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atheism, atheist, bible, bible verse, bible verses, christianity
Mathew 1:20-23
In this Bible passage, an angel tells Joseph to name Mary’s child “Jesus” to fulfill the prophecy of “…the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel.” Even within the story, it does not seem like they did a very good job of fulfilling that prophecy.
What do you think? Leave a comment to join the conversation.
Matthew 1:20 But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the LORD appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the LORD through the prophet: 23 “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.”
Harper Bibles (2011-11-22). NRSV Bible with the Apocrypha
(Kindle Locations 66094-66100). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
Why I am Reading the New Testament
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Skeptic Mom 
Isaiah 7 verse 14.. Prophecy was spoken. It came into existence in Matthew . It doesnt get more perfect.. Plus Isaiah is actually one of the newer most legible copies of the old testament. One must read the Old Testament to understand The New.. You can start with the new.. But like you’re doing now.. You’re wondering about the prophecy.
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Hello Chris,
Welcome to Skeptic Mom! I appreciate your comments. I hope you will continue to join in on discussions on this site.
You very well may have a point that I could be missing things by not starting with the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). However, in this case, I cannot see how you are can say that if I had read the passage in Isaiah I would see that the prophesy is perfect and would not have this question. I went back to passage that you mentioned and it only seems to emphasize the problem.
The passage reads, “Assuredly, my Lord will give you a sign of His own accord! Look, the young woman is with child and about to give birth to a son. Let her name him Immanuel.” (JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh, pg. 860)
Nowhere in this verse does it say that the child should be named Jesus. So, I really don’t understand why you are saying that this verse would help me understand why Mary’s child would be named Jesus instead of Emmanuel (or Immanuel).
Can you help me understand why you pointed to this verse to explain why the child was called Jesus?
Thank you. And, I am looking forward to hearing from you, both here and in future discussions!
Have a great day!
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Immanuel simply means, God is with Us.. He was of course named Jesus. And Jesus had many names. Son of God, Son of man, The Messiah, Rabbi, Raboni, Teacher among others.. I simply referred back to the book of Isaiah just to reference the prophecy.
God can do whatever he wants to do.. Jesus was named Jesus because the angel told Joseph, that’s what the name was going to be.. And yes.. Jesus was also named Immanuel too along with the other names. Prophecy fulfilled.
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Hello Christopher, I agree that according to the scriptures that Immanuel means “god is with us.” Names have meanings.
I disagree that he was also called “Immanuel.” Jesus seems to only be called Immanuel in the birth stories. And the other “names” you mention, such as rabbi, are not really names. Immanuel, however, is a name. I know someone with that name. While people are called “rabbi” as a title, it is not a name.
I understand that the passage in Matthew is supposed to refer to the text in Isaiah. However, this seems irrelevant to the fact that that Mary’s child does not have the name Immanuel.
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