EMMANUEL — Hebrew 'immanu 'el, 'with us (is) God', quoted by Matthew from Isaiah 7:14. ⚠ Matthew does something he rarely does: he stops to TRANSLATE the name — 'which is, being interpreted, God with us' (1:23) — because the name states his whole Gospel in a word. It works as an inclusio, a bracket around the book: Matthew opens on 'God with us' and closes on Jesus' last promise, 'I am with you always, to the end of the age' (28:20) — everything between framed by that presence. It is a name Jesus is CALLED (his identity, what he is) rather than the name he is GIVEN (Jesus, what he does); the two names say one thing from two sides — God saves, and God is with us. The Hebrew original names a sign-child in Isaiah's own day (7:14–16); Matthew reads it fulfilled at a deeper level in the virgin's son. → first discussed at Matt 1:23