Many Faces of The Son of God by slaveofone
It may be a surprise for some to learn that in ancient Hebraic texts, Yeshua was neither the first nor last to be called the Son of God (or even the first-born Son of God). It appears that the collected tribes of Jacob, Israel herself, was the first to gain this distinction.
Thus says YHWH,
Israel is my Son, my first-born.Exodus 4:22
Referring back to this event, a prophet says in the name of YHWH:
When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my Son.
Hosea 11:1
In Joseph and Aseneth, a Jewish romance and missionary novel dated sometime, perhaps, in the first century of the common era, Joseph is referred to three times as the Son of God—twice by his bride-to-be (Aseneth) and once by Pharaoh.
And how will Joseph, the Son of God, regard me, for I have spoken evil of him? …I spoke evil of him and did not know that Joseph is the Son of God.
Joseph and Aseneth 6:2, 6
And Pharaoh was astonished at her beauty and said, “The Lord will bless you [Aseneth], the God of Joseph, who has chosen you to be his bride, for he [Joseph] is the first-born Son of God…
Joseph and Aseneth 21:3
This is by no means a complete listing of such occurrences, but it serves to show that this term has been abused in some theological circles by injecting it with all sorts of meanings incompatible with its ancient usage. Son of God
no more refers to divinity or third person of the Trinity when speaking of Yeshua than it does when descriptive of the nation of Israel or Joseph. As it has been noted by many others, Son of God
is a functional title, not the ontological description of a person’s being.