The Historical Jesus by John Dominic Crossan

Author:John Dominic Crossan [Crossan, John Dominic]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-061-97821-0
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 1991-03-17T05:00:00+00:00

After the vision in Daniel 7:2–14 comes its interpretation in 7:17–27, and there, in 7:18, “the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom,” and, in 7:27, “the kingdom … shall be given to the people of the saints of the most high.” Thus, as John Collins comments, “the three formulations of Dan 7:14, 18, and 27, in which the one like a son of man, the holy ones of the Most High, and the people of the holy ones are said in turn to receive the kingdom, represent three levels of a multidimensional reality” (1984a:84). The archangel Michael as leader of the heavenly armies, those angelic armies themselves, and the persecuted but faithful Jews are all hierarchically layered within that reality. But I emphasize once again that “one like a son of man” is not a title for Michael as the angelic personification of that apocalyptic victory. It is a simple description: he is, in contrast with the beastlike ones from below, humanlike and from above.

The atitular nature of the phrase “son of man” in Daniel 7:13 is underlined in two Jewish texts from the first common-era century, both of which use and develop that vision.

The first text is the Book of the Similitudes, which, as we saw in chapter 6, appears at 1 Enoch 37–71 as the second part of a composite five-part anthology. This work, from early in the first century, has three parables in 38–44, 45–57, 58–69 and a double conclusion, one in 70 and another in 71. Here is the first appearance of the Son of Man figure.

At that place, I saw the One to whom belongs the time before time. And his head was white like wool, and there was with him another individual, whose face was like that of a human being…. And I asked … one … among the angels … “Who is this?”… And he answered me and said to me, “This is the Son of Man, to whom belongs righteousness, and with whom righteousness dwells…. This Son of Man whom you have seen is the One who would remove the kings and the mighty ones from their comfortable seats and the strong ones from their thrones. (1 Enoch 46:1–4; OTP 1.34)

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.