Tertullian, An Answer to the Jews 9

Let us start, then, by proving the prophets announced Christ's birth. Isaiah says: "Listen, house of David; this is no trivial dispute with mere mortals, because God himself guarantees the outcome. Therefore the Lord will give you a sign himself: Look — a virgin will conceive and bear a son, and you will name him Emmanuel, which means 'God with us'" (Isaiah 7:14). "He will eat butter and honey. For before the child knows enough to call for father or mother, he will receive the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria from the king of Assyria" (Isaiah 7:15).

The Jewish objection runs like this: Let us test Isaiah's prophecy; let us compare whether the very first name Isaiah foretold fits the Christ who has already come, along with the identifying marks attached to him. Isaiah declares he must be called Emmanuel, and afterward he will take Damascus's power and Samaria's spoils from the Assyrian king. But the one who came, they insist, was neither born under that name nor did any warrior deeds.

We, on the contrary, think they need warning so they will also grasp this chapter's coherence. The interpretation "God with us" is appended to Emmanuel precisely so you weigh not just the sound of the name but its sense. The Hebrew sound "Emmanuel" belongs to his own people; the sense "God with us," however, becomes common property through translation. So I ask: has the phrase "God with us" — which is what Emmanuel means — been operative in Christ from the moment he appeared? I think you will not deny it entirely. Jews who believe in Christ, from the moment they believe, whenever they utter "Emmanuel" signify that God is with us. Thus it stands proved that the one prophesied as Emmanuel has already come, because what Emmanuel signifies has come — namely, God with us.

They are likewise misled by the bare sound of the name when they treat the taking of Damascus's power and Samaria's spoils from the Assyrian king as a portrait of Christ the warrior, overlooking Scripture's premise: "Before the boy knows how to call father or mother, he will receive the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria from the king of Assyria" (Isaiah 7:15). One must first examine the age indicator: can this age even present Christ as a man, let alone an emperor? The infant would be summoned to arms by crying; the battle signal would be not a trumpet but a rattle; he would engage the enemy not from horseback or a wall but from the back or neck of his nurse or carrier; and thus Damascus and Samaria would be subdued like breasts.