Daniel's BAR ENASH in the New Testament

Jefferson Vann, pastor of Piney Grove Advent Christain Church

In “Daniel’s BAR ENASH in the New Testament” Jefferson Vann explains how the vision recorded in Daniel 7:13-14 is alluded to over 80 times in the New Testament.

Daniel 7:13-14 (JDV)

I continued watching in the night visions, and suddenly one like a human son was coming with the clouds of the sky. He had reached the Ancient of Days and was brought into his presence. He was given dominion, and glory, and a kingdom; so that those of every people, nation, and language should serve him. His dominion is a permanent dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will not be destroyed.

Last year, in an article based on Job 4:17, I explained how the Hebrew word ENOSH (אֱנוֹשׁ) means mortal, but that mortality is such an essential aspect of human nature that ENOSH came to be used as a synonym for “human.”

See https://www.afterlife.co.nz/2020/04/enosh-a-mortal/

The same thing happened in the Aramaic language. Its corresponding term is ENASH (אֱנָשׁ).

And BAR ENASH (‎בַ֥ר אֱנָ֖שׁ)– Human Son – is the title Daniel uses for Christ in this text.

The title tells us that the Christ who will come to this earth as its conquering king will first come to the planet as a mortal son. It is not merely ironic that Daniel would use the title. It alludes to the role of Christ in his first advent.

The Greek Septuagint translated this Aramaic phrase as huios anthropou (υἱoς ἀνθρώπου) – Human Son. This exact Greek phrase appears only twice in the New Testament. In John 5:27 it refers to Christ, and in Hebrews 2:6 it refers to humans in general. Daniel’s vision saw a human son with limitations – including mortality, and that human son did something that enabled him to reach the Ancient of Days and be brought into his presence.

But what was it that the BAR ENASH did that enabled him to ascend to heaven? To find that answer, we have to go to the New Testament. While huios anthropou is only found twice, it’s articulated lengthened versions appear eighty times in the New Testament.

Nominative case (υἱoς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου). Matthew 8:20; 9:6; 10:23; 11:19; 12:8, 40; 13:37, 41; 16:27; 17:9, 12, 22; 19:28; 20:18, 28; 24:44; 25:31; 26:2, 24, 45; Mark 2:10, 28; 8:38; 9:9, 31; 10:33, 45; 14:21, 41; Luke 5:24; 6:5; 7:34; 9:26, 44, 58; 11:30; 12:8, 40; 17:24, 30; 18:8; 19:10; 22:69; John 3:13; 6:27; 12:23, 34; 13:31.

Genitive case (υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου). Matthew 12:32; 24:27, 30, 37, 39; Luke 6:22; 17:22, 26; 21:36; John 6:53.

Accusative case (υἱoν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου). Matthew 16:13, 28; 24:30; 26:64; Mark 8:31; 9:12; 13:26; 14:62; Luke 9:22; 12:10; 21:27; 22:48; 24:7; John 1:51; 3:14; 6:62; 8:28; 9:35; 12:34; Acts 7:56.

Daniel’s BAR ENASH became the title Jesus used of himself. When he did so, he emphasized three things – all of which are implied or stated in Daniel’s vision.

First, Jesus emphasized that the BAR ENASH would be the rightful ruler of the world in his first advent. These texts point out that Jesus had the heavenly authority to perform his earthly ministry. Here are just a few examples of New Testament texts with this emphasis:

Matthew 9:6 But so that you may know that the Human Son has the right upon the land to forgive sins”- he then said to the paralytic- “Get up, pick up your cot and go home.”

Mark 8:31 Then he began to teach them that it was necessary for the Human Son to undergo extreme suffering, and be declared counterfeit by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days be raised.

Luke 11:30-31 For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so the Human Son will be a sign to this generation. The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the land to hear the wisdom of Solomon– and notice – something greater than Solomon is here!

John 5:27 And he has allowed him the right to make judgment, because he is the Human Son.

God’s Human Son would be the world’s king, but the world would at first reject his rightful authority. His authority was real, but it would be declared counterfeit.

Second, Jesus emphasized that the BAR ENASH would suffer and die for the world in his first advent and also be raised from the dead. This is why he had to be the mortal son. Here are just a few examples of New Testament texts with this emphasis:

Matthew 20:18-19 “Notice, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Human Son will be arrested by the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and beaten and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”

Mark 9:9 When they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Human Son had been raised from the dead.

Luke 18:31-33 Then Jesus took the twelve aside and said to them, “Notice, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is predicted about the Human Son by the prophets will be fulfilled. Because he will be handed over to the Gentiles; he will be mocked, mistreated, and spat on. They will beat him brutally and kill him. Yet on the third day he will rise again.”

John 3:14-16 “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the open country, so the Human Son must be lifted up, so that everyone who is faithful to him may have permanent life. Because God cared about the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone faithful to him will not be destroyed but have permanent life.

God’s mortal Human Son had a mission. Before he would return to heaven, he had to die for our sins, and be raised triumphant over death for our justification.

Third, Jesus emphasized that the BAR ENASH would come again in his second advent as the victorious king of God’s permanent kingdom. Numerous verses containing the title also contain a form of the word “come.” Here are just a few examples of New Testament texts with this emphasis:

Matthew 10:23 When they pursue you in this city, escape to the next, because honestly, I tell you, you will not have finished with all the cities of Israel before the Human Son comes.

Mark 8:38 The man who is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Human Son will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the sacred angels.”

Luke 21:25-27 “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the land anguish of nations in anxiety because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting from fearful expectation of what is coming on the world. Because the powers of the sky will be shaken. And then they will see the Human Son coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

And John the Baptist was possibly alluding to the Daniel 7 prophecy when he said:

• John 3:31 The one coming from above is over all things. The one being from the ground is worldly and is speaking in worldly terms. The one coming from the sky is over all things.

Daniel saw these things from a distance. But the Gospel authors seem to have understood why “Human Son” was such an important title for Jesus. So much of what he did during his first advent required that our Lord be human and mortal, like us. He did it, and the kingdom, the power and the glory are now his. And the best is yet to come. Our resurrected, forever immortal Lord is going to return. We will see him coming in the clouds (Matthew 24:30; 26:64; Mark 13:26; 14:62; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; Revelation 1:7) – to take up his permanent place as God’s victorious king.