“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel' (which means, God with us)”. (Matthew 1:23 ESV).
Meaning of Immanuel. (Matthew 1:23)
Reacting,
to your Remark on Sabbath Meeting Day of 04th July 2020 from the
widely & generally accepted English literal translation of, “God with us”
for the Greek word of, “Immanuel”
μμανουήλ (Emmanouēl)”. You have
come to the strong
and determined conclusion that this scripture teaches us that Elohim Yahweh is
Elohim Yahshua in Flesh.
This above topic of the Meaning of Immanuel leading to the
conclusion that Yahweh is Yahshua in Flesh on Earth, I have personally
discussed, deliberated and debated with many Missionaries, Pastors and Elders
with life time of service dedicated in their own respective ministries over the
past 3 decades.
I approach this above topic freshly and would like to approach
for a conclusion on SOLA SRCIPTURA meaning, “Scripture Alone” OR in simpler
words, let “Scripture Interpret Scripture”.
As a Serious Student of Scripture, I prefer to practice good EXEGEGIS
practices. The above statement of yours is an example of EISEGESIS. (Further
explained below)
EXEGEGIS
Exegesis
is the exposition or explanation of a text based on a careful, objective
analysis. The word exegesis literally means “to lead out of.” That means that the interpreter is led to his
conclusions by following the text or scripture of God’s word.
EISEGESIS
The opposite approach to Scripture is eisegesis, which is
the interpretation of a passage based on a subjective, non-analytical reading.
The word eisegesis literally means “to
lead into,” which means the interpreter injects his own ideas into the text
or scripture or word of God, making it mean whatever he/she wants too.
Strong’s Greek Dictionary
Immanuel”
Ἐμμανουήλ (Emmanouēl)
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's Greek 1694: Of
Hebrew origin; God with us; Emmanuel, a name of Christ.
FIRST
POINT TO CLEAR BEFORE ADVANCING DEEPER
Please we need to understand and agree that
there is great difference between a PERSONAL NAME and TITLES or to be clearer,
TITLE-NAMES.
In
English language while referring to many descriptive titles given to some
individual, many a times by general habit or practice we
even call these titles as names. But are they Personal or Private or
Authoritative Legal names given to that person at the time of birth. No. They
are descriptive titles expounding on some Quality of that individual.
With
respect to the above point, is Yahshua the one and only name of our Messiah given under heaven? (Acts 4:12) or
do we create a Contradiction by saying that he has many names, and one of them
is Immanuel quoting Mathew 1:23 ?
BEHOLD, A VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD, AND SHALL BRING FORTH A SON, AND THEY
SHALL CALL HIS NAME EMMANUEL, which being interpreted is, EL WITH US. – Mathew 1:23 (Restoration Study Bible
Edition 3rd)
Now
majority of all English translations DO NOT use the word, Name
and just say will call him. Let’s see some few examples for
understanding:
New
International Version
"The virgin will conceive and give birth to
a son, and they will call him
Immanuel" (which means "God with us").
New
Living Translation
“Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She
will give birth to a son, and they will
call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’”
Berean
Study Bible
“Behold, the virgin will be with child and will
give birth to a son, and they will call
Him Immanuel” (which means, “God with us”).
Contemporary
English Version
"A virgin will have a baby boy, and he will be called Immanuel,"
which means "God is with us."
Good
News Translation
"A virgin will become pregnant and have a
son, and he will be called
Immanuel" (which means, "God is with us").
Holman Christian Standard Bible
See, the virgin will become pregnant and give
birth to a son, and they will name Him
Immanuel, which is translated "God is with us."
NET
Bible
"Look! The virgin will conceive and bear a
son, and they will call him
Emmanuel," which means "God with us."
they will call
καλέσουσιν (kalesousin)
Verb - Future Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's
Greek 2564: (a) I call, summon, invite, (b) I call, name.
Akin to the base of keleuo; to 'call'.
And the
angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored; Yahweh/LORD/GOD is with thee: blessed
art thou among women. Luke 1:28 (RSB 3rd
Edition)
God with
us = Yahweh becomes Yahshua. Then.....
God is
with thee = Angel Gabriel becomes Elohim Yahweh.
Absolutely
not, then why
this double standard of Interpretation?
Because we are interpreting or adding something that is not existing in
scripture but it is coming from our minds, or our training or our upbringing
that this is true, without it ever being scripturally challenged. (This is an
example of EISEGESIS)
Should
Jesus/Yahshua really be considered to be Almighty God Yahweh because he was
symbolically or prophetically, “named” or “titled” or “called” Immanuel (Is. 7:14; Mt. 1:23)
which means “God is with us”? No more so than Gabriel was
calling himself God when he visited Mary and declared: “The Lord
is with thee” - Luke 1:28.
Nor
did Zacharias mean that John the Baptizer (his new son) was actually God when
he was asked, “I wonder what this child [John] will turn out to be?”, and he
answered, “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, for he
has come to visit his people and has redeemed them.” - Luke 1:66-68, LB.
Gabriel and Zacharias (Zechariah)
meant exactly what Israelites have meant throughout thousands of years when
saying “God is with us” and similar statements. They meant
“God has favored us” or “God is helping us”! - Joshua 1:17; 1 Samuel 10:7; 2 Chron. 15:2-4, 9 (cf., Jer. 1:8; Haggai 1:13).
But if we insist on Trinitarian-type
“proof,” then Gabriel must have meant that he (Gabriel) is God! And
Zacharias (whose own name means “God has remembered.”) must have meant
that John the Baptizer is God! – Also see 1 Samuel. 17:37; 2 Samuel. 14:17; 1 Kings. 8:57; 1 Chronicles. 17:2;
22:18; 2 Chronicles. 1:1; 35:21; 36:23; Ezra 1:3; Is. 8:8, 10; Is. 41:10; Amos
5:14; Zechariah 8:23.
The widely acclaimed Trinitarian Bible
dictionary, The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology,
1986, Vol. 2, pp. 86, 87, states:
“The name Emmanuel [or Immanuel] which occurs
in Isa. 7:14 and 8:8 means lit. ‘God [is] with us’.... In the context of the
times of Isaiah and King Ahaz the name is given to a child as yet not conceived
with the promise that the danger now threatening Israel from Syria and Samaria
will pass ‘before the child knows how to refuse evil and choose the good.’
Thus, the child and its name is a sign of God’s gracious saving presence among
his people.... [The name Emmanuel] could be a general statement that the birth
and naming of the special child will indicate that the good hand of God is upon
us.” - pages. 86. And, “The point of the present passage [Matthew. 1:23] is to
see in the birth of Jesus a saving act of God, comparable with the birth
of the first Emmanuel. Both births signify God’s presence
with his people through a child.” - Pages. 87.