Daniel 7 Footnotes

7:13-14 “One like a son of man” has been interpreted in three primary ways—as an angel (Michael), a personification of the people of God (Israel), and the Messiah. The NT apostles (Jn 12:34) and Christ himself (Mk 14:61-62) confirm the latter view, specifically that the “son of man” is Jesus of Nazareth. Early postbiblical Jewish literature (1Enoch 46:1; 48:10; 4Ezra 13) also reflects the messianic view. That the “son of man” of v. 13 was considered a divine personage is affirmed by the high priest’s charge of blasphemy (Mk 14:64) when Jesus identified himself as the One “coming with the clouds of heaven” (Mk 14:62). Jesus’s use of this title for himself is one of the strongest evidences that he claimed to be the Messiah. “Son of man” is especially common in eschatological passages (Mt 16:27-28; 19:28; 24:30; 25:31), and the phrase “a son of man was coming with the clouds of heaven” is an allusion to the second advent of Christ, as Mt 24:30 makes clear.