Q:

What is the meaning of "What kind of man is this" in Matthew 8:27?

King James Bible Matthew 8:27

But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!

υπεράνθρωπος superman?

A:

In the Greek of Matt 8:27 the OP's highlighted question is just three words:  Ποταπός ἐστιν οὗτος = What kind/type is this?  Most translations supply a word such as "man" or "person".  Young's literal says:

'What kind -- is this,

The word Ποταπός (occurring just seven times in the NT Matt 8:27, Mark 13;1, Luke 1:29, 7:39, 2 Peter 3:11, 1 John 3:1) is given the definition in BDAG of: "interrogative reference to class or kind, of what sort or kind(?)". The best translation of this phrase here is given by the NKJV as:

“Who can this be,

Thus, the disciples "marveled" and were amazed that even the the natural forces of nature obey the voice of Jesus.  It was probably this event where they began to sense the greatness of Jesus by glimpsing His creative power and authority.  As Ellicott observes:

(27) The men marvelled.—This use of so vague a term as “men,” as
applied to the disciples, is so exceptional as to suggest the thought
that there were others in the boat with them. The marvel was not
without a “great fear” (Mark 4:41). The Presence among them was
mightier even than they had thought, and the elements, which seemed
far more removed from human control than leprosy or fever, were yet
subject to His sovereignty.

Barnes puts it even more forcefully:

Jesus spake to the winds; rebuked their raging, and the sea was
suddenly calm. The storm subsided; the ship glided smoothly; danger
fled; and in amazement they stood in the presence of him who
controlled the tempests that God had raised; and they felt that "he"
must be God himself, for none but God could calm the heaving billows
and scatter the tempest. No scene could have been more grand than this
display of the power of Jesus. The darkness; the dashing waves; the
howling winds; the heaving and tossing ship; the fears and cries of
the seamen, all by a single word hushed into calm repose, present an
image of power and divinity irresistibly grand and awful. So the
tempest rolls and thickens over the head of the awakened sinner. So he
trembles over immediate and awful destruction. So, while the storm of
wrath howls, and hell threatens to ingulf him, he comes trembling to
the Saviour. He hears; he rebukes the storm, and the sinner is safe.
An indescribable peace takes possession of the soul, and he glides on
a tranquil sea to the haven of eternal rest.

A:

The word 'man' anthropos is not in the text. (Nor is the word υπεράνθρωπος.) The word is ποταπος potapos.
ποταπος potapos means 'of what kind' or 'of what place' or 'of what quality' see Biblehub Strong 4217

ποταπος εστιν ουτος [Matthew 8:27 TR - undisputed]

what kind is this ? [literal - Robert Young]

The same construction is used in 2 Peter 3:11 :

ποταπους δει υπαρχειν υμας [2 Peter 3:11 TR - undisputed]

what kind ought to be ye ? [literal]

The word 'person' in Matthew and 'persons' in Peter are understood, but not present in the text.
What sort is this ? or What kind is this ? is what was asked in Matthew 8:27.

