"When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that [I] the Son of man [am] is?

And they said, Some say [that thou art] John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.



Nestle GNT:

Ἐλθὼν δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἰς τὰ μέρη Καισαρίας τῆς Φιλίππου ἠρώτα τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ λέγων Τίνα λέγουσιν οἱ ἄνθρωποι εἶναι τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου;

οἱ δὲ εἶπαν Οἱ μὲν Ἰωάνην τὸν Βαπτιστήν, ἄλλοι δὲ Ἡλείαν, ἕτεροι δὲ Ἱερεμίαν ἢ ἕνα τῶν προφητῶν.

λέγει αὐτοῖς Ὑμεῖς δὲ τίνα με λέγετε εἶναι;


I'm one of the few that still believe Matthew was the first gospel written, though originally in the Hebrew language. However, even if Mark 8:27 and Luke 9:18 are also valid, I would say Yeshua just asked all three questions.

I have two questions...

If we read "But whom say ye that I am?" as "But whom say ye that I am?" instead of "But whom say ye that I am?" does this change the question?


Who is the son of man in Matthew 16:13?

Thank you.


OP asks:


Perhaps, but this is not a valid reading of the Greek (For those who missed it as I did the first three times through, the difference is in the bolding of "I" in the OP's proposed translation rather than the bolded "ye", the traditional understanding.)

ὑμεῖς δὲ τίνα με λέγετε εἶναι;
hymeis de tina me legete einai?
But you [pl], whom do you say [pl] that I am?

The fronting of the personal pronoun (hymeis = you, plural) at the beginning of the clause, its redundant presence as the subject of a clause with a verb already marked for person/number (2nd, plural), and its slot alone before the postpositive de all serve as markers that the pronoun "you", rather than "I", is the focus of the question.

(Since the OP apparently prefers Matthew in Hebrew, hymeis de corresponds nicely to the disjunctive waw + "nominative absolute" personal pronoun – here, hypothetically, וְאַתֶּ֖ם (wᵉʾattem) – also "focus-marking" the pronoun.)

Who is the son of man in Matthew 16:13?

The son of man is Jesus. Mark 8:27 and Luke 9:18, mentioned by the OP, are parallel passages that use "I" rather than "son of man"; this title is also frequently used by Jesus of himself throughout Matthew. Verse 15 is then a repetition of the question is v. 13. Hagner sums up the relationship between these two in his comment on v. 15:*

Jesus repeats the question (this time in verbatim agreement with Mark), now directing it to the disciples (note the emphatic ὑμεῖς, "you yourselves"). The first-person pronoun με stands in place of "Son of Man" in v. 13. The question is asked not so much for information but to elicit from the disciples an explicit confession of his messianic identity.

*Donald A. Hagner, Matthew 14–28, (WBC: Zondervan, 1995), 467-468.

  • (+)1 Thank you very much Susan. I did not even consider the double plurals. I still fail to see this as the same question, but that was excellent. I've posted several similar questions, so I'd like you to know that I do believe Yeshua is the son of man. I'm very interested in what you think about my question concerning John 9:35. Thanks again. – Cannabijoy Jul 17 '16 at 13:12
  • I'm going to choose this as the answer, although I disagree that Yeshua referred to himself as the son of man in any verse except for John 9:35. Thank you Susan. – Cannabijoy Jul 22 '16 at 1:14
  • @anonymouswho to whom else would He refer to besides Himself? John 5:27 And He has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. – Ted O Mar 13 '17 at 14:46

Is Daniel 7:13-14 too simple an answer? I would say that he is declaring himself as the son of God. it is also addressed in Who is the man in Daniel's vision in Daniel 10?

  • Yes, that's too simple. Especially concerning John 9:35, which I've also posted a question about. I would agree that Yeshua is declaring himself to be the son of God. This is the answer he receives when he asks "Who do you say I am". So if Yeshua is the son of God, who is the son of man? – Cannabijoy Jul 21 '16 at 20:30

The answer to the grammar came through Susan.

This is the answer to "Who is the son of man in Matthew 16:13?"

The short answer: He is the words that come out of your mouth.

The Long Answer

To show the Hebrew classification of the metaphor.


This verse shows that there's a division between the classification of God and the metaphor "Son of Man".

This metaphor was used much in both the book of Ezekiel and that of the Book of Enoch. Now regardless if one wants to discount the Book of Enoch, its been described that the Book of Enoch was popular during the time of Jesus. And even if that's disagreed with, it still was used in that writing holding to the concept of the metaphor.

God is the Word


He comes out of our mouth




He really really came out of the mouth of Jesus


Remember reading about the repentance of the son of man?

This does not mean that Jesus had reason to repent. Indeed what came out of the mouth of Jesus those where "God's words".

Jesus helps to make this clear to us


James offers help to show what Jesus describes


The concept of the son of man defined into two types

  • Fresh Water / Salt Water
  • Good Tree / Bad Tree

One type causes curses. One type causes blessings.

Jesus expands on this concept using a tree metaphor


Even John the Baptist explains this concept


The blind man could "see" that the trees define people

And he looked up and said, “I see men, for I see them like trees, walking around.” (Mark 8:24 NSAB)

A quick summary of these classifications this far

A person can say good things or bad things. People who say bad things "cut down and thrown into the fire". We should repent(turn away) from saying bad things. Saying bad things defiles a person. We bear good fruit when we keep to repentance (aka: not saying bad things)

Jesus explains what our conversations should be like

But let your statement be, 'Yes, yes' or 'No, no'; anything beyond these is of evil. (Matthew 5:37 NASB)


Good fruit just got defined as the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.

Why no more need for Rules

After learning both good and evil from our parents, the law came to guide all to good, but who followed the Law or did all follow the law, or does all follow the law even this day?

Therefore instead of speaking about the evil of the day, and producing bad fruit that results in death, we bind up the evil inside of our bodies and do not set it free. This means resisting the urge to tell others about how sally did this wrong etc. etc.

For indeed if one does allow the words about evil to escape the lips, it comes back and the final condition of the one who spoke it.

The Truth of the Confession of Sin

Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy the work of your hands? (Ecc 5:6 NKJV)

Sin does not mean Error


  • Saying what was done wrong kills the one who speaks it.

The real question a person should ask.

What is Sin that when I should confess I get forgiven and be given everlasting life?"

The short answer: Sin = Hate

The long answer concerning the definition of sin he will give to another question.

  • Thank you for the answer Decrypted. I don't really see how this answers the question though. I read this several times, but I still don't understand what "he is the words that come out of your mouth" means. My words are not the son of any man. As far as I know, they are just words that produce a sound when I speak. Maybe I'm missing something. – Cannabijoy Jul 22 '16 at 3:41
  • The words that get birthed from a human, that's the son of man. Consider how they do 3D animation, there is a parent object, and there is a child object, what happens to the parent object, also occurs to the child object. For example If the designer was making a 3D model of a hand The palm of the hand would attach to the forearm object. The palm would acts as the child of the forearm, Yet for the fingers they attach to the palm. In this the fingers their the child of the parent object labeled palm. The finger gets controlled by the movement of the palm, likewise the same for the son of man. – Decrypted Jul 22 '16 at 22:39

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