Emmanuel means God with us. The Gospel of Matthew explains it in the same breath that it gives the name: "they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us" (Matthew 1:23). The name comes from a Hebrew phrase, immanu El, first given by the prophet Isaiah as a sign: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14). Christians read the name as a title of Jesus, not His given name, which was JESUS. It says who He is: God Himself come to live among His people. Immanuel is the Old Testament spelling and Emmanuel the New Testament one; the meaning is the same.
Emmanuel is one of the best-loved words of Advent. It is sung in O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, printed on Christmas cards and given to baby boys around the world. Yet the name appears only three times in the whole King James Bible: twice in Isaiah (7:14 and 8:8, spelled Immanuel) and once in Matthew (1:23, spelled Emmanuel). Isaiah 8:10 adds the same words as a sentence, for God is with us. This page explains what the name means, where it comes from, why the prophet first gave it to a frightened king, and how the New Testament sees it fulfilled in Jesus. The 12 KJV verses below follow the name from Isaiah's sign, to the birth in Bethlehem, to the promise that God will one day dwell with His people for ever. For the hymn, see O Come, O Come, Emmanuel lyrics and meaning; for the other titles of Christ, see names of Jesus.
The sign given to Ahaz (Isaiah 7-9)
1. 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."
The name was first spoken to a king in a panic. About 735 BC, the kings of Syria and Israel marched on Jerusalem, and King Ahaz of Judah and his people shook like trees in the wind (Isaiah 7:2). God sent Isaiah to tell Ahaz to trust Him and even to ask for a sign. Ahaz refused, so God gave one anyway: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Before such a child could tell good from evil, the two enemy kings would be gone (Isaiah 7:16). The sign answered Ahaz's fear with a name: God is with us.
2. Isaiah 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."
The second Immanuel comes in a warning. Ahaz turned to the king of Assyria for help instead of to God, and Isaiah said that Assyria would sweep through Judah like a river in flood: he shall reach even to the neck. Then the prophet speaks straight to the child of the promise: the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel. The land of Judah is called Immanuel's land. Even in judgment, it still belongs to the One whose name means God with us, and the flood rises only to the neck, not over the head.
3. Isaiah 8:10
"Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us."
Two verses later, the name becomes a shout of defiance against the nations that plot against God's people: Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us. In Hebrew the last words are the same as the name, immanu El. This is the heart of the meaning. Emmanuel is not just a beautiful idea. It is the reason God's people need not fear, because no plan against them can stand when God Himself is on their side. See Bible verses about God always being with us.
4. Isaiah 9:6
"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."
Isaiah's sign grows into a greater promise in the next chapter. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and His names are Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. The child in Isaiah 7 is called God with us; the child in Isaiah 9 is called The mighty God. Christians have always read these chapters together, which is why both are read in Advent and sung in Handel's Messiah. The promise to Ahaz pointed beyond his own day to a King whose government would never end (Isaiah 9:7).
God with us in Jesus (Matthew 1, John 1)
5. Matthew 1:21
"And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins."
Seven hundred years after Isaiah, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream. Mary, the young woman he was to marry, was with child of the Holy Ghost. The angel told him to take her as his wife and gave the baby's name: thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua, meaning the LORD saves. So the child has a given name, Jesus, that says what He will do, and a title, Emmanuel, that says who He is. He can save because He is God with us.
6. Matthew 1:22-23
"Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 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."
Matthew then quotes Isaiah 7:14 and gives the meaning in plain words: they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Matthew wrote for readers who did not know Hebrew, so he translated the name for them. He saw in Jesus' birth the full meaning of the old sign: not just a child born in Ahaz's day as a token of God's help, but God Himself born of a virgin. Matthew's Gospel begins with God with us and ends with I am with you alway (Matthew 28:20). The whole book sits between those two promises.
7. John 1:14
"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."
John's Gospel gives no birth story, but it says the same thing as Emmanuel in other words: And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. The word for dwelt literally means pitched His tent, the word used for the tabernacle where God lived among Israel in the wilderness. In Jesus, God did not visit from a distance. He moved into the neighborhood, took on flesh and blood, and let people see his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. That is the meaning of God with us at Christmas.
8. Colossians 2:9
"For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily."
Paul puts the meaning of Emmanuel into one sentence: For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. Jesus was not a messenger who brought God near, or a man with an unusual share of God's Spirit. All that God is lived in Him, in a human body. This is why Christians can call a baby in a manger God with us without exaggerating. The same verse explains why Christmas matters: if God has come in the flesh, then we can know Him by looking at Jesus. See Bible verses about Jesus is God.
God with us always
9. Exodus 29:45
"And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God."
Emmanuel is the goal God set out from the beginning. When God gave Israel the tabernacle, He explained why: And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God. The tent in the middle of the camp was a picture of God with us long before Bethlehem. The rest of the Bible tells how God kept moving closer to His people: the tabernacle, then the temple, then His Son born among us, then His Spirit living in every believer (1 Corinthians 3:16), and finally the new creation where He lives with His people face to face.
10. Matthew 18:20
"For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."
Jesus made God with us a promise for the smallest gathering of His people: For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. You do not need a cathedral or a crowd. A family praying at a kitchen table, two friends reading the Bible on a lunch break, a handful of believers in a hospital room: Emmanuel is there. This is why Christians pray in Jesus' name and why many churches sing O Come, O Come, Emmanuel as an opening hymn in Advent: it asks Him to be in the midst.
11. Matthew 28:20
"Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."
The last words of Matthew's Gospel answer its first chapter. The risen Jesus sends His disciples into all the world and promises: lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. The child called God with us is now the risen Lord who stays with us. The name Emmanuel is not only about one night in Bethlehem; it is a promise for every day of the believer's life, including the ordinary ones and the hardest ones. See Bible verses about loneliness.
12. Revelation 21:3
"And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God."
The Bible ends where the name Emmanuel points. John sees the new heaven and new earth and hears a voice from the throne: Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. The words echo Exodus 29:45 almost exactly. What began with a tent in the wilderness, and became flesh in Bethlehem, ends with God living among His people for ever, with no more death, sorrow or crying (Revelation 21:4). That is the full meaning of God with us.
A short prayer
Lord Jesus, Emmanuel, thank You that You are God with us. When I am afraid like Ahaz, remind me that no plan against Your people can stand. Thank You that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and that all the fulness of God lives in You. Be in the midst when we gather in Your name, and keep Your promise to be with me always, even to the end of the world. I long for the day when God will dwell with His people for ever. Amen.
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Frequently asked questions
What does the name Emmanuel mean?
Emmanuel means God with us. It comes from the Hebrew words immanu (with us) and El (God). Matthew 1:23 gives the meaning directly: which being interpreted is, God with us. As a title of Jesus, it says that He is God Himself, born as a human being to live among His people.
Is it Emmanuel or Immanuel?
Both are correct. Immanuel is the spelling in the King James Version of Isaiah 7:14 and 8:8, which follows the Hebrew. Emmanuel is the spelling in Matthew 1:23, which follows the Greek. The two names are the same word and have the same meaning, God with us. Hymns and modern Bibles use both spellings.
Was Jesus ever called Emmanuel?
In the Gospels, no one addresses Jesus by the name Emmanuel. His given name was Jesus, as the angel told Joseph (Matthew 1:21). Emmanuel is a title that describes who He is, like the names in Isaiah 9:6 (Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God). Matthew says the prophecy was fulfilled because Jesus truly was God with us, not because people used the name for Him.
Where is Emmanuel in the Bible?
The name appears three times in the King James Bible: Isaiah 7:14 and Isaiah 8:8 (spelled Immanuel) and Matthew 1:23 (spelled Emmanuel). Isaiah 8:10 uses the same Hebrew words as a sentence, for God is with us. The idea of God dwelling with His people runs from Exodus 29:45 to Revelation 21:3. See also prophecies about Jesus.
Sources: All Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (KJV), public domain in the United States. References were checked against the KJV text from bible-api.com.
Related: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel · Names of Jesus · Prophecies about Jesus · The Christmas story · Advent · Christmas · God always being with us · Mary, the mother of Jesus
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