A title of our Lord, found in the Gospels about 80 times, used by him in speaking of himself, but never used by anyone else in speaking of him, though we see from Acts 7: 56 that Christians did apply it to him soon after his ascension. In the O.T. the expression “son of man” is frequently used to denote simply “a man” (e.g., Ps. 8: 4; Ps. 80: 17; Num. 23: 19; Job 25: 6). The expression is found 90 times in the book of Ezekiel, where the Lord uses the term for the prophet.

The main ideas that probably underlie the title as applied to our Lord are (1) lowliness, humility, and suffering (Matt. 11: 19 = Luke 7: 34; Mark 8: 31; Mark 9: 31; Mark 10: 34; Mark 14: 21); (2) honor and dignity, as head and founder of the kingdom of God, and judge of all men (Mark 2: 10, 28; Matt. 13: 41; Matt. 16: 28; Matt. 19: 28; Matt. 24: 30-31; Matt. 25: 31; Matt. 26: 64); (3) the thought of him as the representative or ideal Man, chosen by our Lord as expressive of his headship over the whole human family.

Latter-day revelation confirms the special meaning and sacredness of this phrase when used as a name of the Savior, as in D&C 45: 39; D&C 49: 6, 22; D&C 58: 65; Moses 6: 57.