EMMANUEL, or IMMANUEL  , a Hebrew symbolical proper name, meaning " God (is) with us." When in 734–733 B.C . Ahaz, king of Judah, alarmed at the preparations made against him by the Syro-Ephraimitish alliance, was inclined to seek aid from Tiglath-pileser of Assyria, the prophet Isaiah endeavoured to allay his fear by telling him that the danger would pass away, and as a sign from Yahweh that this should be so, any young woman who should within the year bear a son, might call his name Immanuel in token of the divine protection accorded to Judah . For before the infant should come to even the immature intelligence of childhood the lands of the foe would be laid waste (Isaiah vii . 14-16) . For other interpretations, especially as regards the mother, see Ency . Bib. col . 2,62-3, and the commentaries . In the post-exilic period the historical meaning of the passage was forgotten, and a new significance was given to it in accordance with the gradually developing eschatological doctrine . This new interpretation finds expression in Matt . I . 23, where the name is applied to Jesus as the Messiah . At the close of Isaiah viii .

8 for " of thy

land, 0 Immanuel," we should probably read " of the land, for God is with us." The three passages quoted are the only instances where this word occurs in Scripture; it is frequent in hymns and devotional literature as a title of Jesus Christ .