Matthew 1:22–23

Context

Chapter 1 of Matthew follows the genealogy of Jesus (1:1–17) with an account of Jesus' birth told from the perspective of Joseph. On learning that his betrothed, Mary, is with child before they have come together, Joseph resolves to end the relationship quietly. An angel of the Lord then appears to him in a dream and tells him that the child has been conceived by the Holy Spirit and that he is to name him "Jesus" (1:20–21). Verses 22–23 follow the angel's words and are usually read as a comment added by the Gospel writer.

This comment is the first of the "fulfillment quotations" that appear repeatedly in Matthew. A fulfillment quotation cites an Old Testament passage and declares that the word has been fulfilled. The passage quoted here is Isaiah 7:14, originally a sign given by Isaiah to Ahaz, king of Judah, as he faced the threat of Aram (Syria) and the northern kingdom of Israel. Matthew explains the Hebrew name "Emmanuel" as "God with us."

Interpretation

• Direct prophecy: Many conservative evangelical interpreters hold that Isaiah 7:14 foresaw the Messiah's virgin birth from the outset and was fulfilled exactly in Jesus.
• Dual fulfillment or typology: This view holds that the prophecy was first fulfilled in a child born in Isaiah's own day, and that this event was a type (or foreshadowing) pointing ahead to its greater fulfillment in Jesus. It is also widely held within Reformed and evangelical circles.
• Historical-critical reading: This reading holds that Isaiah's words originally referred to a child of Ahaz's time. On this view, Matthew borrowed the wording of the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament made in the centuries before Christ) and reread the passage in light of the events of Jesus' life.
• Jewish reading: Jewish tradition reads the verse as a sign for the time of Ahaz and does not accept it as a prophecy of the Messiah's virgin birth.

Christian interpreters generally see the name as expressing the meaning of the incarnation: that in Jesus, God is present with humanity. Many also see it as forming a pair with the final verse of Matthew, "lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world" (28:20), so that the two bracket the entire Gospel.

Controversies and Issues

• "Virgin" or "young woman"?: The Hebrew word almah in Isaiah 7:14 denotes a young woman of marriageable age. The Septuagint and Matthew render it parthenos ("virgin"). This difference has long been a point of dispute between Judaism and Christianity. When the American Revised Standard Version (RSV) rendered Isaiah 7:14 as "young woman" in the mid-twentieth century, it reportedly provoked a strong backlash from conservatives. Conservative interpreters support the translation "virgin" on the grounds that almah is used of unmarried women and on the basis of Matthew's interpretation.
• The doctrine of the virgin birth: The virgin birth was one of the central issues in the fundamentalist–modernist controversy in the United States in the early twentieth century. Some within liberal theology read it as a symbolic confession, while fundamentalism and evangelicalism confess it as historical fact. In Korea, denominations that recite the Apostles' Creed in worship also confess that Jesus was "born of the Virgin Mary."
• The question of the name: Some ask why the child is called "Emmanuel" when his name is "Jesus." Most interpreters understand Emmanuel not as a name by which he was actually called but as a title expressing who he is.

In the Korean Church

The passage is frequently used as a sermon text during Advent and at Christmas. During Advent it is also sung in the hymn "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel." The name "Emmanuel" is also commonly used for churches and Christian institutions.

Related Passages

• Isaiah 7:14
• Isaiah 8:8–10
• Isaiah 9:1–7
• Luke 1:26–35
• Matthew 28:18–20