The name of the Son of Man is much disputed in social media forums today. Many try to derive its original spelling but it might not have been written in the first languages of those who known the original name. Perhaps the best preserved form is that used by speakers of Aramaic-like languages today and the related language, Arabic. An anglicised form is Isa. The beginning of the prophet Isaiah‘s anglicised name is not by accident a good rendering of the Son of Man’s human name. Isaiah in chapter 8 of his book had hinted by prophecy that he himself, Isaiah, was a sign just as his children were signs: and how were his children signs? By their names. So Isaiah was a sign by his name. His name Isaiah started with Isa. Isa means ‘delivers’ or ‘saves’. Isaiah means Yahweh saves. So the sign of Isaiah’s name is that the Son of Man would come to save, as salvation coming from God. Much of Isaiah’s prophecies were about this Son of Man, the Messiah: Isa al-Masih, as it is written in anglicised Arabic form today.
