Immanuel
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- Immanuel is also a town in Israel, near Ariel. For other articles, please see Emanuel (disambiguation).
Judaism and the Hebrew Bible
Judaism reads the verse in Isaiah 7:14 as:
- "Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: behold, the young woman [ha-almah] shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanu-el". See the original Hebrew with English translation [link].
Context of Isaiah 7:14 according to Judaism
Ahaz king of Jerusalem was besieged. Through Isaiah, God sends a message. Ahaz is reluctant to accept it, but is told he will get a sign. So Isaiah 7:10-17 states:
- And the LORD spoke again unto Ahaz, saying:
- 11 יא שְׁאַל-לְךָ אוֹת, מֵעִם יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ; הַעְמֵק שְׁאָלָה, אוֹ הַגְבֵּהַּ לְמָעְלָה.
- :'Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God: ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.'
- 12 יב וַיֹּאמֶר, אָחָז: לֹא-אֶשְׁאַל וְלֹא-אֲנַסֶּה, אֶת-יְהוָה.
- :But Ahaz said: 'I will not ask, neither will I try the LORD.'
- 13 יג וַיֹּאמֶר, שִׁמְעוּ-נָא בֵּית דָּוִד: הַמְעַט מִכֶּם הַלְאוֹת אֲנָשִׁים, כִּי תַלְאוּ גַּם אֶת-אֱלֹהָי.
- :And he said: 'Hear ye now, O house of David: Is it a small thing for you to weary men, that ye will weary my God also?
- יד לָכֵן יִתֵּן אֲדֹנָי הוּא, לָכֶם--אוֹת: הִנֵּה הָעַלְמָה, הָרָה וְיֹלֶדֶת בֵּן, וְקָרָאת שְׁמוֹ, עִמָּנוּ אֵל. 14
- :Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: behold, the young woman shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
- 15 טו חֶמְאָה וּדְבַשׁ, יֹאכֵל--לְדַעְתּוֹ מָאוֹס בָּרָע, וּבָחוֹר בַּטּוֹב.
- :Curd and honey shall he eat, when he knoweth to refuse the evil, and choose the good.
- 16 טז כִּי בְּטֶרֶם יֵדַע הַנַּעַר, מָאֹס בָּרָע--וּבָחֹר בַּטּוֹב: תֵּעָזֵב הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה קָץ, מִפְּנֵי שְׁנֵי מְלָכֶיהָ.
- :Yea, before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land whose two kings thou hast a horror of shall be forsaken.
- :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'.[link]
Hebrew translation
Meaning of “almah’”
The word almah is not used in Hebrew to refer to a virgin. The word for virgin is [betulah]. Genesis 24:16, Exodus 22:16-17, Leviticus 21:14, and most explicitly in Deuteronomy 22:13-21.Jewish tradition states that the "young woman" was in fact Isaiah’s wife and the birth of the child is recorded later in Isaiah 8:3.
As an example of how '[almah]'' is used, in Proverbs 30:18-20:
- 18 There are three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not:
- 19 יט דֶּרֶךְ הַנֶּשֶׁר, בַּשָּׁמַיִם-- דֶּרֶךְ נָחָשׁ, עֲלֵי-צוּר;
- דֶּרֶךְ-אֳנִיָּה בְלֶב-יָם-- וְדֶרֶךְ גֶּבֶר בְּעַלְמָה
- :The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock;
- :the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a young woman.
- 20 כ כֵּן, דֶּרֶךְ אִשָּׁה-- מְנָאָפֶת
- אָכְלָה, וּמָחֲתָה פִיהָ; וְאָמְרָה, לֹא-פָעַלְתִּי אָוֶן
- :So is the way of an adulterous woman;
- :she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith: 'I have done no wickedness.'[link]
The article in “ha-almah’”
The word “ha” is generally translated as the definite article “the”. Some interpreters (e.g. the authors of the New English Translation) however believe that its use here means that the young woman was present to the conversation, and thus render “ha-almah’” as “this young woman”. That is taken to refer to either a member of the royal family or the “prophetess” mentioned in Isaiah 8.Adjective “harah הָרָה ” and time of pregnancy
The adjective “harah הָרָה ” is used predicatively. From the narrator’s perspective, Jewish scholars argue that this generally means a past, or present, or imminent future pregnancy.(see 1 Sam 4:19,; Gen 16:11 and 38:24; 2 Sam 11:5; Judg 13:5, 7) With that in mind, the translation of Isaiah 7:14 may also be rendered as either “the [or this] young woman is pregnant” or “the [or this] young woman will soon be pregnant”.Naming of Immanuel
The verb "karat קָרָאת" has mostly been taken as an archaic form of the third feminine singular, and rendered as “she will name”. However, some interpreters think that it should be more naturally understood as a second feminine singular.#redirect If this was so, the passage could be rendered “and you [young woman] will call his name Immanuel”. The name itself, meaning “God [is] with us”, Judaism argues while noble, does not imply a divine nature of the boy.Christian interpretation
The Christian interpretation of Immanuel in Isaiah 7:14 is based on the following scriptures in the Christian New Testament where the conception and birth of Jesus Christ are described:
( KJV) But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. (21) And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. (22) Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, (23) Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
Based on these scriptures many Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the Immanuel prophesied of in Isaiah 7:14 and that He is "God with us". Many also believe that Jesus was born by means of a Virgin Birth and through the power of the Holy Spirit rather than through normal conception by man.
On translating the Greek Textus Receptus of , there is little problem in translating the Greek word "parthenos" as "virgin" which is the usual Greek word for virgin:
( Greek Textus Receptus) ιδου η παρθενος εν γαστρι εξει και τεξεται υιον και καλεσουσιν το ονομα αυτου εμμανουηλ ο εστιν μεθερμηνευομενον μεθ ημων ο θεος
It is from the transliteration of the Greek text that the spelling Emmanuel was introduced for the Hebrew name Immanuel.
Upon examination of the Greek Septuagint text at Isaiah 7:14 one can also find the word 'parthenos"("virgin") rather than the usual Greek word "neanis" for "young woman" strongly indicating that a Virgin Birth is prophesied of.
However, the use of the Hebrew word "almah" in the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible has stirred controversy among a number of scholars and in fact has produced what is known as The Almah Controversy. This has resulted in variations between Bible translations,with some translations using "young woman" as does the New English Translation or NET Bible:
Isaiah 7:14 “For this reason the sovereign master himself will give you a confirming sign. Look, this young woman is about to conceive and will give birth to a son. You, young woman, will name him Immanuel.”
And a number of translations using the word "virgin" as does the King James Bible:
Isaiah 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."
It is also used as first name among Christians. Examples are Immanuel Kant, Victor Emmanuel of Italy. In Greece the name Manolis is considered a nickname for Emmanuel.
See also
- Gospel of Matthew
- Virgin Birth (Christian doctrine)
- List of names referring to El
- Emmanuel of Portugal (disambiguation page)
- Emmanuel College, Cambridge
- Immanuel College
Footnotes
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