כְּבַר אֱנָשׁ (Ke-var enash)

MEANING'One like a son of man.' The Aramaic idiom in Daniel 7:13 for an ordinary human being --- the most humble self-designation available. Yet this human figure comes with the clouds of heaven and receives eternal dominion: simultaneously human in title and divine in activity.

GRAMMARKe- (like, as) + var (son --- Aramaic equivalent of Hebrew ben) + enash (man, human being --- Aramaic). In Daniel 2-7 (written in Aramaic), bar enash (son of man) is the common term for a human being. The phrase is the ordinary Aramaic way to say 'a human person.' Jesus's use of 'Son of Man' as his primary self-designation (80+ times in the Gospels) is his claim to Daniel 7:13 --- simultaneously humble (I am a human person) and exalted (I am the one who comes with clouds and receives eternal dominion).

SIGNIFICANCEThread 3 --- the story moving toward a King --- arrives at its most specific OT expression in Daniel 7:13-14. The ke-var enash receives a kingdom that will not pass away. Jesus's repeated use of 'Son of Man' as self-reference is his encoded claim to this destiny: 'you will see the Son of Man coming in clouds' (Mark 14:62 --- directly echoing Daniel 7:13). The kingdom is coming; the King is identified.

KEY VERSE / SCRIPTURESDaniel 7:13-14 (central occurrence); compare Hebrew ben adam (son of man) in Ezekiel (90+ times --- emphasizing human frailty before God).

CROSS-REFERENCESDaniel 7:13-14 · Mark 14:62 · Luke 22:69 · Acts 7:56 (Stephen's vision) · שָׁלְטָן shaltan (dominion he receives)