db97/After seven days: shooting forth fiery storms


Needless to say,
the enemies of the man are then burnt to a crisp, if not worse than that.
This passage, of course, is clearly based on a reading of Daniel 7, as are the Enoch passages discussed before.
Even more sharply (partly owing to its relative density) than in Enoch, the Ezra passage makes absolutely clear the combination of the divine Son of Man and the Redeemer or Messiah ~ a high Christology indeed, and, of course, one that is independent of the Jesus movement entirely.

This point is perhaps most sharply brought out in 4th Ezra 12:32, in which it is insisted that the heavenly Son of Man comes from the posterity of David,
"even though it is not apparent why a descendent of David should come on the clouds?"

Closely paralleling the Enoch passage as well, here too close reference is made to Daniel by citing the appearance of the figure as a man and only then referring to him as
THE
Man.
Once again, we see a simile become a Redeemer. And since the simile clearly refers to a divine figure (a divine warrior),
the Redeemer is held to be divine. As M.E. Stone remarks,
"IT IS QUITE INTERESTING THAT THE PASSAGES REFERRING TO BREATH OR WORD ARE APPLIED BOTH TO GOD AND THE REDEEMER, BUT, OTHER THAN OUR PRESENT PASSAGE, THE PASSAGES IN WHICH FIRE IS SPECIFICALLY MENTIONED ALL REFER TO GOD. THEREFORE, THE PRESENT PASSAGE IS UNIQUE IN THIS REPSECT AND SERVES TO EMPHASIZE THE COSMIC ROLE OF THE HUMAN FIGURE, WHICH IN ANY CASE MANY OTHER ELEMENTS OF THE TEXT HIGHLIGHT!"

DB offers a different way of approaching the Son of Man, an approach that doesn't so much resolve the famous Son of Man debate but makes an end run around it by asking different questions. Joel Marcus has made this same point in quite another language when he wrote,
"THIS CONCLUSION
[that the 'Son of Man' in the Similitudes is pre-Christian]
IS SUPPORTED BY THE WAY IN WHICH JESUS, IN THE GOSPELS, GENERALLY TREATS THE SON OF MAN AS A KNOWN QUANTITY, NEVER BOTHE RING TO EXPLAIN THE TERM, AND THE WAY IN WHICH CERTAIN OF THIS FIGURE'S CHARACTERISTICS, SUCH AS HIS IDENTITY WITH THE MESSIAH OR HIS PREROGRATIVE OF JUDGING, ARE TAKEN FOR GRANTED. WITH APOLOGIES TO VOLTAIRE,
WE MAY SAY THAT IF THE ENOCHIC SON OF MAN HAD NOT EXISTED, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN NECESSARY TO INVENT HIM
TO EXPLAIN THE SON OF MAN SAYINGS IN THE GOSPELS!"
26 jan 2013 - bewerkt op 26 jan 2013 - meld ongepast verhaal
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