28. The Son of man symbolizes the Lord in relation to the Word because prophets also were called sons of man. Prophets were also called sons of man because they represented the Lord in relation to the Word, and therefore they symbolized the doctrine of the church drawn from the Word. Prophets have no other meaning in heaven when they are mentioned in the Word. For the spiritual meaning of a prophet, as also that of the Son of man, is the doctrine of the church drawn from the Word, and when referring to the Lord it is the Word itself.

That the prophet Daniel was called son of man may be seen in Daniel 8:17.

That the prophet Ezekiel was called son of man may be seen in Ezekiel 2:1, 3, 6, 8, 3:1, 3-4, 10, 17, 25, 4:1, 16, 5:1, 6:2, 7:2, 8:5-6, 8, 12, 15, 11:2, 4, 15, 12:2-3, 9, 18, 22, 27, 13:2, 17, 14:3, 13, 15:2, 16:2, 17:2, 20:3-4, 27, 46, 21:7, 11, 14, 17, 19, 24, 22:18, 24, 23:2, 36, 24:2, 16, 25, 25:2, 26:2, 27:2, 28:2, 12, 21, 29:2, 18, 30:2, 21, 31:2, 32:2, 18, 33:2, 7, 10, 12, 24, 30, 34:2, 35:2, 36:1, 17, 37:3, 9, 11, 16, 38:2, 14, 39:1, 17, 40:4, 43:7, 10, 18, 44:5.

It is apparent now from this that the Lord in relation to His Divine humanity is called the Son of God, and in relation to the Word the Son of man.

In Ezekiel 26:11, this signifies the love of learning or intellectual things. (Arcana Coelestia 3727)

In Revelation 6:2, this signifies the love of understanding the Word. (Apocalypse Revealed 298)

In Zechariah 12:4, this signifies that the intellectual should be filled with falsities. (Arcana Coelestia 2383[2])

In general, 'a horse' signifies knowledge or understanding of the Word. In an opposite sense it signifies the understanding of the Word falsified by reasonings, and likewise destroyed from self-derived intelligence. 'A dead horse' signifies no understanding of truth from the Word.