Last night, Good Friday, my wife and I watched Mel Gibson’s “The Passion” movie. Although this was the third or fourth time that I saw the film, it is still very moving. Before the film was first released, there was some skepticism about the appeal of a film with dialog in Aramaic and Latin. I am quite pleased with the choice to use authentic languages – not merely for the sake of realism – but because of the meaning of the words. I am by no means fluent in Aramaic, but I know enough Hebrew to recognize a handful of words in the Aramaic dialog. Two of those words are “Bar Enosh” (transliteration, of course), which is translated in English Bibles and the movie’s English subtitles as “The Son of Man”, a title that Jesus (Y’shua) used of Himself quite often.

The title comes from Daniel 7:13, which tells of the Messiah, coming in the clouds with power. The “Son of Man” here is not the “son of man” that God used of Ezekiel. This latter “son of man” is the Hebrew “ben Adam” – literally, the son of Adam; that is a descendant of the fallen man; born into sin. The “Bar Enosh” of Daniel, which is Jesus, the Messianic King, does not neatly translate into English. Although “Son of Man” is not incorrect, it does not capture the meaning. The Hebrew “bar” does mean “son of”, but it is often used in a figurative – rather than literal – sense, such as “bar mitzvah” (son of the commandment), or “bar nabas” (son of encouragement [see Acts 4:36]). The Hebrew word “enosh” (as I understand it) refers more to the human frailty of man.

Jesus was not weak or frail in body nor character, but He did leave heavenly glory to come to Earth, and “made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men” (Philippians 4:7). According to Isaiah 53:3, He was “despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.” Jesus is not the literal “son of man” – the offspring of sinful Adam (the man formed from the dust [adamah]). Jesus is the heavenly “Son of Man”, Who knew no sin, but became sin for us – by loving choice – that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21). Selah.