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Matthew 20:17-19 As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve aside privately and said to them on the way, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the experts in the law. They will condemn him to death, and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged severely and crucified. Yet on the third day, he will be raised.”

 

Mark 10:32-34 They were on the way, going up to Jerusalem. Jesus was going ahead of them, and they were amazed, but those who followed were afraid. He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them what was going to happen to him. “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and experts in the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, spit on him, flog him severely, and kill him. Yet after three days, he will rise again.”

 

Luke 18:31-34 Then Jesus took the twelve aside and said to them, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be handed over to the Gentiles; he will be mocked, mistreated, and spat on. They will flog him severely and kill him. Yet on the third day he will rise again.”

Matthew 20:17-19 As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve aside privately and said to them on the way, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the experts in the law. They will condemn him to death, and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged severely and crucified. Yet on the third day, he will be raised.”

Mark 10:32-34 They were on the way, going up to Jerusalem. Jesus was going ahead of them, and they were amazed, but those who followed were afraid. He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them what was going to happen to him. “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and experts in the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, spit on him, flog him severely, and kill him. Yet after three days, he will rise again.”

Luke 18:31-34 Then Jesus took the twelve aside and said to them, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be handed over to the Gentiles; he will be mocked, mistreated, and spat on. They will flog him severely and kill him. Yet on the third day he will rise again.”

The term "sons of light" appears in two bodies of work: Christian writings and the Dead Sea Scrolls. You will not find the term in the Hebrew Scriptures. Since the DSS predate Jesus' ministry (the last new material from Qumran dates to approximately the same time as Jesus, and everything written after that is copies of earlier material). War Scroll is dated to either the second century BC or the early decades of the first century AD. Logically, Jesus is referring to the concepts from War Scroll.

The term "sons of light" appears in two bodies of work: Christian writings and the Dead Sea Scrolls. You will not find the term in the Hebrew Scriptures. Since the DSS predate Jesus' ministry (the last new material from Qumran dates to approximately the same time as Jesus, and everything written after that is copies of earlier material). War Scroll is dated to either the second century BC or the early decades of the first century AD. Logically, Jesus is referring to the concepts from War Scroll.

There is a literary connection. Leslie W. Walck has written a book on this subject showing how the similarities in style and vocabulary demonstrate that Matthew was familiar with this section of Enoch (Parables of Enoch). He also presents evidence (summarizing the work of John J. Collins in The Apocalyptic Imagination, 153) that the section identifying Enoch with the Son of Man in 71:14 was a later addition. Though he also summarizes arguments for the authenticity of 1 Enoch 71.

One of the most influential Pharisees prior to Jesus was Hillel the Elder. That Jesus was familiar with the teachings of the most famous teacher of the prior generation (and grandfather of Rabban Gamaliel the Edler, the most famous of Jesus' generation) cannot be questioned.¹

¹There were two divisions of Pharisees in Jesus' day: Bet Hillel and Bet Shammai. As shown consistently in the Talmud, Hillel is merciful and lenient while Shammai is rigid and strict. Jesus usually sides with Hillel but on matters of morality, Jesus sides with Shammai (e.g. Hillel's teaching easy divorce while Shammai was strict in when he allowed it).

General Statements on Jesus' Son of Man and Enoch's Son of Man

There is a literary connection. Brad Young (a scholar who seeks to illuminate the words of the New Testament by their parallels in rabbinic and intertestamental literature) includes a section on Enoch's use of the Son of Man in his work Jesus the Jewish Theologian.¹ In 1 Enoch 46, we read:

1 And there I saw one who had a 'Head of Days' and his head was white like wool. And with him there was another whose face had the appearance of a man and his face was full of grace like one of the Holy Angels. 2 And I asked one of the Holy Angels, who went with me and showed me all the secrets, about that Son of Man, who he was, and from where he was, and why he went with the Head of Days. 3 And he answered me, and said to me: "This is the Son of Man who has righteousness and with whom righteousness dwells. He will reveal all the treasures of that which is secret, for the Lord of Spirits has chosen him, and through uprightness his lot has surpassed all others, in front of the Lord of Spirits, forever. 4 And this Son of Man, who you have seen, will rouse the kings and the powerful from their resting places, and the strong from their thrones, and will loose the reins of the strong, and will break the teeth of the sinners.

While this imagery can all be found in the Old Testament, that Jesus (who was obviously aware of 1 Enoch both because He was God and because the book was popular in His day) was drawing from it to connect with his audience is more likely than Jesus piecing things together from the Old Testament. First of all, once Jesus uses the imagery that He does in His own Son of Man statements, the minds of the audience are going to go to 1 Enoch since the imagery there is so similar. If Jesus intended to not reference 1 Enoch, He would have chosen imagery that didn't match up with 1 Enoch.

The first thing to note is that the Son of Man is more than a mere man (as the Hebrew idiom can mean) and is more than a prophet (as Ezekiel uses the term). He stands next to God (the Chief of Days being the same as Daniel's Ancient of Days). The Son of Man is more than human. When Jesus used the term "Son of Man," His listeners wouldn't think only of Daniel, but they would have gone to the apocalyptic writings which use the term, e.g. 1 Enoch. This was the most powerful expression Jesus could use for the future deliverer.

Early Church Fathers, not having access to the Intertestamental writings, concluded that Jesus was referring to His humanity when he called himself "the Son of Man." However, they were unaware of the rich usage in the Jewish writings. Jesus is drawing together both aspects of His identity in this term.² He is a man and a son of man, but more than that, He is the coming deliverer!

Leslie W. Walck has written a book on this subject showing how the similarities in style and vocabulary demonstrate that Matthew was familiar with this section of Enoch (Parables of Enoch). He also presents evidence (summarizing the work of John J. Collins in The Apocalyptic Imagination, 153) that the section identifying Enoch with the Son of Man in 71:14 was a later addition. Though he also summarizes arguments for the authenticity of 1 Enoch 71.

The term "sons of light" appears in two bodies of work: Christian writings and the Dead Sea Scrolls. You will not find the term in the Hebrew Scriptures. Since the DSS predate Jesus' ministry (the last new material from Qumran dates to approximately the same time as Jesus, and everything written after that is copies of earlier material). War Scroll is dated to either the second century BC or the early decades of the first century AD. Logically, Jesus is referring to the concepts from War Scroll.

One of the most influential Pharisees prior to Jesus was Hillel the Elder. That Jesus was familiar with the teachings of the most famous teacher of the prior generation (and grandfather of Rabban Gamaliel the Edler, the most famous of Jesus' generation) cannot be questioned.³

¹Brad Young. Jesus the Jewish Theologian.

²Ibid. 250f.

³There were two divisions of Pharisees in Jesus' day: Bet Hillel and Bet Shammai. As shown consistently in the Talmud, Hillel is merciful and lenient while Shammai is rigid and strict. Jesus usually sides with Hillel but on matters of morality, Jesus sides with Shammai (e.g. Hillel's teaching easy divorce while Shammai was strict in when he allowed it).