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calling him Emmanuel to yourself continually and often, and invoking him as God with you. For even though it is after a long time that the virgin will conceive and bear him. When the outcome of the prophecy will come to pass, when a savior of the entire human race will appear, by whom he will then use another name, a surname of salvation. But from now on, you, O house of David, having received a good sign from the Lord, call upon him, naming him Emmanuel; for such an invocation will procure salvation for you who believe and obey what is said. If, then, it had been said: and they will call his name Emmanuel, the whole prophecy would seem to refer to a future time; and thus the saying would be ambiguous, since not Emmanuel, but “Jesus is the name called” of our savior born of the holy virgin, according to the angel’s oracle which said to Joseph: “Do not be afraid to take Mary your wife; for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus; for he will save his people from their sins.” If therefore “Jesus,” but not Emmanuel, is the name our savior and Lord has received, being born of the virgin according to the prophecy, how could the oracle have come true which said: and they shall call his name Emmanuel? Therefore it was not said thus; for he was not going to be called by this name by all people, but the prophetic word accurately contains “you shall call.” For you, O house of David, for whose sake these things are prophesied, having received a sign of salvation, at the time of the engagement with the enemies call Emmanuel, and inscribe him as the cause of freedom from the enemies, who would one day be born of a virgin, but is already God and is with us, and from now on will grant you great things for salvation. If, believing the divine command, you would continually invoke him as a helper, calling him Emmanuel; for you have need of such an incantation, as it were, so as not to turn to demons for help, but only to invoke Emmanuel and be saved through him. This must be what he himself who gave this oracle through the prophet meant, and some, not understanding these things, in the Gospel according to Matthew, instead of “you shall call” have put “and they shall call,” the prophetic text not being so; for both the Hebrew language, and appropriately all the translators, have rendered it “you shall call.” And instead of: the virgin, according to the other translators, a young woman is named. And nothing would prevent the virgin from being called a young woman; for it is likely that the holy virgin who conceived the savior was not an immature child, but was a young woman in age and a mature maiden. He prophesies, therefore, that this wonder will happen in time ..., but to the house of David, which was in need of a savior and helper, it was necessarily said: and you shall call his name Emmanuel. Invoke him, therefore, he says, not as one standing far off, but as one always present and with those who invoke him. But if you marvel hearing of a God being born, believe that he will also use infant food; for he will not be seen by men according to some phantasm, nor will what happens be in appearance only, but he will truly undergo such a birth as to partake of infant food, I mean butter and honey, like other infants. This, then, is human, but what shows his divinity would be that, before he knows or chooses evil he will choose the good; because before the child knows good or evil, he refuses evil to choose the good. But the saying signifies that even from his very birth Emmanuel was discerning and a doer of good things, possessing from that time the power of judgment and shaking off evil, but accepting only the good; for he says he will be of such a nature even from his birth. or the future of our savior

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σεαυτῷ συνεχῶς καὶ πολλάκις Ἐμμανουὴλ ὀνομάζων καὶ ὡς συνόντα σοι θεὸν τοῦτον ἀνακαλούμενος. εἰ γὰρ καὶ τὰ μάλιστα μακροῖς ὕστερον χρόνοις ἡ παρθένος τοῦτον κυήσει καὶ τέξεται. ὅτε καὶ τὸ ἀποτέλεσμα γενήσεται τῆς προφητείας, ὅτε καὶ σωτὴρ ἀναφανήσεται τοῦ παντὸς ἀνθρώπων γένους, παρ' ᾧ καὶ ἑτέρῳ τότε χρήσεται ὀνόματι σωτηρίας ἐπωνύμῳ. ἀλλ' ἐντεῦθεν ἤδη, σύ, ὁ οἶκος ∆αυίδ, ἀγαθὸν σύνθημα παρὰ κυρίου λαβὼν ἀνακαλοῦ αὐτὸν Ἐμμανουὴλ ὀνομάζων· σωτηρίαν γάρ σοι πιστεύοντι καὶ πειθαρχοῦντι τοῖς λεγομένοις ἡ τοιαύτη προξενήσει ἐπίκλησις. εἰ μὲν οὖν εἴρητο· καὶ καλέσουσι τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἐμμανουήλ, ἔδοξεν ἂν εἰς μέλλοντα χρόνον τὴν πᾶσαν παραπέμπειν προφητείαν· οὕτως τ' ἂν ἀμφιλογίαν εἶχεν ὁ λόγος, ἐπεὶ μὴ Ἐμμανουήλ, ἀλλὰ «Ἰησοῦς τὸ ὄνομα κέκληται» τοῦ ἐκ τῆς ἁγίας παρθένου γεννηθέντος σωτῆρος ἡμῶν κατὰ τὸν τοῦ ἀγγέλου χρηματισμὸν φήσαντος πρὸς τὸν Ἰωσήφ· «μὴ φοβηθῇς παραλαβεῖν Μαριὰμ τὴν γυναῖκά σου· τὸ γὰρ ἐν αὐτῇ γεννηθὲν ἐκ πνεύματός ἐστιν ἁγίου. τέξεται δὲ υἱόν, καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν· αὐτὸς γὰρ σώσει τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν». εἰ οὖν «Ἰησοῦς», ἀλλ' οὐχὶ Ἐμμανουὴλ τὸ ἐπώνυμον εἴληφεν ὁ σωτὴρ καὶ κύριος ἡμῶν ἐκ τῆς παρθένου γενόμενος κατὰ τὴν προφητείαν, πῶς ἂν ἐπηλήθευσεν τὸ λόγιον φῆσαν· καὶ καλέσουσιν τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἐμμανουήλ; διόπερ οὐκ εἴρηται μὲν οὕτως· οὐ γὰρ ἔμελλεν ὑπὸ πάντων ἀνθρώπων τούτῳ καλεῖσθαι τῷ προσρήματι, ἀκριβῶς δὲ ὁ προφητικὸς λόγος καὶ καλέσεις περιέχει. σὺ γάρ, ὁ οἶκος ∆αυίδ, δι' ὃν ταῦτα θεσπίζεται, σύνθημα σωτηρίας λαβὼν κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς πρὸς τοὺς πολεμίους συμβολῆς Ἐμμανουὴλ κάλει καὶ τῆς τῶν πολεμίων ἐλευθερίας ἐπιγράφου τοῦτον αἴτιον, ἐκ παρθένου μὲν γενησόμενόν ποτε, ἤδη δὲ θεὸν ὄντα καὶ μεθ' ἡμῶν ὄντα, ἐντεῦθέν τε ἤδη τὰ μεγάλα σοι πρὸς σωτηρίαν χαριούμενον. εἰ πιστεύων τῷ θείῳ προστάγματι, συνεχῶς αὐτὸν ἐπικαλοῖο βοηθὸν Ἐμμανουὴλ ὀνομάζων· τοιαύτης γὰρ ὥσπερ ἐπῳδῆς τινος χρεία σοι πρὸς τὸ μὴ δαίμοσιν βοηθοῖς προσέχειν, μόνον δὲ τὸν Ἐμμανουὴλ ἐπικαλεῖσθαι καὶ διὰ τούτου σῴζεσθαι. οὗτος δεῖν αὐτὸς ὁ ταῦτα διὰ τοῦ προφήτου χρηματίζων, καὶ ταῦτα μὴ νοήσαντές τινες ἐν τῷ κατὰ Ματθαῖον Εὐαγγελίῳ ἀντὶ τοῦ καλέσεις «καὶ καλέσουσιν» πεποιήκασιν, οὐχ οὕτως ἐχούσης τῆς προφητικῆς λέξεως· ἥ τε γὰρ Ἑβραϊκὴ φωνή, ταύτῃ τε καταλλήλως ἅπαντες οἱ ἑρμηνευταὶ καὶ καλέσεις ἐκδεδώκασιν. ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ· ἡ παρθένος, κατὰ τοὺς λοιποὺς ἑρμηνευτὰς νεᾶνις ὠνόμασται. οὐδὲν δ' ἂν κωλύῃ καὶ νεᾶνιν λέγεσθαι τὴν παρθένον· εἰκὸς γὰρ μὴ ἀτελῆ παῖδα τὴν ἁγίαν παρθένον τὴν τὸν σωτῆρα κυήσασαν, νεᾶνιν δὲ τὴν ἡλικίαν καὶ τελείαν κόρην γεγονέναι. τοῦτο μὲν οὖν τὸ θαῦμα καιρῷ ... γενέσθαι θεσπίζει, πρὸς δὲ τὸν οἶκον ∆αυὶδ σωτῆρος καὶ βοηθοῦ χρείαν ἔχοντα ἀναγκαίως ἐλέγετο· καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἐμμανουήλ. ἐπικαλοῦ τοίνυν αὐτὸν οὐ πόρρω ἑστῶτά φησι, διὰ παντὸς δὲ παρόντα καὶ συνόντα τοῖς ἐπικαλουμένοις αὐτόν. Εἰ δὲ θαυμάζεις θεὸν γεννώμενον ἀκούων, πίστευσον ὅτι καὶ τροφῇ νηπιώδῃ χρήσεται· οὐ γὰρ κατά τινα φαντασίαν ὀφθήσεται ἀνθρώποις, οὐδὲ τῷ δοκεῖν ἔσται τὸ γινόμενον, ἀλλ' ἀληθῶς τοιαύτην ὑπομενεῖ γένεσιν, ὡς κοινωνῆσαι νηπιώδῃ τροφῇ, βουτύρῳ λέγω καὶ μέλιτι ὁμοίως τοῖς λοιποῖς βρέφεσιν. τοῦτο μὲν οὖν ἀνθρώπινον, τὸ δὲ τῆς θεότητος αὐτοῦ παραστατικὸν ἐκεῖνο ἂν εἴη, ὅτι πρὶν ἢ γνῶναι αὐτὸν ἢ προελέσθαι πονηρὰ ἐκλέξεται τὸ ἀγαθόν· διότι πρὶν ἢ γνῶναι τὸ παιδίον ἀγαθὸν ἢ κακὸν ἀπειθεῖ πονηρίᾳ ἐκλέξασθαι τὸ ἀγαθόν. σημαίνει δὲ ὁ λόγος ὡς καὶ παρ' αὐτὴν τὴν γένεσιν διακριτικός τις ἦν καὶ ἀγαθῶν ποιητικὸς ὁ Ἐμμανουήλ, τὸ κριτικὸν ἐξ ἐκείνου κεκτημένος καὶ ἀποσειόμενος μὲν τὸ κακόν, μόνον δὲ τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἀποδεχόμενος· τοιαύτης γάρ φησιν ἔσται φύσεως καὶ ἐξ αὐτῆς γενέσεως. ἢ τὴν μέλλουσαν ἔσεσθαι τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν