Worship of the Son of Man in The Parables of Enoch

Worship of the Son of Man in The Parables of Enoch January 23, 2025

“The Son of Man.” CREDIT: Restitutio by Sean Finnegan

[This is post #3 of a multi-post review of Richard Bauckham’s book “Son of Man”: Volume 1: Early Jewish Literature. Click here to read post #1.]

The Son of Man in The Parables Is a Man

In Richard Bauckham’s book, “Son of Man”: Volume 1: Early Jewish Literature, Chapter 1.4 is entitled “The Identity of ‘That Son of Man.’” It is about the identity of the Son of Man in The Parables of Enoch and whether this figure is presented as being worshiped. Bauckham relates that the author of The Parables presents this Son of Man as an actual man who lives on earth (p. 84), “has ascended to heaven and has been transformed into the appearance of a heavenly being.” All of this comports well with the New Testament’s presentation of Jesus of Nazareth having lived on earth, died, was resurrected, and ascended to heaven (Acts 1.9-11).

Is the Son of Man in The Parables Worshiped?

Bauckham further observes concerning the The Parables in 1 Enoch (p. 93), “The Book of Parables frequently depicts the cultic worship of God in heaven.” But is that Son of Man, who also is a Messianic Figure in The Parables, worshiped in heaven? Bauckham answers (p. 94), “The Messianic Figure … is not the object of worship in heaven.”

I believe this may comport well with the book of Revelation in the New Testament. It frequently relates cultic scenes of angels worshiping God in heaven and calling him “our God” (Revelation 4.11; 5.10; 7.3, 12; 19.1, 5-6). It also says Almighty God relates to Jesus as “his God and Father” (1.6). And four times in one verse in Revelation, Jesus calls Almighty God “my God” (3.12). It does not seem that in the book of Revelation that Jesus can be God as post-apostolic Christian tradition claims since Jesus is said therein multiple times that he has a God, which is God the Father.

Is Jesus in the Book of Revelation Worshiped?

However, most readers of Revelation think it has one text that indicates the heavenly Jesus is worshiped as God. It reads, “Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, all all that is in then, singing, ‘To the one [God] seated on the throne and to the Lamb [Jesus] be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’ And the four living creatures said, ‘Amen!’ And the elders fell down and worshiped” (Revelation 5.13-14). It says they “worshiped,” but it does not say to whom they directed their worship, nor if they viewed that one or both as God.

The subject of whether Jesus is rightly “worshiped” requires nuance. In the Greek New Testament, the primary word translated “worship” is proskuneo. It literally means the physical act to lie prostrate or bend the knee in obeisance, in honor, of some human being such as a king or an object such as an idol. Proskuneo and similar words in other languages can be used to indicate the practitioner views that person as divine, and this usually can be determined by no more than the context.

Bauckham further relates concerning The Parables (pp. 98)-99, “In heaven there is cultic worship, vocally expressed and directed to God. There is no obeisance in heaven and the Messianic Figure is not ‘worshiped’ in heaven in either sense. When the Messianic Figure appears on earth at the end of the history of the world, he receives the obeisance of all people, including the earthly rulers on whom he pronounces judgment…. All these verbs (with or without an additional verb meaning ‘to fall down’) refer to the physical act of prostration on the ground before someone. Essentially the gesture was a strong expression of respect for a social superior…. English translations [of The Parables as well as the Bible] usually render the verb as ‘worship.’ But in other instances, where the object is a human superior, modern English versions usually translate it as ‘bow down’ There are sixty occasions in the Hebrew Bible where the object is a human superior. The English translation ‘worship’ is not helpful because in modern English this verb refers almost exclusively to activities expressing reverence devotion to God or divine beings, by no means necessarily entailing prostration.” Bauckham concludes (p. 101), “The Messianic Figure in The Parables of Enoch is not worshiped.”

Bauckham Admits He Was Wrong

At this point in Bauckham’s book, he makes an interesting admission. He says that heretofore, he had always thought the Son of Man in The Parables, who also is The Messianic Figure, is worshiped as divine or God. But now he says (p. 101), “Detailed study of the Parables has convinced me that I was wrong.”

In recent times, many Old Testament scholars have interpreted “one like a son of man” in Daniel 7.13, from which Bauckham says The Parables fully depend, as an angel or only a symbol of the people of God later mentioned. In my book, The Restitution, I strongly disagree with these interpretations, asserting it refers to a human being. Bauckham further observes (p. 104), “Jewish exegetes seem to have been agreed that the figure in Daniel 7:13 is a human being. They do not think the figure was either simply a symbol for the ‘people of the saints of the Most High or an angel.”

Is the Messianic Figure “Divine” in The Parables?

Bauckham concludes concerning The Parables of Enoch (p. 110), “There is nothing ‘divine’ about the Messianic Figure…. He did not exist ontologically before the creation of the world, but only in God’s intention. He is described as ‘that man’ (‘that son of man’) because he is human, an eminently righteous human being who has been hidden by God in heaven from ancient times, transformed to resemble the angels. He is qualified to be the eschatological judge by his exceptional righteousness, and also because he is a kind of representative or patron of the righteous people of God.” All of this fits perfectly Jesus of Nazareth. The New Testament says he lived a perfect life without sin (1 Corinthians 5.21; Hebrews 5.9; 7.26; 1 Peter 1.19; 2.22) and that he is now in a sense hidden from this world, being alive in heaven awaiting his return to earth when, as the author of The Parables stresses so much about the Son of Man, Jesus will conduct Judgment Day on behalf of his God Almighty.

[Click here to read post #4 of Zarley’s multi-post review of Bauckham’s book.]

[See Kermit’s two books that relate to this book review: The Restitution: Biblical Proof Jesus Is NOT God and The Gospel Corrupted: When Jesus Was Made God.]

 

 

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