Is the Son of Man in Daniel 7 God?

 

Daniel 7:13-14 KJV:

And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.


Possible arguments:

1. The Son of Man is worshipped

Refutation:

The word used here is pelach, which typically means serve. Here are some lexicons:

Lexical Summary:
pelach: To serve, to labor, to worship


Strong's Exhaustive Concordance:
minister, serve

NAS Exhaustive Concordance:
to pay reverence to, serve

This word is also used in Ezra 7:24 to talk about the temple servants who served the temple.

In the Targum Jonathan, it's used in Genesis 14:4, 15:14, 27:29, 29:18, 29:25, 31:41, Exodus 1:13, 14:12, 12:2, Leviticus 25:40 all of these verses use pelach for other than God.


2. Some Christians make the claim that it's Jesus, however, Daniel 7 says that the Son of Man would be served by all nations. Jesus says that the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve.

Mark 10:45 - For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

3. The Son of Man comes with the clouds

If this was talking about God, it would say that God was riding on the clouds as it says in Isaiah 19:1. This is imagery just like how the 4 pagan kingdoms come from the bottom of the sea, Daniel 7:3. The Fifth kingdom of God, one like the Son of Man, comes from the heavens, from the clouds. The pagan kingdoms come from the bottom and the kingdom of God comes from the top.

Daniel also identifies the Son of Man as the Saints of the Most High - Daniel 7:27-28