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35.1 What Did "Son of God" Mean in Jesus' Time?
Son of God = the offspring of a god (genetic sonship)

             Before the Christian era, the Gentiles used the term “son of god,” with the meaning “offspring of god.” This term signified a genetic sonship. For instance, the Egyptian god Aton begat King Akhenaton. The Hymn to Aton reads, “… your son who came forth from your body, the king of Upper and Lower Egypt ... Akhenaton ...” [1] The early Egyptians considered their kings offspring of gods (genetic sonship). Therefore, they considered Akhenaton a "son of god." The following inscription found at El-Amarna, the royal city of Akhenaton , refers to Akhenaton as “Horus …the son of god Re”: “The living Horus ... Gold-Horus: Who exalts the name of Aten; the King of Upper and Lower Egypt ... the son of Re ... Akhenaton ...” [2] The falcon-god Horus [3] was the son of the god Osiris. The Egyptian kings, the Pharaohs, were the incarnation of the god Horus. “He {Horus} descended from heaven and was born in Hierapolis .” [4] An inscription for Pharaoh Ramesses II reads, “I {god} am your Father, who has engendered you {Ramesses II} as god in order that you be king of Upper and Lower Egypt on My throne.” [5] Also, the ancient Near Eastern kings were believed to be “sons of a god,” the offspring of a god: “{King Hammurabi} the descendant of royalty, whom {the god} Sin begat.” [6]
            The Greeks believed that gods came from their divine abode down to earth and impregnated women. Zeus was believed to have impregnated several mortal women. In the 8^th century BCE Homer wrote, “... {Zeus is} the father of men and gods.” [7] The Greeks believed that Asclepius was the son of the god Apollo, (Roman: Phoebus) and the mortal woman Coronis. ^[8] They believed that Herakles (Roman name: Hercules) was the son of the god Zeus and the mortal woman Alcmene. In the pre-Christian era, outside Israel , the term “son of god” signified genetic sonship.
            During the Hellenistic era the meaning of this term was broadened, to include all men. Epictetus (born ca. 55 CE, died 135 CE) said, “Zeus is the father of men ...” [9] He also said, “God ... from Him have descended the seeds of life, not merely to my father and my grandfather, but to all things that are begotten ... why should not such a man call himself a son of God?” [10] Epictetus stretched out the meaning of “son of God,” yet still he associated it with genetic sonship.

Son of God = a Righteous Man (adoptive sonship)

             The Israelites believed that they all were “sons of God”: “... children of Israel ... You are the sons of the living God.” (Hosea 1:10 KJV) Third Isaiah [11] wrote, “... O LORD, you are our father.” (Isaiah 64:8 KJV) They believed that God adopted them as his sons. Paul believed that God adopted as sons all believers in Christ. He often began his letters with the greeting “... Grace to you and peace from God our Father ...” (Romans 1:7 NASB) Jesus said, “And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.” (Matthew 23:9 RSV) The book of Deuteronomy says, “You are the sons of the LORD your God.” (Deuteronomy 14:1 NASB) In interpreting this verse, Philo wrote, “... those who do what is pleasing to nature and what is good {in other words, those who do the will of God} are the sons of God, for it says {in Deuteronomy 14:1} ‘You are the sons of the LORD your God.” [12] A “son of God” was a righteous man, a man who had the true knowledge of God. Philo wrote, “They who have real knowledge are properly called the sons of the one God ...” [13] Likewise, those who were led by the Holy Spirit were “sons of God”:

All believers are “the sons of God”: “The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God {believers [14]} to be revealed.” (Romans 8:19 NIV) “You are all sons of God through your faith in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:26 NIV)

            In the Intertestamental books the term “son of God” is often synonymous with “righteous man.” “Be as father to the fatherless ... and God will call you son.” ( 4:10) “I {God} will be a Father {to the righteous men} and they will be my sons. And they all will be called sons of the living God, and every angel and every spirit will know ... that these are my sons, and that I {God} am their Father ...” (Jubilees 1:24-25) Wisdom of Solomon states plainly that a righteous man is a son of God: “... the righteous man is God’s son {a son of God} ...” (Wisdom of Solomon 2:18) A comparison between the following parallel accounts of Luke and Matthew shows that “son of God” was synonymous with “righteous man”:

In the above instance the centurion called Jesus “a son of God” because he believed he was “a righteous man,” not because he believed that God begat Jesus.

Son of God = King of Israel

            Yahweh “begat” King David: “I will declare the decree: the LORD has said to me, You {King David} are my Son; this day have I begotten you.” (Psalms 2:7 KJV) Even though the above verse says “this day I have begotten you,” the Jews did not believe that King David was the offspring of God. They believed that God adopted David as his son (Adoptionism). The NIV renders the above verse, “…You are my Son; today I have become your Father.” (Psalm 2:7 NIV) It could also be rendered “today I have adopted you.” They also believed that God “appointed” King David as his first-born son: “I {God} have made a covenant with My chosen one; I have sworn to My servant David; … He shall say to Me, ‘you are my father, my God, the rock of my deliverance.’ I will appoint him first-born, highest of the kings of earth.” (Psalms 89:4, 27-28 TANAKH) King David was called the son of God: “... I {God} will be his {King David’s} father, and he will be my son.” (2 Samuel 7:12-14 KJV) The Jews believed that God adopted King David as his son.
            The Jews expected their Messiah (Aramaic: Messiah, Greek: Christ -Χριστός -, English: the Anointed one) to be a king, like King David, a descendant of King David. The Psalms of Solomon is an apocryphal book written in the 1 century BCE. The 17th psalm of this book describes the king-Messiah of Israel with phrases borrowed from psalm 2, which describes King David.

            As the Psalms of Solomon indicates, the Jews expected God to raise the King-Messiah from the lineage of King David. They expected this King-Messiah to liberate them from their oppressors. “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he will reign as king and deal wisely, and will execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved {delivered from its oppressors}, and Israel will dwell securely. [16] ” (Jeremiah 23:5-6 NRSV) The Jews called their awaited Messiah “the son of God.” [17] They all believed that he will be a mere man. The Qumran scroll 4Q246 calls the king-Messiah “son of God” and “son of the Most High.” These titles appear in Luke and are applied to Jesus: [18]

            As mentioned earlier, the original followers of Jesus, the Jewish Christians, believed that Jesus was “the Son of God,” the Messiah of Israel (who will reign over Israel ). Like the rest of the Jews, they believed that their king-Messiah was a mere man. Epiphanius wrote, “They {the Jewish Christians} present him {Jesus} as being only a prophet, human being, Son of God, Messiah {of the Jews}, and mere human being, as we said, who through the virtue of his life {by living a life of perfection according to the law} arrived at being called God’s son.” [20] The Jews believed their Messiah will be free from sin. The Psalms of Solomon reads, “And he {the Messiah} himself {will be} free from sin, to rule a great people.” (Psalms of Solomon 17:36) Likewise, the Jewish Christians believed that after Jesus was baptized, he lived free of sin. They believed that at the time Jesus was baptized, God anointed him with the Holy Spirit (which descended as a dove) and declared him king-Messiah: the Son of God. The Hebrew Gospel describes the moment God adopted Jesus as his son, “{God said:} You {Jesus} are my beloved son ... today I have begotten {i.e. adopted} you.” [21] In the following verse, the writer of Hebrews is talking to Jesus: “... therefore God {the Father}, {who is} your God, has anointed you {Jesus} ...” (Hebrews 1:9 NRSV) Peter, a leader of the Jewish Christians said, “... God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power ...” (Acts 10:38 NRSV) Jesus called himself the “anointed one.” He told his disciples, “… One is your Leader, that is, Christ {Gr. ο Χριστός: the Anointed one}.” (Matthew 23:10 NASB)
            The Jews did not pronounce the name of God. Instead, they used various substitute titles. One of those titles is “the Blessed.” “Son of the Blessed” is another way of saying “Son of God.” [22] The high priest asked Jesus: “Again the high priest asked him {Jesus}, and said to him, Are you the Christ {Gr. ο Χριστός, that is, the Anointed one}, the Son of the Blessed {the Son of God}? And Jesus said, I am.” (Mark 14:61-62 KJV) This verse shows that the high priest knew the concept of “the Christ,” the “Son of God.” The Jews were expecting him to appear and to deliver them from the Romans. By telling the high priest “I am,” Jesus declared that he was the one they were waiting for. Nathaniel, the disciple of Jesus, recognized him as the deliverer of Israel : “Nathanael answered and said to him, Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” (John 1:49 KJV) For this reason the Jews said, “He {claims that he} is the King of Israel ... for {because} he said, ‘I am God's Son.’ ” (Matthew 27:42-43 NRSV)

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