“One like the Son of Man”
I saw One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence. (Daniel 7:13 BSB)
What it sounds like today
A humble phrase that just means 'a person'.
The cultural key
The phrase 'son of man' in Hebrew and Aramaic ordinarily means simply 'a human being', a member of the human race, and elsewhere God even addresses Ezekiel that way. Its force here is the paradox of the vision: this one is only 'like' a son of man, a human-looking figure, yet he comes 'with the clouds of heaven', something said elsewhere only of God, and he is led before the Ancient of Days and given everlasting, universal dominion and worship. So the scene presents a figure who is at once human and shares the glory and rule of God. Jesus repeatedly chose 'the Son of Man' as his own self-designation, quietly claiming this exact vision, and at his trial he applies Daniel 7 to himself ('you will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds'), which the high priest hears as blasphemy. The reader who takes 'son of man' as mere humility misses that Daniel's figure is a human being clothed with the authority of heaven.
Recovered meaning
'Son of Man' means 'a human one,' but Daniel's figure comes on the clouds like God and receives eternal dominion, both human and sharing God's glory. Jesus took this title as his own, claiming Daniel's vision.