My premise is that the title, “son of God”, in the original Hebrew and Greek in the Torat (Torah), Zabbur (Psalms) and Injil (Gospel), was not intended as a title of divinity for Jesus (peace be upon him) in its original usage.
In this section we will look at the original usage of this term, its possible meanings, and consider what this title actually meant when applied to Jesus (as).
The earliest manuscripts and fragments in existence today of the previous Holy Books are in the languages of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Let us first start with the Hebrew language of the Taurat (Torah) and Zabbur (Psalms).
In Hebrew the term is some form of ben elohim:
- A Term For Angels (Ge *6:2, *6:4; Job 1:6, 2:1; and Da 3:25).
- A Term Referring to Israel or to Believers in General (Ge *6:2, *6:4) *In Genesis 6:2 and 6:4, it is inconclusive whether these passages are referring to angels or possibly to Israel/believers.
- A Term For God’s Chosen King:
For example,
Psalm 2:7 (NET)
7 The king says, “I will announce the Lord’s decree. He said to me: ‘You are my son! This very day I have become your father!
Or
2 Samuel 7:12-14 (NET)
12 When the time comes for you [King David (as)] to die, I will raise up your descendant, one of your own sons, to succeed you, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He will build a house for my name, and I will make his dynasty permanent. 14 I will become his father and he will become my son. When he sins, I will correct him with the rod of men and with wounds inflicted by human beings.
In Greek the term is ho uios to Theo:
- A reference to Israel or to believers in general (Mt 5:9; Ro 8:19, 9:26; Gal 3:26).
- A reference to Messiah or King (Mt 4:3, 4:6, 16:16, 26:63, 27:40; Mk 1:1, 3:11, 15:39; Lk 1:35, 4:3, 4:9, 4:41, 22:70; Jn 1:34, 1:49, 5:25, 11:4, 11:27, 19:7, 20:31; Ro 1:4; 2 Cor 1:19; Gal 2:20; Eph 4:13; Heb 4:14, 6:6, 7:3, 10:29; 1 Jn 3:8, 4:15, 5:5, 5:10, 5:12, 5:13, 5:20; Rev 2:18)
I will only cover option 2 since these are the only references used for Jesus (as).
Here are a number of examples from the Injil:
Matthew 16:16
16 ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ Σίμων Πέτρος εἶπεν• σὺ εἶ ὁ χριστὸς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος.
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Matthew 26:63
63 ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς ἐσιώπα. καὶ ὁ ἀρχιερεὺς εἶπεν αὐτῷ• ἐξορκίζω σε κατὰ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος ἵνα ἡμῖν εἴπῃς εἰ σὺ εἶ ὁ χριστὸς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ.
63 But Jesus was silent. The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.”
Mark 1:1
1 Ἀρχὴ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ [υἱοῦ θεοῦ].
1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Luke 4:41
41 ἐξήρχετο δὲ καὶ δαιμόνια ἀπὸ πολλῶν κρ[αυγ]άζοντα καὶ λέγοντα ὅτι σὺ εἶ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ. καὶ ἐπιτιμῶν οὐκ εἴα αὐτὰ λαλεῖν, ὅτι ᾔδεισαν τὸν χριστὸν αὐτὸν εἶναι.
41 Demons also came out of many, crying out, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them, and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.
John 1:49
49 ἀπεκρίθη αὐτῷ Ναθαναήλ• ῥαββί, σὺ εἶ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, σὺ βασιλεὺς εἶ τοῦ Ἰσραήλ.
49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel!”
John 11:27
27 λέγει αὐτῷ• ναὶ κύριε, ἐγὼ πεπίστευκα ὅτι σὺ εἶ ὁ χριστὸς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ ὁ εἰς τὸν κόσμον ἐρχόμενος.
27 She replied, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who comes into the world.”
If you will notice in the above quotes, every time the term “Son of God” is used, it is followed or preceded by the term Christ or King. Although there are a number of times that “Son of God” is used in isolation from Christ or King, it is very apparent that the terms Messiah or Christ or King have some sort of relationship to the term “Son of God” if you will only notice just how often these two terms are found in close proximity.
It is not apparent from the New Testament itself that in the Gospels this term ever necessarily meant the 2nd person of the Trinity. If you will also look at who was saying the term in reference to Jesus, you have Simon Peter, a disciple of Jesus, as well as a monotheistic Jew. You also have the high priest, Caiaphas, also a monotheistic Jew. Third, you have Nathaniel, also a disciple of Jesus, as well as a monotheistic Jew. Lastly, you have Martha, a follower of Jesus, as well as a monotheistic Jew. All of these people used the term “Son of God” in reference to Jesus.
Could any of these persons when using this title have meant it as a title of Jesus” place as 2nd person of the Trinity? It is highly circumspect that this was the intended use.
I hope this has been helpful, although I have not covered all the references, nor have I given a full overview of the usage of this term, I hope that I have covered enough that it is apparent that the Holy Books themselves are not the issue in question. It is the communication of these terms and the communication of the meaning behind these terms, especially in cross-cultural situations, that truly needs to be addressed regarding this issue. So, Insha’Allah, my next post will cover the historical difficulty in communication of this title.
Posted by najashi 
