Messianic Prophecies
One Like a Son of Man
30-second summary
Daniel sees 'one like a son of man' come on the clouds of heaven to the Ancient of Days and receive an everlasting kingdom (Daniel 7:13-14). Composed by the second century BC at the latest, the vision predates Christ by roughly two centuries and is fixed in the Qumran manuscript record. Jesus applied it to himself at his trial, fusing it with Psalm 110:1 before the Sanhedrin (Mark 14:62).
Scripture
I beheld therefore in the vision of the night, and lo, one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and he came even to the Ancient of days: and they presented him before him.
Aspiciebam ergo in visione noctis, et ecce cum nubibus caeli quasi filius hominis veniebat, et usque ad antiquum dierum pervenit: et in conspectu ejus obtulerunt eum.
And he gave him power, and glory, and a kingdom: and all peoples, tribes and tongues shall serve him: his power is an everlasting power that shall not be taken away: and his kingdom that shall not be destroyed.
Et dedit ei potestatem, et honorem, et regnum: et omnes populi, tribus, et linguae ipsi servient: potestas ejus, potestas aeterna, quae non auferetur: et regnum ejus, quod non corrumpetur.
But the saints of the most high God shall take the kingdom: and they shall possess the kingdom for ever and ever.
Suscipient autem regnum sancti Dei altissimi et obtinebunt regnum usque in saeculum et saeculum saeculorum.
And that the kingdom, and power, and the greatness of the kingdom, under the whole heaven, may be given to the people of the saints of the most High.
Regnum autem et potestas et magnitudo regni quae est subter omne caelum detur populo sanctorum Altissimi cuius regnum regnum sempiternum est.
Prophecy & Fulfillment
- Given
- c. 165 BC (mainstream critical dating; traditional setting 6th century BC)
- Fulfilled
- AD 33 (Christ's trial before Caiaphas and his exaltation)
Jesus applies the Danielic 'Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven' to himself at his trial before the Sanhedrin, fusing it with Psalm 110:1 ('seated at the right hand of Power') to answer the charge of blasphemy (Mark 14:62). The Church reads his resurrection and ascension as the reception of the 'everlasting power' and indestructible kingdom of Daniel 7:14.
Why this level?
On the mainstream critical dating, Daniel 7 was composed by the second century BC at the latest, roughly two centuries before Christ. The chapter's wording is fixed in the Qumran manuscript record (4QDana, c. 60 BC; 4QDanb, c. 60 AD), an independent physical anchor for the vision's pre-Christian text. Second Temple Judaism carried the 'Son of Man' figure toward an individual, heavenly bearer of end-time authority -- most visibly in the Similitudes of 1 Enoch, which mainstream scholarship (the 2005 Enoch Seminar) dates before Christ. Jesus took up this title as his own signature self-designation and, at his trial, fused Daniel 7:13 with Psalm 110:1 to identify himself as the one who receives the everlasting kingdom (Mark 14:62) -- the interpretive step this entry itself makes, reading the Gospel scene as fulfillment. That combination -- a solid, independently dated textual anchor plus a fulfillment claim resting on Jesus's own self-identification within the Gospel tradition -- places this at level 2: more than typology alone, but short of external, non-Christian corroboration of the fulfillment itself.
Dig deeper
A vision of judgment and dominion
In Daniel 7, four beasts rise from the sea, thrones are set, and the Ancient of Days takes his seat for judgment. Then 'one like a son of man' comes 'with the clouds of heaven,' approaches the Ancient of Days, and receives 'power, and glory, and a kingdom' over 'all peoples, tribes and tongues' -- 'an everlasting power that shall not be taken away... his kingdom that shall not be destroyed' (Daniel 7:13-14).
A text older than Christ
Even on the mainstream critical dating -- composed by the second century BC at the latest, under the persecution of Antiochus IV -- Daniel 7 predates Jesus by roughly two centuries. Its wording is fixed in the manuscript record: 4QDana (c. 60 BC) and 4QDanb (c. 60 AD) preserve chapter 7 among the Dead Sea Scrolls, showing the vision circulated in essentially this form well before the Gospels were written. Daniel's own gloss frames the kingdom's reception broadly, as given also to 'the saints of the most High' alongside the son-of-man figure (7:18, 27) -- the vision holds together an individual bearer of the kingdom and the people who share in it.
A trajectory toward a person
Second Temple Judaism developed this figure further. The Similitudes of 1 Enoch present a heavenly 'Son of Man,' and the 2005 Enoch Seminar found near-unanimous scholarly support for dating the Similitudes before Christ, many placing them in the first century BC. By the time of Jesus, 'Son of Man' was already circulating as a title for an end-time figure who judges and rules.
Jesus claims the title
'Son of Man' is Jesus's own preferred self-designation in the Gospels, used some eighty times. At his trial before the Sanhedrin, asked whether he is the Christ, he answers by fusing two Scriptures at once: 'you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven' (Mark 14:62) -- Daniel 7:13 joined to Psalm 110:1. Caiaphas hears it as blasphemy and tears his robes. The Church reads Jesus's resurrection and ascension as the reception of Daniel's 'everlasting power' and indestructible kingdom, with the Church itself sharing in it as 'the saints of the Most High.'
Keep digging
Citations
- Scripture
Daniel 7:13-14, 18, 27 (DR)
Supports: Establishes the Douay-Rheims wording of Daniel 7:13-14 ('one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven... his power is an everlasting power') alongside the chapter's own gloss at 7:18 and 7:27, which extends the kingdom to 'the saints of the most High' -- verified directly against drbo.org.
- Scripture
Daniel 7:13-14, 18, 27 (Vulgate)
Supports: Confirms the Latin behind the Douay-Rheims translation for both the 'son of man' verses and the 'saints of the most High' verses; verified directly against vulgate.org.
- Source
Daniel 7:13-14 modern text and cross-references
BibleHub, Daniel 7:13 and 7:14 (Berean Standard Bible)
Supports: Gives the modern English wording and verse-level cross-references used for the modern naming of the passage.
- Historical Source
4QDan manuscripts from Qumran (chapter 7 attestation)
Associates for Biblical Research, 'New Light on the Book of Daniel from the Dead Sea Scrolls'
Supports: Documents that Daniel chapter 7 is directly attested at Qumran by 4QDana (paleographically c. 60 BC) and 4QDanb (c. 60 AD), fixing the chapter's wording in the manuscript record well before the Gospels.
- Academic
2005 Enoch Seminar consensus on pre-Christian dating of the Similitudes
Jesus Monotheism, 'On the Similitudes of Enoch (1 Enoch 37-71)'
Supports: Reports the 2005 Enoch Seminar's near-unanimous conclusion that the Similitudes of 1 Enoch are pre-Christian, with many scholars favoring a 1st-century-BC date, supporting the pre-Christian development of an individual 'Son of Man' figure.
- Source
Mark 14:62 -- Daniel 7:13 and Psalm 110:1 combined
BibleRef, 'What does Mark 14:62 mean?'
Supports: Confirms the Daniel 7:13 ('coming with the clouds of heaven') connection in Mark 14:62, where Jesus fuses it with Psalm 110:1 to answer Caiaphas at his trial.