Notes for the Danielic Son of Man versus Muhammad Session
Table of Contents
Arabic Daniel versus Quran
The Arabic version of Daniel translates the Aramaic verb for the worship that both the Son of Man and the Most Highs receive, i.e., yipelachun from pelach, with the form of abd:
“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 and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped (litaʿbīdin لتتعبّد) him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” Daniel 7:13-14 New International Version (NIV)
Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be handed over to the holy people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship (ya‘budūna يعبدون) and obey him.” Daniel 7:27 NIV
Daniel’s theology is at odds with the Quran since the latter emphatically prohibits any one receiving ibadah (worship) besides Allah, even if that one happens to be a prophet!
It is not (possible) for any human being to whom Allah has given the Book and Al-Hukma (the knowledge and understanding of the laws of religion, etc.) and Prophethood to say to the people: "Be my worshippers (ʿibādan) rather than Allah's." On the contrary (he would say): "Be you Rabbaniyun (learned men of religion who practise what they know and also preach others), because you are teaching the Book, and you are studying it." Nor would he order you to take angels and Prophets for lords (gods). Would he order you to disbelieve after you have submitted to Allah's Will? (Tafsir At-Tabari). S. 3:79-80 Hilali-Khan
And on the Day when He will gather them together and that which they worship (yabudoona) besides Allah [idols, angels, pious men, saints, 'Iesa (Jesus) son of Maryam (Mary), etc.]. He will say: "Was it you who misled these My slaves or did they (themselves) stray from the (Right) Path?" They will say: "Glorified be You! It was not for us to take any Auliya' (Protectors, Helpers, etc.) besides You, but You gave them and their fathers comfort till they forgot the warning, and became a lost people (doomed to total loss).” Thus they (false gods all deities other than Allah) will give you (polytheists) the lie regarding what you say (that they are gods besides Allah), then you can neither avert (the punishment), nor get help. And whoever among you does wrong (i.e. sets up rivals to Allah), We shall make him taste a great torment. S. 25:17-19 Hilali-Khan
And (remember) the Day when He will gather them all together, and then will say to the angels: "Was it you that these people used to worship (yabudoona)?" They (angels) will say: "Glorified be You! You are our Wali (Lord) instead of them. Nay, but they used to worship (yabudoona)the jinns; most of them were believers in them." S. 34:40-41
And ask (O Muhammad) those of Our Messengers whom We sent before you: "Did We ever appoint aliha (gods) to be worshipped (yabudoona) besides the Most Beneficent (Allah)?" S. 43:45 Hilali-Khan
Nor does the Quran allow for there to be a partner or a son that shares in Allah’s unique sovereignty and dominion over all creation:
And say: "All the praises and thanks be to Allah, Who has not begotten a son (nor an offspring), and Who has no partner in (His) Dominion, nor He is low to have a Wali (helper, protector or supporter). And magnify Him with all the magnificence, [Allahu-Akbar (Allah is the Most Great)]." S. 17:111 Hilali-Khan
Say: "Allah knows best how long they stayed. With Him is (the knowledge of) the unseen of the heavens and the earth. How clearly He sees, and hears (everything)! They have no Wali (Helper, Disposer of affairs, Protector, etc.) other than Him, and He makes NONE to share in His Decision and His Rule." S. 18:26 Hilali-Khan
He to Whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and Who has begotten no son (children or offspring) and for Whom there is no partner in the dominion. He has created everything, and has measured it exactly according to its due measurements. S. 25:2 Hilali-Khan
Therefore, Daniel’s monotheism expressly contradicts Islamic theology since the former affirmed that the one true God is multi-personal by nature, whereas Muslim scholars claim that their deity is not. Rather, Allah is supposedly a unipersonal monad which allows no plurality of persons to subsist within his mode of existence.
YHWH & the Son of Man Ride the Clouds
According to the Hebrew Bible, there are only two figures that use the clouds of heaven as their mode of transportation so to speak, as their chariot or vehicle, namely, YHWH God and Daniel’s Son of Man.
Here’s what the prophet Daniel wrote:
“I continued watching in the visions of the night, and look, with (‘im) the clouds of heaven one like a son of man was coming (athah), and he came to the Ancient of Days, and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and kingship that all the peoples, the nations, and languages would serve him; his dominion is a dominion without end that will not cease, and his kingdom is one that will not be destroyed.” Daniel 7:13-14
Now compare this with the following texts:
“Now this is the blessing with which Moses, the man of God, blessed the Israelites before his death. Then he said, Yahweh came from Sinai, and he dawned upon them from Seir; he shone forth from Mount Paran, and he came (athah) with myriads of holy ones (ribbot qodesh), at his right hand a fiery law for them… There is no one like God, O, Jeshurun, who rides through the heavens to your help, and with his majesty through the skies.” Deuteronomy 33:1-2, 26
“Sing to God, sing praises to his name. Lift up a song to the rider on the clouds—his name is Yah— and rejoice before him… The chariots of God are twice ten thousand (ribbotayim), with thousands doubled. The Lord is among them at Sinai, distinctive in victory. You have ascended on high; you have led away captives. You have received gifts from among humankind, and even from the rebellious, so that Yah God may dwell there… to the one who rides in the highest heavens of old. See, he gives forth his voice, a mighty voice. Ascribe strength to God. His majesty is over Israel, and his strength is in the clouds.” Psalm 68:4, 17-18, 33-34
“Yahweh is king! Let the earth rejoice; let many coastlands be glad. Cloud and thick darkness are surrounding him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Fire goes before him, and devours his enemies round about.” Psalm 97:1-3
“Yahweh is slow to anger but great in power; he will certainly not allow the guilty to go unpunished. He marches in storm wind and in gale; storm clouds are the dust of his feet.” Nahum 1:3
YHWH doesn’t simply come riding on heaven or the clouds, he also is actully in the cloud:
“And thou guidedst them by day by (en) a pillar of cloud, and by night by a pillar of fire, to enlighten for them the way wherein they should walk.” Nehemiah 9:12 LXX
“And he guided them with (en) a cloud by day, and all the night with a light of fire.” Psalm 77:14 LXX
Interestingly, the Greek versions employ the same preposition that the NT writers do to describe how Jesus as the Son of Man comes in the clouds:
“And then they will see the Son of Man arriving in (erchomenon en) the clouds with great power and glory. And then he will send out the angels, and will gather the elect together from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of heaven.” Mark 13:26-27
Elsewhere, YHWH is said to ride upon the cloud/heaven:
“There is not [any such] as the God of the beloved; he who rides (epibainon) upon (epi) the heaven [is] thy helper, and the magnificent One of the firmament.” Deuteronomy 33:26 LXX
“An oracle of Egypt: Look! Yahweh is riding (rokeb) on a swift cloud and is coming to Egypt. And the idols of Egypt will tremble in front of him, and the heart of Egypt melts in his inner parts.” Isaiah 19:1
“THE VISION OF EGYPT. Behold, the Lord sits on (kathetai epi) a swift cloud, and shall come to Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and their heart shall faint within them.”
Note how the Septuagint rendered rokeb (riding) as God sitting on (kathetai epi) a swift cloud.
Again, the NT uses the same Greek verb and preposition in reference to Jesus as either sitting on the cloud or at God’s right hand, and of his coming upon the clouds:
“And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man arriving on (erchomenon epi) the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect together from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other end of it.” Matthew 24:30-31
“Jesus said to him, ‘You have said it. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting (kathemenon) at the right hand of the Power and coming on (erchomenon epi) the clouds of heaven.’” Matthew 26:64
“And Jesus said, ‘I am, and you will see the Son of Man sitting (kathemenon) at the right hand of the Power and coming with (erchomenon meta) the clouds of heaven.’” Mark 14:62
“And I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on (epi) the cloud was seated (kathemenon) one like a son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying out with a loud voice to the one seated on (kathemeno epi) the cloud, ‘Send out your sickle and reap, because the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe!’ And the one seated on (kathemenos epi) the cloud swung his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.” Revelation 14:14-16
That John is referring to Jesus as the one like a Son of Man seated on the cloud is made clear but what he wrote in the opening chapter of his Apocalypse:
“Behold, he is coming with (erchetai meta) the clouds, and every eye will see him, even every one who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. Yes, amen. ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘the one who is and the one who was and the one who is coming (ho erchomenos), the All-Powerful.’
“I, John, your brother and co-sharer in the affliction and kingdom and steadfastness in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony about Jesus. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a great sound like a trumpet saying, ‘What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.’
“And I turned to see the voice which was speaking with me, and when I turned, I saw seven gold lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching to the feet and girded around his chest with a golden belt, and his head and hair were white like wool, white as snow, and his eyes were like a fiery flame, and his feet were like fine bronze when it has been fired in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters, and he had in his right hand seven stars, and a sharp double-edged sword coming out of his mouth, and his face was like the sun shining in its strength.
“And when I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead person, and he placed his right hand on me, saying, ‘Do not be afraid! I am the first and the last, and the one who lives, and I was dead, and behold, I am living forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and of Hades.’” Revelation 1:7-18
Bible Expositors
Here is a list of what both liberal and critical scholars have written in respect to Daniel’s Son of Man. All emphasis will be mine.
John J. Collins
“In Dan 7:9 thrones are set up and a white-haired ‘Ancient of Days’ appears, surrounded by thousands of servants. This figure is evidently God. It is surprising, then, when another figure appears ‘with the clouds of heaven.’ In the Hebrew Bible, the figure who rides on the clouds is always YHWH, the God of Israel (cf. Pss. 68:5; 104:3). Yet in Daniel 7 this figure is clearly subordinate to the Ancient of Days. The juxtaposition of TWO DIVINE FIGURES can be understood against the background of the Canaanite myth. There the high god was El, a venerable figure with a white beard. The young fertility god was Baal, who is called the ‘rider of clouds’ in the Ugaritic texts. In the Hebrew Bible, YHWH usually combines the roles of El and Baal. In Daniel 7, however, they are separated. The influence of the Canaanite mythic tradition is clearly evident in the pattern of relationships between the Ancient of Days, the rider of the clouds, and the beasts from the sea. We do not know in what form the author of Daniel knew this tradition. Some of it is reflected in biblical poetry, but the author probably had sources that are no longer available to us. Of course, he adapted the tradition. The rider of the clouds does not attack the Sea as Baal had attacked Yamm. The conflict is resolved by divine judgment. And of course the Jewish author would not have identified the Ancient One and the rider of the clouds as El and Baal.” (Introduction to the Hebrew Bible [Fortress Press, Minneapolis, MN 2004], Part Four: The Writings, 27. Daniel, 1-2 Maccabees, p. 565)
IV. Traditional Interpretations. The earliest interpretations and adaptations of the ‘one like a human being,’ Jewish and Christian alike, assume that the phrase refers to an individual and IS NOT a symbol for a collective entity.263 In the Similitudes of Enoch (1En 46:1), the white-headed ‘head of days’ is accompanied by one ‘whose face had the appearance of a man, and his face [was] full of grace, like one of the holy angels.’ He is explicitly called ‘messiah,’ or anointed one, in 48:10; 52:4, and ‘his name was named’ before creation (48:3). In 4 Ezra 13 the man who rises from the sea and flies with the clouds of heaven is also a messianic figure, but like ‘that Son of Man’ in the Similitudes, he is a preexistent, supernatural figure (13:26; ‘This is he whom the Most High has been keeping for many ages’). The messianic interpretation prevails in rabbinic literature264 and remains the majority of opinion among the medieval Jewish commentators. The tradition is not entirely uniform. In some circles the two figures in Dan 7:9-14 were taken as two manifestations of God, apparently to the heretical view that they represented two powers in heaven. The collective interpretation is not clearly attested in Jewish circles until the Middle Ages… In summary, the traditional interpretations of the ‘one like a human being’ in the first millennium overwhelmingly favor the understanding of this figure as an individual, not as a collective symbol. The most usual identification was the messiah, but in the earliest adaptations of the vision (the Similitudes, 4 Ezra, the Gospels) the figure in question had a distinctly supernatural character.”
(Hermeneia – A Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible, A Commentary on the Book of Daniel, with an essay, “The Influence of Daniel on the New Testament,” by Adela Yarbro Collins, edited by Frank Moore Cross [Fortress Press, Minneapolis 1993], pp. 306-308)263… Montgomery (320), who argues for the collective interpretation, nonetheless writes, “It must be admitted that the earliest interpretation of ‘the Son of Man’ is Messianic.” See also Vermes, Jesus the Jew, 170-172; and the list of passages in H. L. Strack and P. Billerbeck, Kommentar zum Neuen Testament aus Talmud und Midrasch (Munich: Beck, 1922) 1.486.
264. Undisputed examples include b. Sanh. 98a; Num. Rab. 13:14; ‘Aggadat Ber’esit 14:3; 23:1 (Casey, Son of Man, 80). It is probably implied in Akiba’s explanation of the plural “thrones” as one for God and one for David, which we noted at v. 9, above (so, e.g., Montgomery, 321). Casey (Son of Man, 87) points out that it is not a necessary inference in the case of Akiba, but his arguments do not lessen its probability… (Ibid., pp. 306-307)
“The four-kingdom schema is taken up again in Daniel 7, with much greater eschatological urgency, in a passage that would play a prominent part in later messianic expectation. This is Daniel’s famous vision of ‘one like a son of man’ who comes on the clouds (Dan 7:13). For much of Jewish and Christian history, this figure was interpreted as the messiah… the earliest adaptations of this vision, in the Similitudes of Enoch and 4 Ezra 13, use messianic language with reference to the ‘Son of Man’ figure, even though he is a transcendent figure rather than an earthly king. Rabbi Akiba is said to have explained the plural ‘thrones’ in Dan 7:9 as ‘one for Him, and one for David.’ The messianic interpretation remained standard in both Jewish and Christian traditions down to the Enlightenment but is rarely defended in recent times. There are, to be sure, elements in the vision that lend themselves to a messianic interpretation and provided the basis for the traditional understanding…”
Stephen R. Miller
7:13 Daniel watched in awe as one “like a son of man [kĕbar ʾĕnāš]” descended into the throne room surrounded by the clouds of heaven (v. 13). “One like a son of man” means that this person was in human form. As Baldwin points out, however, he is more than a man.
The LXX has “upon” [epi] the clouds, presenting a logical explanation for the clouds. The clouds would naturally serve as a vehicle of transportation (cf. Rev 14:14–15). Clouds often were associated with deity in the ancient world, and this being was no mere mortal. Heaton argues that this person ascended from earth to heaven, but Keil aptly replies, “If he who appears as a son of man with the clouds of heaven comes before the Ancient of Days executing the judgment on the earth, it is manifest that he could only come from heaven to earth.”54 In the vision the clouds add an aura of majesty and grandeur to the spectacle as the son of man was presented to the Ancient of Days.
7:14 Since the “son of man” was “given” a kingdom and authority to rule, this scene evidently describes the coronation of the “son of man” by the Ancient of Days. According to the text, therefore, this individual will be crowned as the sovereign ruler of the world. His reign will never end.
Who is this mysterious being? There has been much discussion concerning this question. As a matter of fact, Baldwin declares that v. 13 “has been the subject of more scholarly papers than any other in the book.” Three views are most common. First, Collins argues that the “one like a son of man” represents the archangel Michael, and the “holy ones” (“saints”; cf. vv. 18, 27) of Dan 7 are his angelic followers on whose behalf he receives the kingdom. Faithful Jews are associated with these “holy ones” in the sense that their future includes elevation to the rank of angel (see discussion at 12:3). However, the saints are specifically identified as “the people of the Most High” in v. 27, and the son of man is no mere angel as later discussion will demonstrate. Baldwin adds: “Apparently decisive against the angelic view is the suffering and defeat implied in 7:21, 25.” G. R. Beasley-Murray too has convincingly argued that the “one like a son of man” could not have been an angel and that the vision is an actual theophany.58
Second, many interpret the “son of man” to be the personification of the people of God, the Jewish nation. They contend that since believers receive the kingdom (vv. 18, 22, 27), the son of man who also receives the kingdom must be symbolic of God’s people. Yet Baldwin observes that the phrase is “son of man,” not “son of Israel/Jacob,” as one would expect if the Jewish saints were intended. Keil rightly comments that “the delivering of the kingdom to the people of God does not, according to the prophetic mode of contemplation, exclude the Messiah as its king but much rather includes him, inasmuch as Daniel, like the other prophets, knows nothing of a kingdom without a head, a Messianic kingdom without the King Messiah.”61 Thus both the king (Messiah) and the kingdom’s subjects (believers) receive the kingdom.
Another difficulty with the identification of the son of man as the people of God is that in v. 14 all the nations of the earth are said to “worship” the son of man, and Scripture is clear that God alone is to be worshiped (cf. Rev 19:10). Another indicator of his deity is that clouds accompany the son of man as he descends, and clouds commonly are associated with deity. Lacocque observes: “Out of a total of about a hundred occurrences in Scripture, in 70% of the cases, clouds refer to Sinai, or to the Temple (see I Kings 8:10–11; 2 Chr. 5:13–14; 2 Macc. 2:8; cf. the vision of the Merkaba in Ezek. 1:4 and 10:3–4), or to eschatological theophanies (Isa. 4:5; Ps. 97:2; Nahum 1:3).” Young seems justified in stating, “There can be no question, but that Deity is intended here,”63 and Baldwin remarks, “The son of man is not only king but God, though, as is characteristic of apocalyptic style, this is conveyed in veiled terms.” Verse 14 further reveals that “all” humanity will worship the son of man, and “all” humanity naturally would include the saints.
Third, only one person may properly be identified as the “son of man,” and that person is Jesus Christ as the New Testament apostles and Christ himself confirmed. Montgomery acknowledges that the messianic view is “the eldest and, in past Jewish and Christian exegesis, the prevailing opinion.” For example, over fifteen hundred years ago Jerome was espousing this view. Slotki notes that rabbinical exegesis interpreted this person to be the Messiah,67 and Jeffery points out that the Talmud (Sanhedrin 98a) accepted this interpretation.
Though Hartman declares that this figure has “no messianic meaning,” A. Bentzen argues that the Gospels, Acts, Revelation, 1 Enoch, and 4 Ezra 13 could not all have been incorrect in seeing a messianic individual in Dan 7. For example, John 12:34 states:
The crowd spoke up, ‘We have heard from the Law that the Christ [the Messiah] will remain forever, so how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’?” John 12:34
In this passage the terms “the Christ” [the Messiah] and “the Son of Man” are used interchangeably. It may be inferred that the people of Jesus’ day already had come to identify the Danielic “Son of Man” as the Messiah.
However, the most compelling evidence for the messianic identification of the son of man is furnished by Christ himself. In Mark 14:61–62 he identified himself as that “Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” There is no other passage in the Old Testament to which Christ could have been referring. Furthermore, when Christ made the claim, the high priest said, “You have heard the blasphemy” (Mark 14:64), demonstrating that Jesus was understood to ascribe deity to himself. Young asserts, “The employment of this title by Jesus Christ is one of the strongest evidences that He attributed Deity to Himself.”
“Son of man” is especially common in the eschatological passages of the New Testament (cf. Matt 16:27–28; 19:28; 24:30; 25:31; and elsewhere), and the phrase “coming in clouds” is understood in Matt 24:30 as a reference to the return of Christ. Finally, other passages portray Christ with the same kind of glory, power, and authority as is set forth in Dan 7 (e.g., Isa 2:2–4; 9:6–7; 11:1–10; Ezek 34:23–24; Matt 28:18; Phil 2:9–11; Rev 19:1ff.; 20:4–6).
Besides being a divine title, “son of man” sets forth the humanity of the Lord. Christ would be God, but he would also partake of human nature. Also, whereas all the features of absolute rule are ascribed to the son of man, the authority bestowed upon Christ here does not refer to his inherent sovereignty or deity. Rather, a new phase of his work is described. Christ reigns in the hearts of believers in a spiritual sense today, but this passage describes the bestowing of a physical kingdom through which he will someday rule the earth. All of the other kingdoms described in this chapter are real, earthly empires; and it is best to see this kingdom as real and earthly as well.
As this passage makes clear, that kingdom will be universal. All peoples, nations, and every language group will worship him. It also will be eternal, in stark contrast to the worldly empires, which will be destroyed. Though his rule on earth will last one thousand years (cf. Rev 20:4–6), Christ’s sovereignty will not end after the millennium but will continue throughout eternity.
Another important truth is set forth in this passage. Two persons are clearly distinguished in vv. 13–14, the “son of man” and the “Ancient of Days.” If the “son of man” is Christ, then the “Ancient of Days,” who is also deity, must be God the Father. Here then is an Old Testament glimpse of the plurality of persons in the Godhead. The Son is presented to the Ancient of Days that he might receive his Father’s gift, namely, a universal kingdom (cf. Ps 2:6–9).
(The New American Commentary An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture – Daniel [Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1994], Volume 18, pp. 207-210)
Daniel’s Son of Man According to Rabbinic Judaism
Rabbinic Judaism identifies the Son as the King Messiah:
אָמַר רַבִּי אֲלֶכְּסַנְדְּרִי: רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן לֵוִי רָמֵי, כְּתִיב: ״וַאֲרוּ עִם עֲנָנֵי שְׁמַיָּא כְּבַר אֱנָשׁ אָתֵה״, וּכְתִיב: ״עָנִי וְרֹכֵב עַל חֲמוֹר״. זָכוּ – עִם עֲנָנֵי שְׁמַיָּא, לֹא זָכוּ – עָנִי וְרוֹכֵב עַל חֲמוֹר.
Rabbi Alexandri says: Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi raises a contradiction between two depictions of the coming of the Messiah. It is written: “There came with the clouds of heaven, one like unto a son of man…and there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom…his dominion is an everlasting dominion” (Daniel 7:13–14). And it is written: “Behold, your king will come to you; he is just and victorious; lowly and riding upon a donkey and upon a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9). Rabbi Alexandri explains: If the Jewish people merit redemption, the Messiah will come in a miraculous manner with the clouds of heaven. If they do not merit redemption, the Messiah will come lowly and riding upon a donkey. (Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 98a; emphasis mine)
one like a man was coming. THAT IS THE KING MESSIAH.
and… up to the Ancient of Days. Who was sitting in judgment and judging the nations. (The Complete Jewish Bible with Rashi Commentary https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/16490/showrashi/true#v13; emphasis mine)
Unless noted otherwise, biblical references taken from the Lexham English Bible.
Further Reading
The Son of Man Rides the Clouds Pt. 1b
Answering Islam – Sam Shamoun Theology Newsletter
Join the newsletter to receive the latest updates in your inbox.