicly that he was “the Son of Man.” In understanding Jesus’s identity, it is vitally important to grasp what he meant by this self-identification. In doing so, he seems to have drawn upon a single text in the Jewish Bible (Old Testament)—Daniel 7.13-14.
God Gives “One Like a Son of Man” a Kingdom
Daniel relates in Daniel 7.13-14 (NIV), “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days [God] and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power, all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”
“The Son of God” in the Dead Sea Scrolls
Dr. Richard Bauckham’s book, “Son of Man:” Volume 1: Early Jewish Literature, published in 2023, is a major contribution to early, Jewish understanding of the Son of Man figure in Daniel 7.13-14. Bauckham observes that the Dead Sea Scrolls, most of which were written in the first century BCE or before, do not contain the Parables of Enoch, which represents mostly commentary on Daniel 7. However, one fragmentary text found in Cave 4, labeled 4Q426, stirred much media attention because it contains the expression “Son of God.” Bauckham says (p. 174), “it may very well be the earliest evidence of interpretation of Daniel 7.” He concludes (p. 192), “This undoubtedly pre-Christian text identifies the humanlike figure of Daniel 7:13-14 with the Davidic Messiah.”
Dead Sea Scrolls Say Messiah Will Be a Warrior
Bauckham relates that many DSS documents portray a Messianic Figure as a warrior. (See my book, Warrior from Heaven.) In fact, a major DSS document is called The War Scroll. Bauckham relates that in early Judaism, three sacred texts were deemed most important which portray the promised Messiah: Genesis 49.10; Numbers 24.15-19; Isaiah 11.1-4. The last two present Messiah as a warrior-king. All three claim the Messiah will come from the tribe of Judah, and the New Testament verifies that Jesus came from the tribe of Judah as well (Matthew 1.2-3, 16; Luke 3.23, 30).
Sibylline Oracles Say Messiah Will Be a Warrior
In Bauckham’s investigation of early Jewish views of Daniel’s Son of Man, he next turns to Book 5 of the Sibylline Oracles. He says it was written in the late 1st century CE or early 2nd century CE. It says (lines 108-110), “A certain king sent from God … will destroy all the great kings and noble men.” Bauckham says (p. 204) this “Messianic Figure is said to come from ‘from the sky’ (line 256) or ‘from the vault of heaven’ (line 414). These must be allusions to Daniel 7:13,” thus to the Son of Man. This comports with the Messiah Figure in Isaiah 11.4. It reads, “He shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.” The apostle Paul alludes to this text by saying “the wicked” refers to “the lawless one,” that is, the final Antichrist, “whom the Lord Jesus will destroy with the breath of his mouth, annihilating him by the manifestation of his coming” (2 Thessalonians 2.8).
Sibylline Oracles Say Messiah Will Go to Heaven
Bauckham continues concerning this Sibylline book (p. 208), “Like the Parables of Enoch, this author understood the ‘one like a son of man’ in Daniel 7:13 to be a human being exalted to heaven…. He is a man who after departing this life on earth … now enjoys a blessed life in heaven.” Bauckham concludes about this Sibylline book (p. 216-217), “the Messianic Figure is a figure from history who, after living in heaven, returns. The author presumes that the ‘one like a son of man’ is a man, not a god or an angel, and, since he is in heaven, he must have lived on earth in the past.” Thus, Bauckham says of the author of The Parables and this Sibylline author, “For both writers the Messianic Figure is the ‘one like a son of man’ of Daniel 7:13.”
Parables of 1 Enoch Say Messiah Is Only a Man
Buackham then provides what he calls (pp. 267-285), “The Context for the Parables of Enoch.” He reiterates regarding early Jewish literature (p. 268), “There is no evidence of an interpretation of Daniel 7:13 as referring to a heavenly being, divine or angelic, who had never lived on earth. The ‘one like a son of man’ was understood to be a visionary figure representing, in real life, a man. He might look like an angel,… he might be endowed with some superhuman qualities or powers for the sake of his messianic task, but he is human.”
As I have said before, Bauckham, who is a Trinitarian who believes Jesus was and is God, used to think this ancient Jewish literature, especially The Parables of 1 Enoch, presented the Son of Man in Daniel 7.13 as a God-man. But upon further research required for this book, Professor Bauckham admits that he was wrong about that. This is why I am anxiously awaiting Volume 2 of this Bauckham series. It will be about Jesus as the Son of Man in the four New Testament gospels. I doubt that Bauckham will forsake belief in the deity of Christ. Yet I’m wondering how he will reconcile that belief with his newfound understanding that early Jewish literature, especially The Parables of 1 Enoch, state that the Son of Man in Daniel 7.13-14 is no more than a man.
[See Kermit’s two books that relate to this book review: The Restitution: Biblical Proof Jesus Is NOT God and The Gospel Corrupted: When Jesus Was Made God.]
Click here to see post #6 of the 7 total posts reviewing Bauckham’s book, “Son of Man.” Click here to go to post #1.
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