Enciclopedia Cattolica Vol. V, 1950 Sacred Scripture Peoples and figures

Emmanuel

EMANUELE

Italian original Cite

Also known as: German: Immanuel; Greek: Ἐμμανουήλ; Immanuel

EMMANUEL (EMMANUELE; Hebrew 'Immanā'ēl "God [is] with us", Septuagint 'Εμμανουήλ). - Symbolic name (from a customary expression of good wishes: Ex. 3:12; Josh. 1:5, etc.) of the child foretold by Isaiah (7:14) as the "son of the Virgin", to whom the prophet later (8:8) turns ideally, speaking to him of "his land" (in the context = Palestine). In the Gospel (Mt. 1:23) it is referred, with a quotation of Is. 7:14, to Jesus.

The prophecy belongs to a tragic moment in Eastern history. The kings of Damascus, Samaria and others are at war against Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria, to whom instead the king of Jerusalem, Ahaz (v.), has made an act of submission; tension between Damascus, Samaria and Ahaz; the latter's preparations for a possible siege. Isaiah turns to Ahaz, to encourage neutrality, suggesting its theocratic religious bases: trust in God, rather than in pagan Assyria; no fear regarding the two "smoldering firebrands" (braggarts). As a guarantee of the promise God is willing to give the king a (miraculous) "sign" of his choosing: let him ask for it (Is. 7:11). The king refuses, evidently concerned about the freedom of his policy. The prophet then, turning to the "house of David", rather than to the king, announces: "The Lord himself will give you a sign: Behold, the Virgin (contextually certain sense: Schula) conceives and bears a Son and gives him the name E.". The figure of the child then appears in various connections with historical events in the following prophecies down to ch. 12 ("Book of E.": Is. 7-12), receiving there among other things messianic and divine appellations (p. 5 agg.; 11:1-16). The prophecy, insofar as it is a "demonstrative sign", is not free from difficulties (Riener-Zerwick): it can be, for example, interpreted as single (Vaccari), or as different in the two moments: a sign offered to the king and refused (v. 11) and a sign given to the house of David (v. 14). It has recently been interpreted as Isaiah's announcement to the reigning house that the concern for the preservation of the theocratic dynasty is so far from being a good excuse for refusing to follow the line of conduct marked out by the prophet, that God has already arranged for the birth of the Messiah for the preservation of the throne of David from a "virgin", in other words without the cooperation of man: God, arbiter of Israel and of the world, wants only trust in him (Garofalo). In any case the prophecy, which exegetical and ecclesiastical authorities (Eschir. Bibl., Rome 1927, n. 59) agree in considering directly messianic, is one of the most beautiful and also fruitful for Christian apologetics and preaching.

Bibliography12 works

BIBL.: M.-J. Lagrange, La Vierge et l'Emmanuel, in Rev. bibl., 2 (1893), p. 480 agg.; M. L. Dunnette, Le proph. de l'Emmanuel, in Vie spirit., 41 (1934), p. 139 agg.; A. Schula, Alind. in Bibl. Zeitschr., 23 (1935-36), p. 229 agg.; A. Vaccari, De signo Em., in Verb. Dom., 17 (1937), pp. 45 agg.; 79 agg.; J. Coleran, Propter hoc., ibid., p. 303 agg.; H. Junker, Erbl. der West. vom Em., in Post. ben., 49 (1938-39), pp. 240 agg., 279 agg.; 338 agg.; 50 (1939-40), p. 5 agg.; G. Riener-M. Zerwick, Sign. demonstr., in Verb. Dom., 19 (1939) p. 246 agg.; S. Garofalo, L' E., in Il Regno, 1 (1942), p. 43 agg.; C. Lattay, The Em. proph., in Carb. bibl. quart., 8 (1945), p. 369 agg.; 9 (1947), pp. 89 agg., 147 agg.; furthermore v. RAIA: MESSIA e MESSIANISMO.

Giovanni Rinaldi

About this entry

By Giovanni Rinaldi

How we know signed in print

Translated from the Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. V (1950), coll. 270–271.

More by Giovanni Rinaldi: Ezechias · Darius the Mede · Darius · Daniel · Josue

Cite this article

Chicago

Rinaldi, Giovanni. “Emanuele (Emmanuele; Ebraico 'ImmanĀ'ĒL «Con Noi [È] Dio», settanta 'εμμανουήλ»).” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. V, coll. 270–271. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1950. https://azioneromana.com/article/emanuele-emmanuele-ebraico-immana-el-con-noi-e-dio-settanta-emmanouel.

MLA

Rinaldi, Giovanni. “Emanuele (Emmanuele; Ebraico 'ImmanĀ'ĒL «Con Noi [È] Dio», settanta 'εμμανουήλ»).” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. V, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1950, coll. 270–271. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/emanuele-emmanuele-ebraico-immana-el-con-noi-e-dio-settanta-emmanouel.

BibTeX

@incollection{ec5_emanuele_emmanuele_ebraico_imm,
  author    = {Rinaldi, Giovanni},
  title     = {Emanuele (Emmanuele; Ebraico 'ImmanĀ'ĒL «Con Noi [È] Dio», settanta 'εμμανουήλ»)},
  booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
  volume    = {V},
  pages     = {270--271},
  note      = {Cited by column},
  publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
  address   = {Città del Vaticano},
  year      = {1950},
  url       = {https://azioneromana.com/article/emanuele-emmanuele-ebraico-immana-el-con-noi-e-dio-settanta-emmanouel}
}

One of some 20,000 entries brought back from the twelve printed volumes (1948–54). Spotted something? Help us improve it.