What does Immanuel mean?
The name appears first as a sign forced on a king who would not ask for one, and it reappears in Matthew's account of the birth of Jesus with its meaning spelled out. Behind those three syllables sit two questions: who is this child, and what does His coming do for people who could not survive God's nearness?
The plain meaning
Writers agree on the translation, and they draw a conclusion about the Person from it. The name is not a slogan about God's help; it is a statement about who the child is:
Morrish Bible DictionaryIn the New Testament 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.
A sign to a king who refused one
The setting is a national emergency. Two kings had joined forces against Judah, and Ahaz, on David's throne, was told to stay calm and trust God:
Morrish Bible DictionaryJehovah 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 offer of a sign in the depth or the height was not wasted. One writer sees both extremes met in the one child:
H J VineLook at "the depth" of human weakness — that wonderful Baby nursed on the virgin's lap; but even there His name tells us of "the height" of His glory — "IMMANUEL," "GOD with us." He is truly the Sign in "the depth" and "the height."
The name settles who Jesus is
The name is used as direct evidence in the argument over Christ's deity. Against the claim that Scripture never calls Jesus God, one writer answers:
J. N. Darby"The Word was with God, and the Word was God." "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." You will not deny that this was Jesus: did God, for such the Word was, cease to be God? He was "in the form of God," laid aside His glory, "and took the form of a servant;" but He is called God: Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us (Matthew 1:23). The Scriptures do therefore call Him God.
Why it needs the name "Jesus" beside it
Matthew records two names in the same passage, and commentators tie them together tightly. God coming near is only good news if the sin problem is dealt with first:
F. B. HoleHis prophetic Name, Emmanuel, indicated that He should be God manifested in the flesh — God among us in a far more wonderful way than He was ever seen in the middle of Israel in the days of Moses, far more wonderful also than the way in which He was with Adam in the days before sin entered the world. The two names are closely connected. To have God with us, without our being saved from our sins, would be impossible: His presence would only overwhelm us in judgment. To be saved from our sins, without God being brought to us, might have been possible, but the story of grace would have lost its chief glory. In the coming of Jesus we have both. God has been brought to us, and our sins being removed, we have been brought to Him.
A real birth, not a religious idea
Some have tried to attach the prophecy to a child born in Isaiah's own day. Writers answer that the New Testament treats it as a plain event, and that no other candidate fits:
William KellyThere were other children for signs and for wonders in Israel — Shear-jashub already born, and Maher-shalal-hash-baz about to be, sons of the prophet; but they are as distinct from the virgin's Son Immanuel as Hezekiah was, already at least a dozen years old and born before Ahaz came to the throne. Neither he, nor Isaiah's children, were born of a virgin; nor could even Hezekiah, still less a future unknown son of Ahaz, call it his land, as Immanuel can.
The land that carries His name
Isaiah later addresses the country itself as belonging to Immanuel, and that title has outlasted every occupying army:
W. W. FeredayPalestine (Exodus 15:14) comes from the fact that the Philistines occupied a large strip of the coastland for several centuries; Canaan (Genesis 12:5-6) recalls the inhabitants in general before the conquest; The Land of Israel (Matthew 2:20-21) connects itself very clearly with the people of God's sovereign choice; while Immanuel's land (Isaiah 8:8) marks it as the personal possession of Him who is "God with us."
Fulfilled, and still unfolding
Commentators place the emphasis differently. Some point to the coming of Christ as the fulfilment; another argues that the birth was the guarantee of something still ahead for Israel:
Edward DennettNot that the birth in and by itself contained its accomplishment: it was rather its pledge and guarantee. The meaning of the name, as divinely interpreted, is "God with us"; and this lets us see that it looks forward to the full consequences for Israel of the introduction of their Messiah into this world.
Summary
- Meaning. Immanuel means "God with us" — a name that says the child is God, and became man.
- Sign. It was given to Ahaz, who refused to ask; God offered a sign in the depth or the height, and gave one that reaches both.
- Saviour. "God with us" needs "Jesus" alongside it: God near us without our sins removed would only overwhelm us in judgment.
- Land. The name stretches past the manger to the country Isaiah calls Immanuel's land, His own possession.
- Reach. Both names are answered in one Person — God brought to us, and we brought to Him.