---
title: Matthew 1:23
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/matthew-1-23/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/matthew-1-23.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: Matthew 1:23
testament: NT
section: Gospels
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# Matthew 1:23

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> “Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel” (which means, “God with us”).

## NWT Wording of the Key Phrase

- NWT (2013 revision): "Look! The virgin will become pregnant and will give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel,' which means, when translated, 'With Us Is God.'"

## JW Usage

The Watchtower acknowledges Immanuel as a Messianic title meaning "with us is God" but reads the name as descriptive of Jesus's function — God's presence among his people through his appointed Messiah — rather than as a claim that Jesus is God incarnate. The title is treated as analogous to Old Testament theophoric names (Elijah, "my God is Yah") that describe relationship to God without claiming divine identity for the bearer.

## Protestant Usage

Compare Immanuel with the OT theophoric names. Elijah ("my God is Yah") is a confession; Elijah is not himself God. Hezekiah ("Yahweh is strength") is a confession; Hezekiah is not himself Yahweh's strength. But Immanuel is structurally different — Matthew explicitly translates the name in the same verse: "with us is God." The name does not say "my God is with us"; it says "God is with us" in the person of the child. Pair Matthew 1:23 with Philippians 2:6-7 (Christ "in the form of God… emptied himself, taking the form of a slave"), Colossians 2:9 ("in him all the fullness of the divine quality dwells bodily"), and John 1:14 ("the Word became flesh and dwelt among us"). The Incarnation is Matthew's framework from page one of his Gospel.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [The Incarnation Framework](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/philippians2.md) — Philippians 2:5–8 [Deity of Christ]
- [Irenaeus Believed Jesus Is God](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/early-church-fathers-irenaeus.md) — Against Heresies — In Context [Deity of Christ]