20150625 Thursday, June 25 2015
Isaiah 07: Why Did Isaiah Say The Messiah's Name Is Immanuel?

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel"

The Hebrew word, pronounced im, is found 26 times in the Holy Scriptures. The King James Version translates it variously as with, in, against, unto, toward, as long as, beside, before and in spite of. Examples:

"24:12 And he said, O LORD God [see The LORD God Our Saviour] of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and show kindness unto [i.e. im] my master Abraham." (Genesis 24:12 KJV)

"8:5 Thou shalt also consider in [i.e. im] thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee." (Deuteronomy 8:5 KJV)

"2:21 And the LORD visited Hannah [see Hannah's Dedication], so that she conceived, and bare three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before [i.e. im] the LORD." (1 Samuel 2:21 KJV)

The Hebrew word pronounced ale (written in English as El when used in compound form) is found about 245 times in the Holy Scriptures. When used singularly, the King James Version usually translates it as "God." Examples:

"14:18 And Melchizedek king of Salem [see A History Of Jerusalem: Melchizedek's Salem] brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God [i.e. El]. 14:19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God [i.e. El], possessor of heaven and earth" (Genesis 14:18-19 KJV)

"15:2 The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God [i.e. El], and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him." (Exodus 15:2 KJV)

El is moreover used in compound forms for God, such as El-ohim, which is the plural form of a singular entity (El-ohim is the "Us" in "1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" Genesis 1:26 KJV); El-elohe-Israel which means mighty one, the God of Israel ("33:20 And he erected there an altar, and called it Elelohe-Israel" Genesis 33:20 KJV); El-Shaddai which means The Almighty God ("17:1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect" Genesis 17:1 KJV).

El was also used as a synchronic (i.e. descriptive) prefix or suffix in the names of some of God's people e.g. Daniel, Elijah, Elisha, Elizabeth, Samuel and Eleazar, among numerous others - including Israel (which in Hebrew is pronounced yiss-raw-ale; see also A Biography Of Jacob: When Jacob Became Israel).

The "im" and "El" words are also used for the Messiah. As explained above for the individual words, "Immanuel," in Hebrew pronounced im-maw-noo-ale, means God with us. The maw-noo that connects "im" and "El" isn't merely a conjunction, but a specific pronoun-suffix for El in the word.

Immanuel is found only twice in the Hebrew Scriptures - both by Isaiah. The most well-known is "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel" (see section farther below), while the other describes a time of world conquest in which even all of the "far countries" will become "the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel."

"8:5 The LORD spake also unto me again, saying, 8:6 Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son; 8:7 Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks: 8:8 And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel. 8:9 Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces. 8:10 Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us." (Isaiah 8:5-10 KJV)

Isaiah had great knowledge of the Messiah's first coming, including about John the Baptist - as well as His return (see Isaiah: Visions Of The Messiah for both).

"7:1 And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.

7:2 And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind.

7:3 Then said the LORD unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shearjashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field; 7:4 And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah. 7:5 Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying, 7:6 Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal: 7:7 Thus saith the Lord GOD,

It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass. 7:8 For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people. 7:9 And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.

7:10 Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying, 7:11 Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.

7:12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD.

7:13 And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. 7:15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. 7:16 For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings. 7:17 The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.

7:18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. 7:19 And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes. 7:20 In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard. 7:21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep; 7:22 And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land. 7:23 And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns. 7:24 With arrows and with bows shall men come thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns. 7:25 And on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns: but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle." (Isaiah 7:1-25 KJV)

Fact Finder: What does the Holy Bible actually say about the virgin who was chosen to be the mother of "Immanuel"?
See What Does The Bible Really Say About Mary?