Immanuel or Emmanuel (Hebrew: עִמָּנוּאֵל, romanized: ʿĪmmānūʾēl, "God [is] with us"; Koine Greek: Ἐμμανουήλ Emmanūēl) is a Hebrew name that appears in the Book of Isaiah (7:14) as a sign that God will protect the House of David.[1]
The Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 1:22–23) interprets this as a prophecy of the birth of the Messiah and the fulfillment of Scripture in the person of Jesus.[2] Immanuel "God (El) with us" is one of the "symbolic names" used by Isaiah, alongside Shearjashub, Maher-shalal-hash-baz, or Pele-joez-el-gibbor-abi-ad-sar-shalom. It has no particular meaning in Jewish messianism.[3]
In Christian theology by contrast, based on its use in Isaiah 7:14, the name has come to be read as a prophecy of the Christ, following Matthew 1:23, where Immanuel (Ἐμμανουὴλ) is translated as μεθ ἡμῶν ὁ Θεός (KJV: "God with us"), and also Luke 7:14–16 after the raising of the dead man in Nain, where it was rumoured throughout all Judaea that "God has visited his people" (KJV).
- ^ Sweeney 1996, p. 169, 174.
- ^ France 2007, p. 46–47.
- ^ "IMMANUEL". jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/. JewishEncyclopedia.com. Retrieved 11 March 2015.