The entire argument is ridiculous, considering that the whole "virgin" thing is based on the fourth century writers of the new testament, using the greek translation of Isaiah. There was neither a prophecy of a virgin birth, nor precident in any of the Hebrew Scriptures. This is what happens when a group of Christians, ignorant of Hebrew, Judiasm or Jewish customs, writes a book to force mass conversion of pagans.
http://www.messiahtruth.com/sons.htmlQUOTE
Yet Another Son – (immanu'el)
Whose is this son in Isaiah 7:14, who was to be named (immanu'el)? Yes, he was, of course, going to be the son born to the female that is spoken of in this verse, but who might that female have been, and who, then, would have been the child's father?
Although the Jewish Sages are not unanimous regarding the identity of this child, they all agree that the boy was born within the historical timeframe of the events being described in this part of the Book of Isaiah. Some hold that the female was the pregnant (or soon to be pregnant) Queen, the wife of King Ahaz, which would make the child one of King Ahaz’ sons, the younger sibling of Hezekiah, who was at least nine years old at the time this prophecy was spoken. Others suggest the female was the pregnant (or soon to be pregnant) "prophetess", the wife of Isaiah (Is 8:3), so that the child was one of Isaiah’s sons. This disagreement among the Jewish Sages is inconsequential to the context of the historical events described. In the following analysis, the feasibility that (immanu'el) is another one of Isaiah's sons will be demonstrated.Two of Isaiah’s sons have already been identified in person, the signs that correspond to their respective names have been located in the generally relevant portion of the Book of Isaiah, Chapters 7-10, and the evidence of the fulfillment of these prophetic signs was identified in the historic accounts of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles. Can this type of pattern be identified for (immanu'el)?
The name (immanu'el) first appears in the following well-known passage:
Isaiah 7:14 - Therefore the L-rd Himself shall give you a sign, "Behold the young woman is with child, and she will bear a son, and she shall call his name Immanu'el [ (immanu'el)]."
The literal translation of the name (immanu'el) is G-d is with us. Yet, unlike the case with the previous two names, the relationship of this child to Isaiah is not explicitly stated in the Hebrew Bible. Whose son is he?
The challenge here is to see if this sign, (immanu'el), G-d is with us, spoken of in Isaiah 7:14, can be found elsewhere. Is it mentioned anywhere else by Isaiah? The answer is YES - not once, but twice, as follows:
Isaiah 8:8 - And it will penetrate into Judah, it will overflow as it passes through, it will reach up to the neck; and the tips of his wings shall fill the breadth of your land, Immanu-El [ (immanu el)]. {Note: Some Hebrew Bibles use here the alternate form, Immanu'el [ (immanu'el)].}
Isaiah 8:10 - Take counsel, and it will be foiled; speak a word, and it will not happen; for G-d is with us [ (ki immanu E-l)].
In the first passage, (immanu el) is mentioned as a member of the Tribe of Judah, and is part of the prophecy described in that passage. In the second passage, (immanu el) is used as a prophetic manifestation of the sign signified by his name, G-d is with us.
Historically, this prophetic sign was soon to be realized, as one learns from the account of the siege on Jerusalem by Sannheriv, king of Assyria, as described in 2 Chronicles 32. First, came the promise by King Hezekiah to his people:
2 Chronicles 32:7-8 – (7) "Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid and dismayed because of the king of Assyria, and because of all the multitude that is with him; for He Who is with us [ (immanu)] is greater than that [which is] with him; (8) With him is an arm of flesh; and with us is the L-rd our G-d [ (veimmanu A-dona'i E-loheynu)] to help us, and to fight our wars." And the people relied on the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah.
Then, the outcome is described:
2 Chronicles 32:22 - And the L-rd saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sannheriv, the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all others, and guided them on every side.
G-d was with the House of Judah, but He was not with the House of Israel. The prophetic sign, (immanu'el), G-d is with us, was realized for Judah.
Question: Is there a special significance to the use of one of G-d's titles in the name (immanu'el)?
Answer: No. Many Jewish names contain one of several titles commonly used in the Hebrew Bible to refer to G-d, and often they include some description and/or accolade of G-d. This subject can be a lengthy discussion all by itself, which is beyond the scope of the present discussion. In order to focus on this attribute as it pertains to the name (immanu'el), some examples of other Biblical names of a similar nature will now be described.
One such name is (avi'yah), and its variant (avi'yahu), the anglicized version of which is Abijah. The English translation of this name is G-d is my father, since avi means my father and Yah[u] means [He is] G-d. There are 23 instances of (avi'yah) and two of (avi'yahu), in the Hebrew Bible, and these represent eight distinct persons (e.g., 1 Sam 8:2; 1 Kgs 14:1; Neh 10:8; 1 Chron 2:24; 1 Chron 3:10; 1 Chron 7:8; 1 Chron 24:10; 2 Chron 29:1; one example per person, respectively).
Another such name is (ahi'yah), and its variant (ahi'yahu), the anglicized version of which is Ahijah. The English translation of this name is G-d is my brother, since ahi means my brother and Yah[u] means [He is] G-d. There are 19 instances of (ahi'yah) and five of (ahi'yahu), in the Hebrew Bible, and these represent nine distinct persons (e.g., 1 Sam 14:13; 1 Kgs 4:3; 1 Kgs 11:29; 1 Kgs 16:27; Neh 10:27; 1 Chron 2:25; 1 Chron 8:7; 1 Chron 11:36; 1 Chron 26:20; one example per person, respectively).
Yet another example of such name is (avi'el), the anglicized version of which is Abiel. The English translation of this name is G-d is my father. There are three instances of (avi'el) in the Hebrew Bible, and these represents two distinct persons (e.g., 1 Sam 9:1; 1 Chron 11:32; one example per person, respectively).
A final example of such name, which is actually akin to the name (immanu'el), G-d is with us, is (iti'el), the anglicized version of which is Ithiel. The English translation of this name is G-d is with me and, hence, the similarity to (immanu'el) – instead of (immanu), [is] with us, which is in the plural 1st-person, there is (iti), [is] with me, in the singular 1st-person. There are three instances of (iti'el) in the Hebrew Bible, and these represents two distinct persons (Pr 30:1[2x]; Neh 11:7, respectively).
In the first three examples shown above, the literal meaning of the name reflects a father-son or brother-brother relationship between G-d and the named person. Since these relationships are obviously not literally true, certainly not for the specific bearers of those names in the Hebrew Bible, one would have to wonder why Christian apologists and missionaries, following Matthew 1:23, claim that there is something special about the name (immanu'el), namely, that it points to Jesus. By applying such (faulty) logic, similar arguments could be offered about (avi'yah), Abijah, (ahi'yah), Ahijah, (avi'el), Abiel, and other names of this type that appear in the Hebrew Bible. Moreover, as was demonstrated in the fourth example, the name (iti'el), Ithiel, is the "singular voice" equivalent of the name (immanu'el).
Why do Christian apologists and missionaries single out (immanu'el) as messianic? What makes (immanu'el) special relative to the other names? One likely reason is that the name (immanu'el) happens to be part of a passage that, with the help of some manipulation during the translation process, can be made to appear as having Christological content. Since none of the other names of this type occurs in such passages, Christian apologists and missionaries have no particular interest in them and, therefore, they ignore them.
IV. Summary
The Prophet Isaiah, in his own words, tells the reader that his children were given as signs from G-d (Is 8:18), and that the name he gave to each of his three sons carried a prophetic message described by these signs and identified as historical events that occurred. The three sons have been identified: (shear yashuv; Is 7:3), (immanu'el; Is 7:14, 8:8), and (maher shalal hash baz; Is 8:3). Also identified were the respective specific events for which these names were prophetic signs, along with their respective fulfillments in Jewish history, as recorded in the Hebrew Bible.This method of assigning names to children is not a unique occurrence in the Hebrew Bible. The Prophet Hosea, Isaiah’s contemporary, who ministered in the Northern Kingdom of Israel, was ordered by G-d to give the following names to his children: (yizreel; Hosea 1:4), G-d Will Sow, (lo ruhamah; Hosea 1:6), [She Was] Not Pitied, and (lo ammi; Hosea 1:9), [You Are] Not My People. Each of these names represented a specific sign that carried a prophetic message, as described in the first chapter in the Book of Hosea.
The passage Matthew 1:23 demonstrates, in several ways, that its author either did not have an understanding of the Hebrew language and of the Hebrew Bible, or that he deliberately perverted the words of the Prophet Isaiah to create a passage that would support his specific agenda. In addition to the mistranslation of the Hebrew noun (ha'almah), the young woman, and misrepresentation of the tense of the verb (harah), [she] is pregnant, which were discussed in another essay, of particular interest here is this author's explanation of the name (immanu'el) as meaning God with us, instead of the correct G-d is with us. The omission of the verb to be from its meaning enhances the Christological appeal and helps create the false allusion to Jesus.
The Christian fundies WILL raise cain about it though, guarantee that. Remember Mel Gibson's The passion of the Christ(or whatever it was named) and how big of a stink it caused.? Imagine what this will do. I predict pandemonium.
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