What doesImmanuelmean?
Immanuel (also spelled Emmanuel) means "God with us."
The name appears first as a prophecy in Isaiah 7:14 — "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel" — and finds its fulfilment in Matthew 1:23, where the angel declares that the child born of Mary shall be called Emmanuel, "which being interpreted is, God with us."
Morrish's Bible Dictionary gives the full background:
Morrish's Bible DictionaryNames of the Messiah prophetically announced, meaning "God with us." The introduction of this name is remarkable. Ahaz king of Judah, being attacked by Rezin king of Syria, and Pekah king of Israel ... Isaiah was sent to tell him to be quiet and fear not. Jehovah then told Ahaz to ask for a sign, either in the deep or in the height above; but Ahaz refused to ask; therefore the Lord gave him this sign, "Behold, the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."
The dictionary also explains how this could be a "sign" to Ahaz centuries before its fulfilment:
The prophetic announcement of the birth of such a child was the present evidence to faith that whatever combinations men might make, the remnant could count on God: see Isa. 8:9-10, where they say, "God is with us."
And on the New Testament fulfilment:
In the N.T. we get the fulfilment of the above prophecy: Mary the virgin conceived and brought forth her Son. His name was Jesus, and also Emmanuel, 'God with us,' showing that He was God, and became man. Matt. 1:23.
J. T. Mawson develops the meaning at length in his book Emmanuel. On the virgin birth as the heart of the name's significance:
J. T. MawsonGod's intervention was to be entirely of Himself: men were to have no part in it at all, except to receive the good that would result from it. Men cried out for a man, and still cry out for a man, and God replied, I will give you a Man, but He shall be one who owes nothing to man, whose very presence in the world shall be independent of man, for "a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son."
And on what the name declares about the Person born:
Yes, but the virgin's Son, lying upon the straw of a stable, was Emmanuel — God with us. He was "God manifest in the flesh, seen of angels" (1 Tim. 3:16). And from the lips of God went forth the command, "Let all the angels of God worship Him" (Heb. 1:6).
J. G. Bellett connects the name to the great mystery of Christ's Person — the highest linked with the lowest:
J. G. BellettThe Emmanuel of Matthew was the Babe who lay in the manger at Bethlehem. ... This is the mystery. It is the same Jesus, Emmanuel, the Son, and yet the Kinsman of the seed of Abraham.
The entry on Names in Morrish's Dictionary also places Immanuel among the titles that each reveal something distinct about one Person:
The Lord Jesus has various names: Son of God, Immanuel, Son of man, etc.: they all designate one Person, but each has its own import.
So the name Immanuel is far more than a title — it is a declaration. It means "God with us": the virgin-born child is God Himself come in the flesh. The prophecy was given as a sign to faith when all human help had failed, and its fulfilment in Christ declares that God has stepped into the scene of man's ruin — not through any human effort, but entirely of Himself — to dwell among men and to save His people from their sins.