Who Is This Son of Man
Page 1
LIBRARY OF NEW TESTAMENT STUDIES
390
Formerly the Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement series Editor
Mark Goodacre
Editorial Board
John M.G. Barclay, Craig Blomberg, R. Alan Culpepper, James
D.G. Dunn, Craig A. Evans, Stephen Fowl, Robert Fowler, Simon J.
Gathercole, John S. Kloppenborg, Michael Labahn, Robert Wall, Steve Walton, Robert L. Webb, Catrin H. Williams
This page intentionally left blank
‘WHO IS THIS SON OF MAN?’
The Latest Scholarship on a Puzzling
Expression of the Historical Jesus
EDITED BY
Larry W. Hurtado
AND
Paul L. Owen
Copyright © Larry W. Hurtado, Paul L. Owen and contributors, 2011
Published by T&T Clark International
A Continuum imprint
The Tower Building, 11 York Road, London SE1 7NX
80 Maiden Lane, Suite 704, New York, NY 10038
www.continuumbooks.com
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Larry W. Hurtado, Paul L. Owen, and contributors have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identifi ed as the Author of this work.
British Library Cataloguing- in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN: HB: 978-0- 567-52119-4
Typeset by Pindar NZ, Auckland, New Zealand
Printed and bound in Great Britain
CONTENTS
Preface: The Son of Man Debate; What's the Problem?
vii
Abbreviations x
List of Contributors
xiv
1 ISSUES CONCERNING THE ARAMAIC BEHIND
o( ui(oj tou= a)nqrw/pou: A CRITICAL REVIEW OF SCHOLARSHIP
1
Albert L. Lukaszewski
2 PROBLEMS WITH CASEY’S ‘SOLUTION’
28
Paul L. Owen
3 RE-SOLVING THE SON OF MAN ‘PROBLEM’ IN ARAMAIC
50
David Shepherd
4 EXPRESSING DEFINITENESS IN ARAMAIC: A RESPONSE TO CASEY’S
THEORY CONCERNING THE SON OF MAN SAYINGS
61
P. J. Williams
5 THE USE OF DANIEL 7 IN JESUS’ TRIAL, WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR
HIS SELF-UNDERSTANDING
78
Darrell L. Bock
6 THE USE OF THE SON OF MAN IDIOM IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN
101
Benjamin E. Reynolds
7 THE ELECT SON OF MAN OF THE PARABLES OF ENOCH
130
Darrell D. Hannah
8 SUMMARY AND CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS
159
Larry W. Hurtado
Index of Scripture and Other Ancient Sources
178
Subject Index
186
Author Index
189
PREFACE
THE SON OF MAN DEBATE: WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?
Paul L. Owen
The present volume seeks to advance scholarly discussion pertaining to the usage of the expression o( ui9oj tou~ a)nqrw&pou (‘the son of man’) in the Greek gospels. Those four words have accrued a signifi cance in theological studies, both critical and confessional, far out of proportion to their length. Such a seemingly inauspicious way of speaking about Jesus has been the conduit of scholarly energy for a variety of reasons.
The phrase ‘son of man’ is strikingly frequent as a means of self-expression on the part of Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels. Given its frequency on the lips of Jesus, in combination with its rarity in the epistolary writings of early Christianity, it is by all accounts the ‘title’ for Jesus with the most convincing credentials of authenticity. Nearly all scholars admit that this manner of speaking goes back to the historical Jesus. Whereas other titles like Son of God, Messiah, and Lord clearly functioned later as means of confessional expression in the early church, ‘son of man’ does not seem to have been picked up and utilized in the same manner. What are we to make of this?
This leads us to an important question. Should ‘son of man’ even be treated as a title for Jesus at all? Is it possible that o( ui9oj tou~ a)nqrw&pou in Greek translates an original Aramaic expression which designated Jesus in a non-titular manner? It has been suggested by some that Jesus used this expression in Aramaic as a humble substitute for the personal pronoun ‘I’. Others have argued that it stood generically for humankind in general, or a particular class of people (‘a man in my situation’). Still others have suggested that it stood in place of an indefi nite pronoun, simply meaning ‘someone’.
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Preface
To what literary materials should we turn to determine the answers to such questions? Nowhere in Aramaic texts dating from around the time of Jesus do we fi nd any individual being referred to as ‘ the son of man’ ()#$n) rb). While there is a handful of texts which use ‘son of man’ (#$n) rb) to assert things about a person, what is the signifi cance of such examples, since they always lack the defi nite article we fi nd in the Greek gospels? And what are we to make of the evidence found in later Aramaic materials drawn from rabbinic and Targumic texts? What might we glean from their use of the same language and expression thought to underlie o( ui9oj tou~ a)nqrw&pou in the New Testament?
Is there a way to ensure that we are reaching conclusions based on linguistic evidence from the proper time period and geographical range?
Another issue is the connection between Jesus’ employment of the expression ‘son of man’ and Dan. 7.13, which provides the probable textual origin for at least some of the ‘son of man’ sayings in the Gospels. Are those (‘apocalyptic’) Synoptic sayings which make use of Dan. 7.13 in order to assert something about the son of man’s role in the fi nal judgement to be attributed to Jesus himself, or are they best seen as theological elaborations by the early church?
This then raises questions about the meaning of the vision of the ‘son of man’
in the book of Daniel. Is the cryptic fi gure described there to be understood as an angel, a symbol of the people of God, or an apocalyptic Messiah? And how are we to understand other apocalyptic texts which appear to appropriate the Danielic material in their own messianic rhetoric? What of those Synoptic sayings which are less direct in their appropriation of Daniel (the so-called
‘suffering’ and ‘earthly’ son of man)? Are they any more (or less) likely candidates for authenticity than are the apocalyptic sayings? How should they be understood by critical scholars who seek to distinguish the thoughts of Jesus from those of his devoted followers? And what role did the early transmitters and translators of the Jesus tradition play in passing on such sayings within the developing hermeneutic of Christian devotion?
These sorts of questions have received an array of competing answers, and it is to the furtherance of such discussions that the present collection of essays is directed. The following chapters deal with a range of issues related to linguistics, the Aramaic evidence, the historical Jesus, and the infl uence of Daniel 7 in early Judaism and Christianity. First, the history of the ‘son of man’ discussion will be surveyed by Albert Lukaszewski, who provides a formidable overview
Preface
ix
of the numerous methodological and linguistic issues involved in tackling the problem. Then, Paul Owen, David Shepherd and Pete
r Williams engage, at various levels, the work of Maurice Casey, who has devoted an enormous amount of energy to the debate in modern scholarship. Finally, Darrell Bock, Benjamin Reynolds and Darrell Hannah explore the use of the ‘son of man’ expression, and the appropriation of Daniel 7, at Jesus’ trial, in John’s Gospel, and within the Parables of Enoch ( 1 Enoch 37–71) respectively. The ‘son of man’
debate serves as a conduit for discussions about method in Aramaic studies, the process whereby the oral teaching of Jesus took written form in the Greek gospels, the development of messianic hope(s) in the Second Temple period, the infl uence of Daniel 7 in Jewish apocalyptic texts, the self-understanding of the historical Jesus, and the relationship of Jesus’ modes of speech to the content of early Christian faith and devotion. It is our hope as editors that this collaboration will make a fresh and fruitful contribution to the ongoing discussion of these matters in New Testament scholarship.
ABBREVIATIONS
Bibliographical and general
ABD
David Noel Freedman (ed.), The Anchor Bible Dictionary
(6 vols; New York: Doubleday, 1992)
AcOr
Acta Orientalia
ÄF Äthiopistische
Forschungen
AThANT
Abhandlungen zur Theologie des Alten und des Neuen
Testamentes
BBET
Beiträge zur biblischen Exegese und Theologie
BBR
Bulletin for Biblical Research
BECNT
Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament
BETL
Bibliotheca ephemeridum theologicarum lovaniensium
Bib
Biblica
BSR
Biblioteca di Scienze Religiose
BZNW Beihefte
zur
ZNW
CBQ
Catholic Biblical Quarterly
CBQMS
Catholic Biblical Quarterly, Monograph Series
ch.
chapter
chs. chapters
CSCO
Corpus scriptorum christianorum orientalium
DJG
Joel B. Green, Scot McKnight, I. Howard Marshall (eds),
Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1992)
DSD
Dead Sea Discoveries
Abbreviations
xi
ETL
Ephemerides theologicae lovanienses
EvQ Evangelical
Quarterly
ExpTim Expository
Times
FZPhTh
Freiburger Zeitschrift für Philosophie und Theologie
HSS
Harvard Semitic Studies
HTR
Harvard Theological Review
JBL
Journal of Biblical Literature
JNES
Journal of Near Eastern Studies
JSHRZ
Jüdische Schriften aus hellenistisch-römischer Zeit
JSNT
Journal for the Study of the New Testament
JSNTSup
Journal for the Study of the New Testament, Supplement
Series
JSOTSup
Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, Supplement
Series
JSP
Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha
JSS
Journal of Semitic Studies
JTS
Journal of Theological Studies
KJV King
James
Version
LHBOTS
Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies
LNTS
Library of New Testament Studies
MPAT
Manual of Palestinian Aramaic Texts
MT Masoretic
Text
n. note
nn. notes
NovTSup
Novum Testamentum, Supplements
NT New
Testament
NTAbh Neutestamentliche
Abhandlungen
NTS
New Testament Studies
OT Old
Testament
QD Quaestiones
disputatae
RAC
Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum
RSV Revised
Standard
Version
SBLDS
SBL Dissertation Series
SBLMS
SBL Monograph Series
SBLSCS
SBL Septuagint and Cognate Studies
xii
Abbreviations
SBLSymS
SBL Symposium Series
SBT
Studies in Biblical Theology
SNTSMS
Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series
SSEJC
Studies in Scripture in Early Judaism and Christianity
STDJ
Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah
SUNT
Studien zur Umwelt des Neuen Testaments
SVTP
Studia in Veteris Testamenti pseudepigrapha
TANZ
Texte und Arbeiten zum neutestamentlichen Zeitalter
TLZ Theologische
Literaturzeitung
TynB Tyndale
Bulletin
v. verse
vv. verses
WUNT
Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament
ZNW
Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft
Ancient sources
Josephus
Ant.
Antiquities of the Jews
Philo
Vit. Mos.
De vita Mosis
Mishnah, Talmud and related literature
Ber. Berakot
Kil. Kilayim
Taanit
Taanit
Tan.
Tanhuma
Sanh. Sanhedrin
Suk. Sukkah
Yoma
Yoma
Targumic texts
Tg-Jonathan
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan
Tg-Onkelos
Targum Onkelos
Abbreviations
xiii
Other Rabbinic literature
Num. Rab.
Numbers Rabbah
Early Christian literature
Adv. Haer. Irenaeus,
Adversus Haereses
Adv. Marc Tertullian,
Adversus Marcionem
Barn. Barnabas
Dial. Justin
Martyr,
Dialogue with Trypho the Jew
Ignatius, Eph. Ignatius,
Letter to the Ephesians
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
Darrell L. Bock is Research Professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary. He has written full commentaries on Luke and Acts, as well as a technical study Blasphemy and Exaltation in Judaism and the Jewish Examination of Jesus (Mohr/Siebeck, 1998). He has just edited a major historical Jesus study with Robert Webb, Key Events in the Life of the Historical Jesus (Mohr/Siebeck, 2009) and is associate editor on a new project on Second Temple background to the gospels with Bruce Chilton, A Comparative Handbook to the Gospel of Mark (Brill, 2009). He has been a Humboldt scholar for two sabbaticals at the University of Tübingen.
Darrell D. Hannah is Rector of All Saints Parish Church in Ascot, England. He is the author of Michael and Christ: Michael traditions and Angel Christology in early Christianity (Mohr Siebeck, 1999), and a forthcoming commentary on the Epistula Apostolorum (Oxford). He has published articles in the Journal of Theological Studies, Vigiliae christianae, Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft, and New Testament Studies.
Larry W. Hurtado is Professor of New Testament Language, Literature and Theology in the University of Edinburgh (New College, School of Divinity).
He is a Fellow of the R
oyal Society of Edinburgh, and President of the British New Testament Society (2009–12). Among his publications are Lord Jesus Christ: devotion to Jesus in earliest Christianity (Eerdmans, 2003), and How
List of Contributors
xv
on Earth did Jesus Become a God? Historical questions about earliest devotion to Jesus (Eerdmans, 2005). His latest book is ‘God’ in the New Testament (Abingdon Press, 2010).
Albert L. Lukaszewski is co-chair of the Hellenistic Greek Language and Linguistics section for the international meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature. He has previously served as general editor of the Lexham Syntactic Greek New Testament and researcher at the Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon.
In addition to his doctoral work on language dynamics at the time of Jesus and his grammatical research on Qumran Aramaic, he was also a National Endowment for the Humanities fellow in Aramaic.
Paul L. Owen is Associate Professor of Biblical and Religious Studies at Montreat College in North Carolina. His previous research has appeared in a number of venues, including the Journal of Biblical Literature, the Journal for the Study of the New Testament, and the Library of Second Temple Studies within the monograph Of Scribes and Sages: early Jewish interpretation and transmission of scripture (Continuum, 2004).
Benjamin E. Reynolds is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Tyndale University College in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. His publications include The Apocalyptic Son of Man in the Gospel of John (Mohr Siebeck, 2008) and articles in Biblica, Neotestamentica, and Henoch.
David Shepherd is Senior Lecturer in Hebrew Bible and Jewish Studies at the University of Chester. His work in biblical studies and languages has appeared in various periodicals, including the Journal of Jewish Studies, Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha, and Journal for the Study of the New Testament, and his doctoral work on the Aramaic version of Job from Qumran was published in the Studia Semitica Neerlandica as Targum and Translation (Van Gorcum, 2004). He has served on the Board of the International Organization of Targum Studies since 2007.
P. J. Williams is Warden of Tyndale House in Cambridge. His doctoral work at Cambridge was on the Syriac Old Testament, and he has also been Senior
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List of Contributors
Lecturer in New Testament at the University of Aberdeen. His books include Early Syriac Translation Technique and the Textual Criticism of the Greek Gospels, and he is editor of the Tyndale Bulletin.
1
ISSUES CONCERNING THE ARAMAIC BEHIND o( ui(oj tou=
a)nqrw/pou: A CRITICAL REVIEW OF SCHOLARSHIP
Albert L. Lukaszewski