What Does Immanuel Mean? “God With Us” in Isaiah and Matthew

Immanuel is a Hebrew name that means “God with us.” Matthew says so himself: after quoting Isaiah 7:14, he adds that the name means “God with us” (Matthew 1:23).

Older English Bibles spell it Emmanuel in Matthew, following the Greek form of the name.

The name joins three parts: im, “with”; anu, “us”; and el, “God.” The STEPBible lexicon from Tyndale House, Cambridge glosses it as “God with us” or “with us is God” (Strong's H6005). Matthew's Greek spelling is Emmanouēl (G1694).

Isaiah 7:14, the sign given to King Ahaz: “Behold, the virgin will be with child and give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.”

Isaiah 8:8, where the name is addressed directly: “its spreading streams will cover your entire land, O Immanuel!”

Isaiah 8:10, which closes the next oracle with the same words: “For God is with us.”

Matthew 1:23, which quotes Isaiah 7:14 in the account of Jesus' birth and translates the name.

Isaiah 7 opens with Rezin king of Aram and Pekah king of Israel marching against Jerusalem. God tells Ahaz to ask for a sign, “whether from the depths of Sheol or the heights of heaven” (7:11), and Ahaz refuses.

Matthew Henry describes the moment as God making “a gracious offer to Ahaz, to confirm the foregoing predictions, and his faith in them.” Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that the Lord gives the sign Himself “since thou wilt not ask a sign, nay, rejectest the offer of one.” Verse 16 then ties the sign to Ahaz's own crisis: “before the boy knows enough to reject evil and choose good, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.”

In Matthew 1:21 the angel tells Joseph to give the child the name Jesus, “because He will save His people from their sins.” Two verses later Matthew quotes Isaiah 7:14 and gives the meaning of Immanuel, so the two names stand side by side.

Jamieson, Fausset and Brown write that the word “should be "the virgin" meaning that particular virgin destined to this unparalleled distinction.” John Gill holds that the words “are rightly applied to the virgin Mary and her son Jesus, for of no other can they be understood.” The verse pages for Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew 1:23 quote all three commentaries side by side for readers who want to weigh both settings.

Jamieson, Fausset and Brown also connect the name to Isaiah 9:6, noting that “Unto us . . . God” is equivalent to “Immanuel” (Isa 7:14).

Because Matthew places the name inside the account of Jesus' birth, Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew 1:23 are among the most read texts of Advent and Christmas. The carol “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” takes its refrain from the name.