EMANUELE (EMMANUELE; Hebrew ‘Immanā’ēl
«With us [is] God», Septuagint ‘Εμμανουήλ»). — Symbolic name (from a customary expression of good augury:
Ex. 3:12; Ios. 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 context = Palestine). In the Gospel (Mt. 1:23) it is referred, with a quotation from Is. 7:14, to Jesus.
The prophecy is set within a tragic moment in the history of the East. The kings of Damascus, Samaria and others are at war against Thegiathphalasar III of Assyria, whereas the king of Jerusalem, ACAZ (v.), has submitted to him; there is tension between Damascus, Samaria and Achaz, and the latter is making preparations for a possible siege. Isaiah turns to Achaz, in order to encourage neutrality, suggesting its theocratic religious foundations: trust in God rather than in pagan Assyria; no fear concerning the two «smoking brands» (boasters). As a guarantee of the promise, God is willing to give the king a «sign» (miraculous) of his own 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 (the contextually certain meaning: 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 prophecies that follow up to chapter 12 («Book of E.»: Is. 7–12), receiving among other things messianic and divine titles (p. 5 agg.; 11:1–16). The prophecy, insofar as it is a «demonstrative sign», is not without difficulties (Riener-Zerwick): it may, for example, be interpreted as a single sign (Vaccari), or as different at the two moments: the sign offered to the king and refused (v. 11), and the sign given to the house of David (v. 14). It has recently been interpreted as Isaiah’s announcement to the ruling house that concern for the preservation of the theocratic dynasty is so far from being a good excuse for refusing to follow the line of conduct indicated by the prophet that God has already arranged for the birth of the Messiah, for the preservation of David’s throne, from a «virgin», in other words without the participation of a man: God, arbiter of Israel and of the world, wants trust in him alone (Garofalo). In any case, the prophecy, which exegetical and ecclesiastical authorities (Eschir. Bibl., Roma 1927, n. 59) agree in considering a directly messianic one, is among the most beautiful and also the most fruitful for Christian apologetics and preaching.