Description

The strange and enigmatic title ""son of man"" has intrigued biblical scholars for millennia. What does it mean and how does it describe Jesus in his role as the Christian messiah? Robin Jarrell surveys the mythological roots of the phrase in the ancient Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh and traces its development from the mythology of the Egyptian queen Hatshepsut's birth narrative, to the Baal Cycle in Ugaritic literature, to the story of Pandora, and finally to the story of creation found in the book of Genesis. The key to unlocking the mystery of the phrase ""son of man"" is embedded in the story of the first ""son of man""--Noah--with the reference to ""the sons of God"" who found wives among the ""daughters of men"" and whose offspring brought devastation to the earth and the reason for the flood. In the hands of the Christian gospel writers, the parallel ""son of man"" figure found in the Dead Sea Scrolls reemerges in the identity of the last ""son of man""--Jesus of Nazareth.