Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

IMMANUEL

(Heb. ʿimmānûʾēl; Gk. Emmanouḗl) (also EMMANUEL)

The name of a child whose birth symbolizes the presence of God (“God [is] with us”). The name first appears in Isaiah (Isa. 7:14; 8:8; cf. v. 10) and is used in one of Matthew’s OT fulfillment quotations (Matt. 1:23, “Emmanuel”).

The context in Isaiah is the Syro-Ephraimitic crisis (735-732 b.c.). Judah was threatened by Syria and Israel because it refused to join a revolt against Assyria (cf. 2 Kgs. 16). Ahaz is warned not to depend upon Assyria for political support (Isa. 7:1-9), and Isaiah assures him of God’s protection. Ahaz refuses to ask for a sign (Isa. 7:12), perhaps because he had already sought out Assyria’s help (2 Kgs. 16:7-9). Nevertheless, God gives a double-edged sign of both salvation and judgment (Isa. 7:13-17): the young woman will conceive (or perhaps already has conceived), give birth to a son, and name him Immanuel. Before the child is old enough for moral discrimination, the two nations that threaten Judah will be destroyed. This word of hope is counterbalanced, however, with a word of threat that Ahaz’s lack of trust in God will result in a great disaster for Judah by Assyrian domination (Isa. 7:17; 8:1-10).

Many aspects of the exact interpretation of the sign and the identity of the child and his mother are in dispute. Some understand the child to be the king’s, perhaps Hezekiah. Others suggest he is the prophet’s own son, or perhaps a future reference to Jesus’ birth centuries later. The latter view, however, overlooks the contemporary situation of Isaiah. The thrust of the prophecy in its OT context is not the virginity of the child’s mother (Heb. ʿalmâ, “young woman of marriageable age”). Normally, such a person would be a virgin given prevailing social customs, but Heb. bĕṯûlâ is a more common term for virgin. Moreover, the use of the article suggests a specific woman known to Isaiah and Ahaz. The child’s birth and name thus give symbolic expression to the belief that God was present, caring for, and protecting his people, and its significance is in the providential timing of the sign.

Matthew’s citation of Isa. 7:14 is introduced with a stereotypical fulfillment formula (Matt. 1:22) and, with some minor exceptions, follows the LXX, which renders ʿalmâ by Gk. parthénos, a word normally used to translate bĕṯûlâ. Matthew uses Isa. 7:14 in his birth narrative because it supports his belief in the Davidic and divine aspects of Jesus’ identity. First, Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus seeks to establish Jesus’ Davidic lineage (Matt. 1:1-17), and Isaiah had introduced his sign by addressing Ahaz as “the house of David” (Isa. 7:13). Second, Matthew cites Isa. 7:14 after Joseph has been told that Mary’s pregnancy was by the Holy Spirit, and the reference to a “virgin” helps explain how Jesus is God’s son. Matthew’s interest is in the theological significance of the name, which he interprets lest his readers miss the meaning of the Hebrew (cf. Isa. 8:10). This fulfillment quotation underscores Matthew’s conviction that in Jesus God is present with his people. The promise of presence in Matt. 1:23 forms a frame around the entire Gospel with 28:20, where the resurrected Jesus promises, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Bibliography. R. E. Brown, The Birth of the Messiah, rev. ed. (New York, 1993); C. Seitz, Isaiah 1-39. Interpretation (Louisville, 1993).

David B. Howell

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

IMMANUEL

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)