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Son of God


 
 

Son of God is a phrase found in the Hebrew BibleHebrew Bible

Hebrew Bible is a term that refers to the common portions of the Jewish and Christian biblical canons....
, various other Jewish texts and the New TestamentNew Testament Summary

The New Testament , sometimes called the Greek Testament or Greek Scriptures, and sometimes also New Covenant...
. In the holy Hebrew scripturesFacts About Tanakh

Tanakh [????] , is an acronym that identifies the Hebrew Bible....
, according to JewishJudaism

Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people....
 religious tradition, it is related to many diverse subjects, as to angels, humans and even all mankind. According to most Christian traditions, it refers to the relationship between JesusJesus

Jesus,Some of the historians and Biblical scholars who place the birth and death of Jesus within this range include D....
 and GodGod

God is the deity believed by monotheists to be the supreme reality....
 (see God the SonFacts About God the Son

God the Son is the second person of the Trinity in Christian theology....
) as well as a relationship achievable by believing Christians: "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called sons of God."

Similar terminology was present before, during and after the Ministry of JesusMinistry of Jesus

According to the Canonical Gospels, the Ministry of Jesus began when Jesus was around 30 years old, and lasted a period of 1...
 and in his cultural and historical backgroundCultural and historical background of Jesus

'This article — a part of the Jesus and history series of articles — discusses the cultural and historical background ...
. The Roman emperor Augustus was called "divi filius" (son of the deified Julius CaesarJulius Caesar Summary

Gaius Julius Caesar , July 12 or July 13, 100 BC – March 15, 44 BC) was a Roman military and political leader and one ...
): "Divi filius", not "Dei filius" (son of God), was the Latin term used. In Greek, the term huios theou was applied to both, but, while huios theou is used of Jesus three times in the New Testament, he is usually described as ho huios tou theou, not just "a son of God", but "the son of God".

It is generally agreed that the language Jesus ordinarily spoke was AramaicAramaic language

Aramaic is a Semitic language with a 3,000-year history....
, even if he perhaps also spoke some GreekGreek language

Greek has a documented history of 3,500 years, the longest of any single language within the Indo-European family....
 (see Aramaic of JesusAramaic of Jesus

Most scholars believe that Jesus probably primarily spoke Aramaic with some Hebrew and at least a limited grasp ...
). The lack of primary sources in Aramaic about the life of Jesus makes it impossible to determine whether he himself or others referred to him in that language as "a son of God" or as "the Son of God" or neither.

Historians believe Alexander the GreatAlexander the Great

Alexander the Great , also known as Alexander III, king of Macedon , was one of the most successful military commander...
 implied he was a demigodFacts About Demigod

The term "demigod", meaning "half-god," is a modern distinction, often misapplied in Greek mythology....
 by actively using the title "Son of AmmonAmmon Summary

Ammon or Ammonites , also referred to in the Bible as the "children of Ammon," were a people living east of the Jordan...
ZeusZeus

In Greek mythology, Zeus is the highest ranking god among the Olympian gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus, and god of the sky...
". (His mother OlympiasOlympias

Olympias was an Epirote princess, a wife of Macedonian king Philip II of Macedon and the mother of Alexander the Great....
 was said to have declared that ZeusZeus Overview

In Greek mythology, Zeus is the highest ranking god among the Olympian gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus, and god of the sky...
 impregnated her while she slept under an oak tree sacred to the god.) The title was bestowed upon him by Egyptian priests of the god AmmonAmun

Amun was the name of a deity, in Egyptian mythology, who gradually rose to become one of the most important deities, before...
 at the OracleOracle

An oracle is a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic opinion; an infallible authority, usu...
 of the god at the Siwah oasis in the Libyan DesertLibyan Desert

The Libyan Desert is an African desert that is located in the northern and eastern part of the Sahara Desert and occupies so...
 The title was also used of wonder-workers.

While in a polytheisticPolytheism Summary

Polytheism is belief in, or worship of, multiple gods or dieties....
 culture rulers and heroes were called sons of ZeusZeus

In Greek mythology, Zeus is the highest ranking god among the Olympian gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus, and god of the sky...
 or PoseidonPoseidon

In Greek mythology, Poseidon was the god of the sea, as well as horses and, as "Earth-Shaker", of earthquakes....
 or ApolloApollo

In Greek and Roman mythology, Apollo , the ideal of the kouros, was the archer-god of medicine and healing and also a b...
 or some other god among many, Christians, being monotheistsMonotheism

In theology, monotheism is the belief in the existence of one deity or God, or in the oneness of God....
, consider Jesus to be the son of the only God there is.

By historical method

In the GospelGospel Summary

In Christianity, gospel means "good news"....
s, the being of Jesus as "son of God", corresponds exactly to the typical HasidHasideans

The Hasideans were a Jewish religious party which commenced to play an important role in political life only during the tim...
 from GalileeGalilee

The Galilee , meaning "circuit", is a large region overlapping with much of the North District of Israel....
, a "pious" holy man that by divine intervention performs miracleMiracle

According to many religions, a miracle, derived from the old Latin word miraculum meaning 'something wonderful', is a st...
s and exorcismExorcism

Exorcism is the practice of evicting demons or other evil spiritual entities which are supposed to have possessed a person o...
s, an opinion not shared by all (see, below, "Son of God" in the New Testament).

"Sons of God" according to Judaism

In the Old TestamentOld Testament

The Old Testament or the Hebrew Scriptures constitutes the first major part of the Bible used by Christians....
, the phrase "son(s) of God" has an unknown meaning: there are a number of later interpretations.
Our translation most likely comes from the SeptuagintSeptuagint Summary

The Septuagint is the name commonly given in the West to the ancient, Koine Greek version of the Old Testament translated i...
, which uses the phrase "Uioi Tou Theou", "Sons of God", to translate it.

  • The HebrewHebrew language

    Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Jew...
     phrase Benei Elohim, often translated as "sons of GodSons of God

    There are two main theories concerning the identity of the sons of God identified in the book of Genesis....
    ", is seen by some to describe angels or immensely powerful human beings. The notion of the word as describing non-divine beings most likely comes from the TargumTargum

    A targum is an Aramaic translation of the Hebrew Bible written or compiled in the Land of Israel or in Babylonia from the ...
    ic Aramaic translation, which uses the phrases "sons of nobles", "Bnei Ravrevaya" in its translation. See GenesisGenesis

    Genesis is the first book of the Torah, the first book of the Tanakh and also the first book of the Christian Old Testament...
     6:2-4 and Book of JobBook of Job

    The Book of Job is one of the books of the Hebrew Bible....
     1:6.
  • It is used to denote a human judge or ruler (Psalm 82:6, "children of the Most High"; in many passages "gods" and "judges" can seem to be equations). In a more specialized sense, "son of God" is a title applied only to the real king over Israel.
  • Israel as a people is called God's "son", using the singular form (comp. ExodusExodus

    Exodus is the second book of the Torah, the Tanakh, and the Old Testament....
     4: 22 and HoseaHosea Summary

    See also Hoshea, who has the same name in Biblical Hebrew....
     11:1).


In JudaismFacts About Judaism

Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people....
 the term "son of God" was used of the expected "messiah" figure. Psalm 2 addresses someone as both God's messiah and God's son.

In the Jewish literature that was not finally accepted as part of the Hebrew Bible, but that many Christians do accept as Scripture (see Deuterocanonical booksDeuterocanonical books

Deuterocanonical books is a term used in the Catholic Church to describe certain books and passages of the Bible, in contras...
), there are passages in which the title "son of God" is given to the anointed person or Messiah (see Enoch, 55:2; IV Esdras 7:28-29; 13:32, 37, 52; 14:9). The title belongs also to any one whose piety has placed him in a filial relation to God (see Wisdom 2:13, 16, 18; 5:5, where "the sons of God" are identical with "the saints"; comp. Ecclesiasticus [Sirach] iv. 10).

It has been speculated that it was because of the frequent use of these books by the Early Christians in polemics with Jews, that the Sanhedrin at YavnehCouncil of Jamnia

After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai relocated to the city of Yavne/Jamnia and founded a ...
 rejected them around AD 8080

Year 80 was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar....
.

"Son of God" in the New Testament

Throughout the New TestamentFacts About New Testament

The New Testament , sometimes called the Greek Testament or Greek Scriptures, and sometimes also New Covenant...
 (see "New Testament passages", below) the phrase "son of God" is applied repeatedly, in the singular, only to JesusJesus

Jesus,Some of the historians and Biblical scholars who place the birth and death of Jesus within this range include D....
. "Sons of God" is applied to others only in the plural.ge:S0484.4.jpg|thumb|300px|A denariusDenarius

The Roman currency system included the denarius after 211 BC, a small silver coin, and it was the most common coin produced...
 minted circa 18 BCE. Obverse: CAESAR AVGVSTVS; reverse: DIVVSIVLIV(S)]]
In 42 BC, Julius CaesarJulius Caesar

Gaius Julius Caesar , July 12 or July 13, 100 BC – March 15, 44 BC) was a Roman military and political leader and one ...
 was formally deified as "the divine Julius" (divus Iulius), His adopted son, Octavian (better known by the title "Augustus" given to him 15 years later, in 27 BC) thus became known as "divi Iuli filius" (son of the divine Julius) or simply "divi filius" (son of the Divine One), because of being the adopted son of Julius Caesar. He used this title to advance his political position, finally overcoming all rivals for power within the Roman state. The title was for him "a useful propaganda tool", and was displayed on the coins that he issued.

The word applied to Julius Caesar as deified is "divus", not the distinct word "deus". Thus Augustus was called "Divi filius", but never "Dei filius", the expression applied to Jesus in the VulgateVulgate

The Vulgate Bible is an early 5th century version of the Bible in Latin partly revised and partly translated by Jerome on th...
 translation of the New Testament, as, for instance, in , and in earlier Latin translations, as shown by the Vetus LatinaVetus Latina

Vetus Latina is a collective name given to the Biblical texts in Latin that were translated before St Jerome's Vulgate B...
 text "Inicium evangelii Ihesu Christi filii dei" preserved in the . As son of Julius Caesar, Augustus was referred to as the son of a god, not as the son of God, which was how the monotheistic Christians referred to Jesus.

GreekGreek language

Greek has a documented history of 3,500 years, the longest of any single language within the Indo-European family....
 did not have a distinction corresponding to that in Latin between "divus" and "deus". "Divus" was thus translated as "", the same word used for the Olympian gods, and "divi filius" as "" (theou huios), which, since it does not include the Greek article, in a polytheistic context referred to sonship of a god among many, to Julius Caesar in the case of the "divi filius" Augustus. In the monotheistic context of the New Testament, the same phrase can refer only to sonship of the one God. Indeed, in the New Testament, Jesus is most frequently referred to as "" (ho huios tou theou), the son of God.ristians as children of God


In the Gospel of JohnGospel of John

The Gospel of John is the fourth gospel in the canon of the New Testament, traditionally ascribed to John the Evangelist....
, the author writes that "to all who believed him and accepted him [Jesus], he gave the right to become children of God" [John 1:12]. The phrase "children of God" is used ten times in the New Testament. To these can be added the five times, mentioned above, in which the New Testament speaks of "sons of God". The New Testament speaks of no individual Christian as it speaks of Jesus, as the son of God, not just a son of God.

"Son of a god" in other belief systems

Human or part-human offspring of deities are very common in other religions and mythologies. A great many pantheons also included genealogies in which various gods were descended from other gods, and so the term "son of a god" may be applied to many deities themselves.

Ancient mythology contains many characters with both a human parent and a god parent. They include HerculesHercules

Hercules is the Latin name used in Rome for a hero corresponding to the Greek mythological hero Heracles , the Roman n...
, whose father was ZeusZeus

In Greek mythology, Zeus is the highest ranking god among the Olympian gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus, and god of the sky...
, and VirgilVirgil

Publius Vergilius Maro , later called Virgilius, and known in English as Virgil or Vergil, was an ancient ...
's Aeneas, whose mother was VenusVenus (mythology)

Venus was a major Roman goddess principally associated with love and beauty, the rough equivalent of the Greek goddess Aphro...
.

In the Greek and Roman cultures in which early Christianity expanded after first arising within Judaism, the concepts of demi-gods, sons or daughters of a god, as in the story of PerseusFacts About Perseus

Perseus, Perseos, or Perseas, the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty there, was the first o...
, were commonly known and accepted.

In the Rastafari movementRastafari movement

Rasta, or the Rastafari movement, is a religion and philosophy that accepts Haile Selassie I, the former emperor of Et...
, Haile Selassie is considered to be God the Son, a part of the Holy Trinity. He himself never accepted the idea officially.

In the Epic of GilgameshGilgamesh

Gilgamesh, according to the Sumerian king list, was the fifth king of Uruk , the son of Lugalbanda, ruling circa 2650 BC....
, one of the earliest recorded legends of humanity, Gilgamesh claimed to be of both human and divine descent.

According to the Radha Soami Satsang BeasRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Radha Soami Satsang Beas was founded by Baba Jaimal Singh Ji Maharaj in 1891 at a site called Dera Baba Jaimal Singh on the ...
 teachings, known as Sant MatSant Mat

see new cite format atThe Sant Mat was a loosely associated group of teachers that assumed prominence in the northern part ...
 or Teachings of the Saints, "Son of God" refers to a living Master who connects souls with the Creator through the ShabdShabd

Shabd or Shabda literally means sound or word in Sanskrit....
 or Holy Spirit.

New Testament passages

The devilDevil

The Devil is the name given to a supernatural entity, who, in most Abrahamic faiths, is the central embodiment of evil....
 or demonDemon

In religion, folklore, and mythology a demon is a supernatural being that has generally been described as a malevolent spi...
s calling Jesus Son of God

  • (huios tou theou)
  • (ho huios tou theou)
  • - vocative case is normally without article



Humans, including the New Testament writers, calling Jesus Son of God
  • (theou huios)
  • (huios theou)
    • (of doubtful authenticity)
  • (ho huios tou theou)
  • his son", meaning God's - equivalent to (ho huios tou theou)



Attributed to Jesus himself
  • (ho huios tou theou)
    • (equivalent expression)



Unclear whether attributed to Jesus himself or only a comment of the evangelist
  • (ho huios tou theou)
    • - with "" (only-begotten)


Jesus referred to as (ho huios)*******
  • etc.

See also

  • Son of ManFacts About Son of man

    The phrase son of man is a primarily Semitic idiom that originated in Ancient Mesopotamia, used to denote humanity or se...
  • Son of Heaven
  • Sons of GodSons of God

    There are two main theories concerning the identity of the sons of God identified in the book of Genesis....
  • Sons of Man
  • God the FatherGod the Father

    In many religions, the supreme God is given the title and attributions of Father....
  • Mother of God
  • Lewis's trilemmaLewis's trilemma

    Lewis's Trilemma is a syllogism intended to demonstrate the logical inconsistency of both holding Jesus of Nazareth to be a...


External links