Question:

Isaiah 7:14 says "The Virgin will be with child and will call him Immanuel." Immanuel means "God With Us." Yeshua means "God (Yah) Shall Save (Shua)." Isaiah 7:14 seems to specifically suggest that the Virgin will CALL the child Immanuel. Since "God With Us" and "God Shall Save" are not identical names, what are we to make of this?

In Matthew 1:23 we read: "Behold, the parthenos (young woman/virgin) shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which translated means, "God with us."

According to many skeptics, no one ever called Jesus by the name "Immanuel", which suggests a failed prophecy. In their view, because Matthew quoted from Isaiah the phrase "call his name" we should understand "Immanuel" to be taken literally since other biblical passages use names literally (i.e., Adam’s naming of Seth; Cain’s naming of Enoch; Seth’s naming of Enos, etc...). But if Matthew intended the name "Immanuel" to be taken literally then why do we not see any reference to it? Thought provoking? I’ll say it is.

Since the New Testament writers are silent on using the name "Immanuel" one can infer that Matthew's reasoning for referencing "Immanuel" was for the purpose of drawing attention to the activities of Jesus in which he saw characteristics in the meaning of the name "Immanuel" which had prior significance to Isaiah (Is. 7:14). Though that child or son was born void of the attributes that accompany the meaning (Is. 7:16) he was nonetheless seen as a sign that God was with them in a troublesome time. Knowing this, the writer of Matthew tapped into that meaning and used it for symbolic purposes that seemed to fit known characteristics about Jesus.

That the writer of Matthew used "Immanuel" for symbolic purposes is an idea favored by a scholarly consensus. They say, "that names of individuals expressed their personality and status or nature" (The Oxford Companion, pg. 545) as we see in other symbolic reference to Jesus (i.e. "King of kings," "The Lamb of God," "Chief Shepherd," etc.). Indeed, it is likely that Matthew used "Immanuel" for the same purpose, as many skeptics contend, Jesus is nowhere actually called "Immanuel." Instead, we see New Testament writers interpreting Jesus to have characteristics implied in the meaning of Immanuel; a meaning that can also be inferred at other locations: John 1:1-3; John 1:14; John 20:28; Col. 2:9; etc. In light of these considerations, the idea that Jesus was going to be literally called "Immanuel" doesn’t hold water and the notion that Jesus’ reported characteristics were found in the meaning of "Immanuel" suggests symbolic significance.

Isaiah 9:6 states that His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Yeshua was never called these things as His name, per se, yet that does not make Him less of who He really is.

Matthew, if he were trying to pull the wool over people's eyes, would have had Mary or someone else in the gospel simply called Yeshua "Immanuel" a couple of times in order to prove his point. Since that does not occur, evidently Matthew (like 99.9% of everyone else), sees that the Isaiah 7:14 phrase "his name shall be called" was in a symbolic form.

Can we prove that Mary ever called Him "Immanuel"? No. Can anyone else prove that Mary NEVER called Him "Immanuel"? No.

Let's examine "TO CALL":

(The below was borrowed from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright (c)1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

Qara' OT:7121, "to call, call out, recite." This root occurs in Old Aramaic, Canaanite, and Ugaritic, and other Semitic languages (except Ethiopic). The word appears in all periods of biblical Hebrew.

Qara' may signify the "specification of a name." Naming a thing is frequently an assertion of sovereignty over it, which is the case in the first use of qara': "And God called the light day, and the darkness he called Night" Gen 1:5. God's act of creating, "naming," and numbering includes the stars Ps 147:4 and all other things Isa 40:26. He allowed Adam to "name" the animals as a concrete demonstration of man's relative sovereignty over them Gen 2:19. Divine sovereignty and election are extended over all generations, for God "called" them all from the beginning Isa 41:4; cf. Amos 5:8. "Calling" or "naming" an individual may specify the individual's primary characteristic Gen 27:36; it may consist of a confession or evaluation Isa 58:13; 60:14; and it may recognize an eternal truth Isa 7:14.

This verb also is used to indicate "calling to a specific task." In Ex 2:7, Moses' sister Miriam asked Pharaoh's daughter if she should go and "call" (summon) a nurse. Israel was "called" (elected) by God to be His people Isa 65:12, as were the Gentiles in the messianic age Isa 55:5.

To "call" on God's name is to summon His aid. This emphasis appears in Gen 4:26, where men began to "call" on the name of the Lord. Such a "calling" on God's name occurs against the background of the Fall and the murder of Abel. The "calling" on God's name is clearly not the beginning of prayer, since communication between God and man existed since the Garden of Eden; nor is it an indication of the beginning of formal worship, since formal worship began at least as early as the offerings of Cain and Abel Gen 4:7 ff.. The sense of "summoning" God to one's aid was surely in Abraham's mind when he "called upon" God's name Gen 12:8.

"Calling" in this sense constitutes a prayer prompted by recognized need and directed to One who is able and willing to respond Ps 145:18; Isa 55:6.

Basically, qara' means "to call out loudly" in order to get someone's attention so that contact can be initiated. So Job is told: "Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn?" Job 5:11. Often this verb represents sustained communication, paralleling "to say" ('amar), as in Gen 3:9: "And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him...." Qara' can also mean "to call out a warning," so that direct contact may be avoided: "And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean" Lev 13:45.

Qara' may mean "to shout" or "to call out loudly." Goliath "shouted" toward the ranks of Israel 1 Sam 17:8 and challenged them to individual combat (duel). Sometimes ancient peoples settled battles through such combatants. Before battling an enemy, Israel was directed to offer them peace: "When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it [call out to it in terms of peace]" Deut 20:10.

Qara' may also mean "to proclaim" or "to announce," as when Israel proclaimed peace to the sons of Benjamin Judg 21:13. This sense first occurs in Gen 41:43, where we are told that Joseph rode in the second chariot; "and they cried before him, Bow the knee." Haman recommended to King Ahasuerus that he adorn the one to be honored and "proclaim" ("announce") before him, "Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honor" Est 6:9. This proclamation would tell everyone that the man so announced was honored by the king. The two emphases, "proclamation" and "announce," occur in Ex 32:5: "...Aaron made proclamation, and said, Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord." This instance implies "summoning" an official assemblage of the people. In prophetic literature, qara' is a technical term for "declaring" a prophetic message: "For the saying which he cried by the word of the Lord... shall surely come to pass" 1 Kings 13:32.

Another major emphasis of qara' is "to summon." When Pharaoh discovered Abram's deceit concerning Sarai, he "summoned" ("called") Abram so that he might correct the situation Gen 12:18. Often the summons is in the form of a friendly invitation, as when Reuel (or Jethro) told his daughters to "invite him [Moses] to have something to eat" Ex 2:20, "that he may eat bread," KJV. The participial form of qara' is used to denote "invited guests": "As soon as you enter the city you will find him before he goes up to the high place to eat... afterward those who are invited will eat" 1 Sam 9:13, NASB. This verb is also used in judicial contexts, to mean being "summoned to court"; if a man is accused of not fulfilling his levirate responsibility, "then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak unto him..." Deut 25:8. Qara' is used of "summoning" someone and or "mustering" an army: "Why hast thou served us thus, that thou calledst us not, when thou wentest to fight with the Midianites?" Judg 8:1

The meaning "to read" apparently arose from the meaning "to announce" and "to declare," inasmuch as reading was done out loud so that others could hear. This sense appears in Ex 24:7. In several prophetic passages, the Septuagint translates qara' "to read" rather than "to proclaim" (cf. Jer 3:12; 7:2,27; 19:2). Qara' means "to read to oneself" only in a few passages.

At least once, the verb qara' means "to dictate": "Then Baruch answered them, He [dictated] all these words unto me... and I wrote them with ink in the book" Jer 36:18.