Why wasnt Jesus named Immanuel?
The answer is ready. Here it is:
This question touches the heart of how Scripture uses names — not merely as labels, but as revelations of what a person is. The prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 was never about what would appear on a birth certificate; it was about who this Child would be in His very nature.
The Two Names in Matthew 1
Matthew 1 records both names side by side. The angel tells Joseph: "Thou shalt call His name JESUS" (v. 21), and then Matthew himself adds: "They shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us" (v. 23). The one name declares what He came to do — save His people from their sins. The other declares who He is — God with us.
Morrish's Bible Dictionary explains the relationship directly:
Morrish's Bible DictionaryIn 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.
Names in Scripture Express Character, Not Just Identity
The key is that in Scripture, "calling" someone by a name means recognising what that name expresses about them. The Morrish Bible Dictionary entry on "Names" makes this principle clear:
These are often expressive of character or of relationship. God was revealed to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as GOD ALMIGHTY, which indicates the character in which God was pleased to be known by them: He was not known to them as JEHOVAH. Ex. 6:3. This does not mean that they had not heard of the name, but that it did not express the character of His relationship with them... So 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 when Isaiah says "they shall call His name Immanuel," the prophecy is not prescribing a birth name — it is declaring that this Child would be recognised as God with us.
"Immanuel" Describes What He Is
W. Kelly, answering a question on Isaiah 7:14, draws out the deep significance:
W. Kelly"Immanuel" expresses this, God-with-us. The authentic bears the holy imprint of God's grace and truth.
J.G. Bellett traces this truth through the whole life of Christ, showing that "Immanuel" was not a mere title but a reality lived out from the manger to the throne:
J.G. BellettHe was as simply Emmanuel as an Infant in Bethlehem, as He is now at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens. All was humbling of Himself, from the womb to the cross. I forget His person or who He was, if I doubt that.
And again:
The Emmanuel of Matthew was the Babe who lay in the manger at Bethlehem. In the midst of the throne, there has been seen a Lamb, as it had been slain.
The Two Names Together Reveal the Full Glory
R. McBroom brings both names together beautifully:
R. McBroomThe great fact which appears everywhere in the New Testament comes out at His birth, namely that He is God and Man in one glorious Person. "Thou shalt call His name JESUS;" and again; "They shall call His Name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us."
Here in Matthew the Child born is to be called JESUS but the same one is Emmanuel, God with us.
J.N. Darby sees "Emmanuel" as the character-title running through Matthew's entire Gospel:
J.N. DarbyThe kingdom comes in, in Matthew, by Son of David Emmanuel, but He must be owned Son of God to be received.
And the Bible Treasury reading on Matthew 1 captures the devotional weight of it:
It is very beautiful to see "God with us." He is not content to be apart from His creatures, He tabernacled among us — He shall be with them their God.
In short, Jesus was called Immanuel — in the fullest sense Scripture intends. He was given the personal name Jesus ("Jehovah saves") because that declared His mission: to save His people from their sins. And He was called Emmanuel ("God with us") because that declared His Person: He was not merely a man sent from God, but God Himself come into the midst of His creatures. In Scripture, "they shall call his name" does not mean a name on a register — it means that people would recognise in this Child the staggering reality that God had come to dwell among them. The prophecy was not unfulfilled; it was fulfilled in the deepest possible way. Every time faith looks at Jesus and sees God with us, Isaiah 7:14 is being fulfilled.