---
title: Daniel 7:13
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/daniel-7-13/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/daniel-7-13.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: Daniel 7:13
testament: OT
section: Prophets
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# Daniel 7:13

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> In my vision in the night I continued to watch,  and 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.

## JW Usage

JWs read Daniel 7:13-14 as the Son of Man receiving kingdom authority from the Ancient of Days in 1914. The "coming with the clouds" is interpreted as an invisible heavenly enthronement, not a visible descent to earth. The vision supports the Watchtower's 1914 framework: Jesus received the kingdom invisibly and began directing his earthly organisation through the "faithful and discreet slave."

## Protestant Usage

Daniel 7:13-14 is the exegetical key to the "coming on the clouds" language in the Gospels. The Son of Man "coming with the clouds of heaven" goes UP to the Ancient of Days to receive the kingdom — the direction is toward heaven, not descending to earth. This is the Ascension. The Son of Man receives "rulership, honour, and a kingdom" so that "peoples and nations of every language should serve him" (v. 14). The NWT's own 1945 edition used "worship" in Hebrews 1:6 for this same proskuneo before later editions changed it to "obeisance." A parousia (royal arrival) is consequential: Christ's AD 70 judgment was unmistakably consequential — temple destroyed, priesthood ended, sacrificial system terminated. The year 1914 had zero verifiable consequences except the Watchtower claiming authority. A parousia without consequences is no parousia at all.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [Christ's Three-Category Parousia](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/parousia-three-categories.md) — AD 70 / Present Reign / Future Return [Eschatology]
- [Jesus Receives Worship](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/worship-of-jesus.md) — Hebrews 1:6 / Revelation 5:13–14 / Daniel 7:13–14 [Deity of Christ]
- [The Trial That Proved Jesus Claimed to Be God](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/mark14-trial-deity-claim.md) — Mark 14:60-64 [Deity of Christ]
- [Liar, Lunatic, or Lord — There Is No Fourth Option](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/liar-lunatic-lord.md) — John 8:58 / John 10:30 / Mark 14:62 [Deity of Christ]
- [The Son of Man on the Clouds — A Divine Prerogative](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/daniel7-son-of-man-deity.md) — Daniel 7:13-14 [Deity of Christ]
- ["Nor the Son" — and "You Are Aware of All Things"](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/jesus-knowledge-mark-13-32.md) — Mark 13:32 / Revelation 1:1 / Revelation 14:14-16 — what the Son didn't know, and what he did [Deity of Christ]
- [David's Son, David's Lord](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/psalm-110-my-lord.md) — Psalm 110:1 / Matthew 22:41-46 — the question Jesus asked that nobody could answer [Deity of Christ]