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I always think it's funny how we ignore that second part of the "prophecy": "She will call his name Immanuel." Well no, she clearly didn't. She named her son Yeshua, not Immanuel which was not a title but a given name that was not particularly uncommon. So now we are left to saying the first half of the sentence is meant to be taken literally but the second half is metaphorical.
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6
According to the Author (Isaiah), what name should He be called? Is it Immanuel, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace or Jesus?
Did Isaiah mean by this that the Messiah would literally have as His given name "Wonderful," "Counselor," or "Everlasting Father"? Surely, to ask is to answer. These names were given to describe the nature of the Messiah, not serve as literal, given names. As commentator Albert Barnes noted:
By nature, the son of Mary was "Immanuel" (John 1:1-3; 10:30,33; 20:28), but by name, He was "Jesus."Quote:
His [the Messiah'sEL] attributes shall be such as to make all these applications appropriate descriptions of his power and work. To be called, and to be, in the Hebrew, often mean the same thing.... Such a use of a verb is not uncommon in Isaiah. 'One calls him,' is, according to the usage in Isaiah, as ranch as to say [the equivalent of sayingEL], he will justly bear this name; or simply, he will be (1997).
A similar distinction between one's nature and name is found as early as Genesis chapter two. Following God's creation of Eve from Adam's rib, the first man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man" (Genesis 2:23, emp. added). Although Adam said, "she shall be called woman," one chapter later Moses recorded how "Adam called his wife's name Eve" (3:20). Obviously, Adam meant that by nature the one whom God created from his rib was a female human, "a helper comparable to him" (though with noticeable differences and roles3:18-23), but by name, she would be known as "Eve."
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