Immanuel and His People

The Greek term λαὸς (people) is indispensable in the synoptics. The term appears 14 times in Mt, 3 times in Mk and 36 times in Lk. In Mt, it appears already in the infancy narratives Mt 1-2. The term λαὸς forms an integral part in understanding Jesus the messiah as presented by Mt. In many passages, the pronoun ‘they’ is used in relation to λαὸς, for example Mt 1,23. The passage 1,23 is a quotation of Is 7,14. A closer look at Is 7,14 and Mt 1,23 reveals an important grammatical difference in the two passages. Is 7,14 in the Septuagint contains the sentence “καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Εμμανουηλ”, whereas Mt 1,23 has the sentence “καλέσουσιν τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἐμμανουήλ“. Mt quotes from the Septuagint and uses καλέσουσιν instead of καλέσεις as in the Septuagint. This redaction change leads to an important question, which this book attempts to answer: who are the ‘they’ (καλέσουσιν) who will call Jesus Ἐμμανουήλ? This book attempts to unpack the meaning of λαὸς in Mt 1,18-25 in relation to the whole Gospel. The term has attracted a debate among exegetes who have interpreted it basically in two ways. The discussion in chapter 3 compares and analyses the two ways of interpreting λαὸς.