Meaning of Emmanuel in the Bible

Here we explain the meaning of Immanuel in the bible . Although it says in Isaiah 7:14 “you shall call his name Immanuel”, Mary and Joseph did not give their son that name.

Instead, they followed the instructions specifically given to them in Matthew 1:21 (Joseph in a dream) and Luke 1:31 (Mary for the angel Gabriel) to name him Jesus.

As seen in Matthew 1:23, the meaning of Immanuel is “God with us. The promised child received the name of Jesus, but he was also Immanuel, God in the flesh. God became human so that we would know and understand him. through Jesus.

Meaning of Immanuel in the bible

Immanuel is a masculine Hebrew name that means “God with us” or “God is with us”. The name Immanuel appears in the Bible three times, twice in the Old Testament book of Isaiah (7:14 and 8: 8), and once in the Gospel of Matthew (1:23).

An alternate spelling of the name Immanuel is Immanuel, which comes from the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament.

In the book of Isaiah, a boy born in the time of King Ahaz was given the name Immanuel as a sign to the king that Judah would receive relief from the attacks of Israel and Syria: “Therefore, the Lord himself will give a sign: the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel ”(Isaiah 7:14).

The name of Immanuel engendered the fact that God would establish his guiding and protective presence with his people in this deliverance. A second far-reaching implication of Isaiah’s prophecy about a boy named Immanuel concerned the birth of Jesus Christ, the Messiah of Israel.

Seven hundred years after King Ahaz, a virgin of Nazareth named Mary became engaged to Joseph. Before they were married, an angel visited Joseph to confirm that Mary had conceived a son through the Holy Ghost (Matthew 1: 20–21). When the child was born, they were going to call him Jesus.

Matthew, understanding the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, offers this inspired revelation: “All this happened to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel.’ (which means ‘ God with us ‘ ) ”(Matthew 1: 22–23).

Jesus fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy because He was literally “God with us”; He was fully human but still fully God. Matthew recognized Jesus as Immanuel, the living expression of the Incarnation: the miracle of the Son of God who became human and who made his home among us in order to reveal God to us.

Who is Emanuel?

Jesus is Immanuel, He is not a partial revelation of God to us; Jesus is God with us in all his fullness: “For in Christ all the fullness of God lives in a human body” (Colossians 2: 9). Jesus left the glories of heaven and took the form of a servant in order to identify with us in our daily human struggles (Philippians 2: 6–11; Hebrews 4: 15–16).

Immanuel is our Savior (1 Timothy 1:15). God sent his Son to live among us and die for our sins on the cross. Through the shed blood of Christ, we can be reconciled to God (Romans 5:10; 2 Corinthians 5:19; Colossians 1:20). When we are born of His Spirit, Christ comes to live in us (2 Corinthians 6:16; Galatians 2:20).

Our Emanuel will be accompanying us forever. After his resurrection from the dead, before Jesus returned to the Father, he made this promise: “I am with you always, until the end of time” (Matthew 28:20). Nothing can separate us from God and his love for us in Christ (Romans 8: 35-39).

To really understand the meaning of Immanuel in the Bible, we must examine the origin of the word in Isaiah:

Immanuel in Isaiah

Isaiah 7:14 is the first place the word appears in the Bible. Here the Lord speaks through Isaiah the prophet to Ahaz, king of Judah. At this time in Israel’s history, the land was divided between the northern and southern kingdoms (the northern kingdom was often referred to as “Israel” and the southern kingdom as “Judah”).

Ahaz is afraid because the northern kingdom has joined forces with the neighboring land of Syria, and he believes that they will try to destroy him and his people. But God tells him, “It will not stand, and it will not come to pass” (7: 7).

Ahaz does not believe him, and God gives him a sign that it will be so: “Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign. This sign was the birth of Immanuel or Jesus.

Scholars debate who the text refers to in its original context, with two suggestions being the wife and son of Ahaz or those of Isaiah (Isaiah 8: 1-4).

However, the passage is difficult: “One of the most significant characteristics of this verse is the mysterious tone, even vague and indeterminate, that permeates the entire passage.

The reader simply does not receive information about the identity of the maiden, or how accurately the sign works in relation to the name of Immanuel. “What is known for sure is that God gave Ahaz a sign in the form of a woman. who conceives a son and names him “Emanuel”.

The sign was to show that God was “with” his people, and with the line of David, and that his word would be fulfilled, despite their unbelief.

Emanuel in Mateo

The prophecy served its purpose in Isaiah’s day, but Matthew saw in it a more complete purpose, which was to point out the coming Messiah who would also be conceived by a virgin.

In Isaiah, the 7:14 prophecy is directed to the house of David, and his prophecy of a child to be born prepares the audience for the prophecy of 9: 6-7 of a “child to be born” for us.

Therefore, the passages in Isaiah invite a fuller interpretation, and this is what is given in Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus.

In Isaiah, the name “Immanuel” and its surrounding context speak of “the dawn of the promised golden age with the judgment of the wicked and the blessing of the righteous.

This was the ultimate sense in which the presence of God was to be manifested in Israel.

In Matthew, then, the name is applied to Jesus, which means that this promised blessing of God being with his people is extended to all who believe in him throughout the world.

Jesus fulfills the prophecy because “he will save his people from their sins” (1:21). The theme of “God with us” continues through Matthew to the end, where it culminates in the Great Commission and the last verse of the book: “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (28:20 ).

New covenant promise

The name “Emmanuel” clearly works on the prevailing biblical theme of God’s presence with his people.

The idea of ​​”God with us” is the embodiment of all of God’s promises to Israel and to all who will trust him.

Through sacrifice and mercy, God makes a way of being with his people, be it Israel in the Old Testament or the church in the New Testament, all that leads to God’s final act in Revelation 21: 3: “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.

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Conclusion: Jesus is the final fulfillment of this theme, both in his identification with humanity by becoming a man and in his death on the cross for sin.

In this sense the meaning of Immanuel in the bible really embodies the symbolism of the new birth. The birth of Jesus, the Holy One of Israel , the Messiah and Savior of all men, has made God “with us.”