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Messianic Prophecies

Daniel 7:13-14

Eschatological

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Daniel 7:13-14

“I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of the sky one like a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. Dominion was given him, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away, and his kingdom that which will not be destroyed.

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“I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots: and behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.

“I watched until thrones were placed, and one who was ancient of days sat. His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool. His throne was fiery flames, and its wheels burning fire.

A fiery stream issued and came out from before him. Thousands of thousands ministered to him. Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The judgment was set. The books were opened.

“I watched at that time because of the voice of the great words which the horn spoke. I watched even until the animal was slain, and its body destroyed, and it was given to be burned with fire. As for the rest of the animals, their dominion was taken away; yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.

“I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of the sky one like a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. Dominion was given him, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away, and his kingdom that which will not be destroyed.

“As for me, Daniel, my spirit was grieved within my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. I came near to one of those who stood by, and asked him the truth concerning all this. “So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.

‘These great animals, which are four, are four kings, who will arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.’

“Then I desired to know the truth concerning the fourth animal, which was different from all of them, exceedingly terrible, whose teeth were of iron, and its nails of bronze; which devoured, broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet;

The counter-reading

How this passage is read within its own context.

The critical reading is that Daniel 7:27 explicitly interprets the vision: "the kingship and dominion... shall be given to the people of the holy ones of the Most High." On this reading the corporate interpretation is not a modern invention but the text's own explanation, and the "one like a son of man," contrasted with beasts "like" a lion, bear, and so on, reads as symbolic representation rather than a literal individual. Daniel is widely dated by critical scholars to the 160s BCE, on the accuracy of its historical references up to Antiochus IV Epiphanes and their sudden failure after that point. On this account Jesus' use of the title, if historical, represents his appropriation of the symbol and does not retroactively change what Daniel meant.

The fulfillment reading

How this passage is read as pointing to the Messiah.

On the fulfillment reading, the "one like a son of man" is distinguished from the "holy ones" as their representative or leader — a specific figure rather than merely a symbol. The divine prerogatives given to this figure (everlasting dominion, worship from all peoples) are taken to exceed what could be said of a human collective. On this reading Jesus' use of "Son of Man" as a self-designation shows he understood himself as this Daniel figure, and the clouds-of-heaven imagery is read as implying a divine or semi-divine being rather than merely a glorified human community.

The fulfillment reading has two provenance panels and the counter-reading one. The extra panel records how the New Testament takes up these passages — including where it does not — because it is a canon that cites them, the fulfillment reading's own textual basis. The counter-reading engages the same passages through the Jewish exegetical and translational tradition — the Targums, the Talmud, the rabbinic commentators, and the medieval exegetes — with no parallel canon that cites them as its own textual basis. That difference is about which sources exist, not a judgment reached here.

In the Jewish exegetical tradition

How the passage is read in the Jewish interpretive tradition — the Targums, the Talmud, the rabbinic commentators, and the medieval exegetes, named and dated in order from earliest to latest; a direct quotation is shown where a public-domain translation of the work survives.

  • Babylonian Talmud in the name of R. Joshua b. Levi Talmudic · 3rd-6th c.

    Preserves the tension: if Israel is worthy, the messiah comes "on the clouds of heaven" (Daniel 7:13); if unworthy, "humble and riding on a donkey" (Zechariah 9:9).

    “And the answer was, if they will be worthy he will come with the clouds of heaven, and if not, he will come upon an ass.” Sanhedrin 98a — tr. Michael L. Rodkinson, New Edition of the Babylonian Talmud, Tract Sanhedrin (New York, 1903), p. 307

    Sanhedrin 98a

  • Saadia Gaon Saadia ben Joseph Geonic · 10th c.

    Is reported to have offered an individual, messianic reading of the "son of man" figure in his extant Judeo-Arabic commentary on Daniel.

  • Rashi Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki Ashkenazi · 11th c.

    Glosses "one like a son of man" as the King Messiah — an individual Davidic figure, not a collective symbol. The collective reading (the figure = "the people of the holy ones of the Most High") is supplied by the vision's own interpretation in v. 27, not by Rashi.

    Jewish exegesis of the ‘son of man’ divides: Rashi and Saadia Gaon read the figure as the individual King Messiah, while Abarbanel weighs both an individual and a collective sense. No public-domain English translation of Rashi, Saadia Gaon, or Abarbanel on Daniel 7 is available to quote — their commentaries survive in English only in modern, copyrighted editions. Read in context

  • Abarbanel Isaac Abarbanel Sephardi · 15th c.

    Discusses both collective and individual interpretations.

How the New Testament uses this passage

Each entry names how the New Testament author draws on the passage — a direct quotation, an allusion, an echo, or a typological reading. An echo or an allusion is not the same as a prediction; the label says which is which.

  • Mark 14:62 Direct quotation

    Combines Daniel 7:13 with Psalm 110:1

In the Christian exegetical tradition

How the passage is read as messianic in the Christian interpretive tradition — the patristic writers, the Reformers, and later confessional commentators, named and dated in order from earliest to latest; a direct quotation is shown where a public-domain translation of the work survives.

  • Justin Martyr Ante-Nicene Greek apologist · c. 100 - c. 165

    Quotes the Daniel 7 throne vision at length and identifies the 'one like a son of man' coming with the clouds as Christ, whom he distinguishes from the 'Ancient of Days' as a second, distinct divine figure receiving the everlasting kingdom. He reads the clouds-of-heaven arrival as pointing to the glorious second advent, contrasting it with the lowly first coming, and uses the passage to argue to his Jewish interlocutor that the Messiah is a pre-existent, exalted individual and not merely Israel.

    Dialogue with Trypho (esp. chs. 31-32, 76)

  • Tertullian Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus Ante-Nicene Latin · c. 155 - c. 220

    Uses Daniel 7:13-14 to develop his doctrine of Christ's two advents: the 'son of man coming with the clouds of heaven' who receives dominion is the Messiah in his glorious second coming, set against the humble, suffering first coming. Against Marcion he insists the same Christ answers both the lowly prophecies and Daniel's exalted vision, treating the figure as the individual Messiah of Israel's God rather than a symbol of the nation.

    Against Marcion, Book 3 (ch. 7)

  • Jerome Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus Latin patristic · c. 347 - 420

    In his commentary, written partly to rebut Porphyry's argument that Daniel was a Maccabean-era composition, Jerome interprets the 'one like a son of man' brought to the Ancient of Days as Christ receiving universal and everlasting dominion, tying the scene to the Gospel Son of Man sayings and the final judgment. He reads the everlasting kingdom given to the figure as the reign of Christ, understood as encompassing but not reducible to the saints who share it.

    Commentary on Daniel

  • Hengstenberg Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg Lutheran (German confessional) · 1802 - 1869

    Argues that the 'son of man' is the personal Messiah, contending that the dominion, worship, and everlasting kingdom conferred exceed what can be predicated of a collective and require an individual recipient. He engages the corporate reading directly, treating the relation of the Messiah to 'the holy ones of the Most High' as that of head to body, so that the saints receive the kingdom in and through their representative rather than as the sole referent of the vision.

    “If, therefore, Daniel ascribed this future exaltation first to the Son of Man, and then to the nation, he could only intend that the former of these should be understood as referring to the Messiah.” on Dan. 7:13-14 — Christology of the Old Testament, tr. James Martin, T. & T. Clark (Foreign Theological Library, Vol. XIX), Edinburgh, 1864, Vol. III, p. 89

    Christology of the Old Testament (Christologie des Alten Testaments)

Where this stands

Daniel 7:13-14 describes "one like a son of man" (bar enash) coming on the clouds of heaven and receiving everlasting dominion from the Ancient of Days. In the literary context of Daniel 7, the interpretation is given in verses 18 and 27: the "one like a son of man" represents "the holy ones of the Most High" — a collective figure symbolizing the faithful community, contrasted with the four beasts representing empires. Critical scholars date Daniel to the Maccabean crisis (c. 167-164 BCE), making it contemporary political theology, not 6th-century prediction. The Talmud (Sanhedrin 98a) preserves both collective and individual messianic interpretations. The "Son of Man" becomes Jesus' most characteristic self-designation in the Gospels (Mark 14:62 directly combines Daniel 7:13 with Psalm 110:1).