• Immanuel
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • these facts, Matthew’s Gospel (quoting Isaiah 7:14) uses the Greek word par·theʹnos, meaning “virgin,” to translate ʽal·mahʹ, saying: “Look! The virgin [par·theʹnos] will become pregnant and will give birth to a son, and they will call his name Immanuel!” (Matt. 1:22, 23) In no way was this taking liberties or distorting the text. Over a century earlier the Jewish translators of the Greek Septuagint had also used par·theʹnos in rendering Isaiah 7:14.

      This identity of Jesus Christ as Immanuel did not mean he was the incarnation of God, ‘God in the flesh,’ as proponents of the trinity teaching claim is implied by the meaning of Immanuel, namely, “With Us Is God.” It was a common practice among Jews to embody the word God, even Jehovah, in Hebrew names. Even today Immanuel is the proper name of many men; none of whom are incarnations of God.

      If there seems to be a conflict between the angel’s instructions to Mary (“you are to call his name Jesus”) and Isaiah’s prophecy (“she will certainly call his name Immanuel”), let it be remembered that Messiah was also to be called by yet other names. (Luke 1:31; Isa. 7:14) For example, Isaiah 9:6 said concerning this one: “His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” Yet none of these names were given to Mary’s firstborn as personal names, neither when he was a babe nor after he took up his ministry. Rather, they were all prophetic title-names by which Messiah would be identified. Jesus lived up to the meaning of these names in every respect, and that is the sense in which they were prophetically given, to show his qualities and the good offices he would perform toward all those accepting him as Messiah. So also with his title Immanuel. He measured up to and fulfilled its meaning.

      Worshipers of Jehovah have always desired God to be with them, on their side backing them up in their undertakings, and often he reassures them that he is, sometimes giving them visible signs to this effect. (Gen. 28:10-20; Ex. 3:12; Josh. 1:5, 9; 5:13–6:2; Ps. 46:5-7; Jer. 1:19) If today the personal identity of Immanuel in the days of Ahaz remains uncertain, it may be that Jehovah so directed in order not to distract the attention of later generations from the Greater Immanuel, when he put in his appearance as a sign from heaven. With the coming of his beloved Son to earth as the promised Messianic “seed” (Gen. 3:15) and rightful heir to the throne of David, Jehovah was furnishing his greatest sign that he had not forsaken mankind or his Kingdom covenant. The title-name Immanuel, therefore, was particularly appropriate to Christ, for his presence was indeed a sign from heaven. And with this foremost representative of Jehovah among mankind, Matthew under inspiration could truly say, “With Us Is God.”

  • Immer
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • IMMER

      (Imʹmer) [sheep, lamb].

      1. A descendant of Aaron designated head of the sixteenth priestly division in David’s time. (1 Chron. 24:1, 6, 14) Apparently 1,052 of his descendants returned with Zerubbabel from Babylon in 537 B.C.E. (Ezra 2:37; Neh. 7:40) Two of the “sons of Immer” were among those putting away their foreign wives in Ezra’s time.—Ezra 10:20, 44.

      2. Father of Meshillemith (or Meshillemoth); possibly the same as No. 1 above.—1 Chron. 9:12; Neh. 11:13.

      3. Father of the priest Pashhur, an opposer of Jeremiah who had the prophet put in stocks. Jeremiah prophesied that Pashhur and all his house would be taken to Babylon. (Jer. 20:1, 2, 6) If the designation “the son of Immer” is to be understood as denoting a descendant rather than an actual son, this Immer may be No. 1 above.

      4. Father of Zadok, one who shared in repairing Jerusalem’s wall. (Neh. 3:29) This Immer may, however, be the same as No. 1 above, if the designation “the son of Immer” is to be regarded as meaning a descendant.

      5. Seemingly a place in Babylonia from which certain priests returned who were unable to prove their genealogy.—Ezra 2:59; Neh. 7:61.

  • Immortality
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • IMMORTALITY

      [Gr., a·tha·na·siʹa].

      The Greek word is formed by the negative prefix a followed by a form of the word for “death” (thaʹna·tos). Thus, the basic meaning is deathlessness.

      The expressions “immortal” or “immortality” do not occur in the Hebrew Scriptures. They do show, however, that Jehovah God, as the Source of all life, is not subject to death, hence, is immortal. (Ps. 36:7, 9; 90:1, 2; Hab. 1:12) This fact is also emphatically stated by the Christian apostle Paul in referring to God as “the King of eternity, incorruptible.”—1 Tim. 1:17.

      As the article on SOUL shows, the Hebrew Scriptures also make plain that man is not inherently immortal. References to the human soul (Heb., neʹphesh) as dying, heading for the grave and being destroyed are numerous. (Gen. 17:14; Josh. 10:32; Job 33:22; Ps. 22:29; 78:50; Ezek. 18:4, 20) The Christian Greek Scriptures, of course, are in harmony and likewise contain references to the death of the soul (Gr., psy·kheʹ). (Matt. 26:38; Mark 3:4; Acts 3:23; Jas. 5:20; Rev. 8:9; 16:3) Therefore the Christian Greek Scriptures do not controvert or alter the inspired teaching of the Hebrew Scriptures that man, the human soul, is mortal, subject to death. The Christian Greek Scriptures, however, do contain the revelation of God’s purpose to grant immortality to certain of his servants.

      CHRIST’S IMMORTALITY

      The first one described in the Bible as rewarded with the gift of immortality is Jesus Christ. That he did not possess immortality previous to his resurrection by God is seen from the inspired apostle’s words at Romans 6:9: “Christ, now that he has been raised up from the dead, dies no more; death is master over him no more.” (Compare Revelation 1:17, 18.) For this reason, when describing him as “the King of those who rule as kings and Lord of those who rule as lords,” 1 Timothy 6:15, 16 shows that Jesus is distinct from all such other kings and lords in that he is “the one alone having immortality.” The other kings and lords, due to being mortal, die, even as did also the high priests of Israel. The glorified Jesus, God’s appointed High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, however, has an “indestructible life.”—Heb. 7:15-17, 23-25.

      The word “indestructible” here translates the Greek term a·ka·taʹly·tos, meaning, basically, “indissoluble.” The word is a compound of the negative prefix a joined to other words relating to a “loosening down,” as in Jesus’ statement regarding the loosening down or throwing down of the stones of the Temple at Jerusalem. (Matt. 24:1, 2) Also, in Paul’s reference to the loosening down of the earthly “tent” of Christians, that is, the dissolving of their earthly life in human bodies. (2 Cor. 5:1) Thus, the immortal life granted Jesus upon his resurrection is not merely endless but is beyond deterioration or dissolution and beyond destruction.

      KINGDOM HEIRS GRANTED IMMORTALITY

      For the anointed Christians called to reign with Christ in the heavens (1 Pet. 1:3, 4), the promise is that they share with Christ in the likeness of his resurrection. (Rom. 6:5) Thus, as in the case of their Lord and Head, the anointed members of the Christian congregation who die faithful receive a resurrection to immortal spirit life, so that “this which is mortal puts on immortality.” (1 Cor. 15:50-54) As with Jesus, immortality in their case does not mean simply everlasting life, or mere freedom from death. That they, too, are granted the “power of an indestructible life” as fellow heirs with Christ, is seen from the apostle Paul’s association of incorruptibility with the immortality they attain. (1 Cor. 15:42-49) Over them “the second death has no authority.”—Rev. 20:6; see INCORRUPTION.

      This grant of immortality to the Kingdom heirs is all the more transcendental and remarkable, in view of the fact that even God’s angels are shown to be mortal, despite their possessing spirit, not carnal, bodies. Angelic mortality is evident in view of the judgment of death entered against the spirit son who became God’s adversary, or Satan, and also against those other angels who followed that Satanic course and “did not keep their original position but forsook their own proper dwelling place.” (Jude 6; Matt. 25:41; Rev. 20:10, 14) So the grant of “indestructible life” (Heb. 7:16) or “indissoluble life” to those Christians who gain the privilege of reigning with God’s Son in the heavenly kingdom marvelously demonstrates God’s confidence in them.—See ANGEL; HEAVEN (The way to heavenly life); LIFE.

  • Impalement
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • IMPALEMENT

      (im·paleʹment).

      In the literal sense, the fastening of a victim either dead or alive to a stake. The execution of Jesus Christ is the best-known case. (Luke 24:20; John 19:14-16; Acts 2:23, 36) Impalements by nations in ancient times were carried out in a variety of ways.

      The Assyrians, noted for their savage warfare, impaled captives by hanging their nude bodies atop pointed stakes that were run up through the abdomens into the chest cavities of the victims. Several monumental reliefs have been found, one such depicting the Assyrian assault and conquest of Lachish, on which this method of impalement is shown.—2 Ki. 19:8.

      The Persians also used impalement as a form of punishment. Some say the Persians customarily first beheaded or flayed those they impaled. Darius the Great forbade interference with the rebuilding of the Jerusalem temple, and any violator of that decree was to be impaled on a timber pulled out of his own house. (Ezra 6:11) During the reign of Darius’ son, Ahasuerus (Xerxes I), two of the palace doorkeepers were hanged or impaled on a stake, the usual punishment meted out to traitors by the Persians. (Esther 2:21-23) Haman and his ten sons were similarly hanged on a stake. (Esther 5:14; 6:4; 7:9, 10; 9:10, 13, 14, 25) Herodotus (III, 125, 159; IV, 43) also cites other examples of Persian impalements.

      It was Jewish law that those guilty of such heinous crimes as blasphemy or idolatry were first killed by stoning, beheading or by some other method, then their dead bodies were exposed on stakes or trees as warning examples to others. (Deut. 21:22, 23; Josh. 8:29; 10:26; 2 Sam. 21:6, 9) The Egyptians may also have first killed their criminals before fastening them to stakes, as indicated by Joseph’s prophetic words to Pharaoh’s chief baker: “Pharaoh will lift up your head from off you and will certainly hang you upon a stake.”—Gen. 40:19, 22; 41:13.

      The Greeks and Romans, it is said, adopted the practice of impalement from the Phoenicians, and not until the days of Constantine was it abolished in the empire. Very seldom was a Roman citizen impaled, for this was a punishment usually given slaves and criminals of the lowest sort. Impalement was looked upon by both Jews and Romans as a symbol of humiliation and shame, reserved for those accursed.—Deut. 21:23; Gal. 3:13; Phil. 2:8.

      In the first century, if the Jews had the right to impale a person for religious reasons (a point on which there is some doubt), it is quite certain they could not do so for civil offenses; only a Roman official like Pontius Pilate had such authority. (John 18:31; 19:10) Nevertheless, the Jews, and especially their chief priests and rulers, bore the prime responsibility for Christ’s impalement.—Mark 15:1-15; Acts 2:36; 4:10; 5:30; 1 Cor. 2:8.

      The Romans sometimes tied the victim to the stake, in which case he might live for several days before his physical endurance was overcome by the torture of pain, thirst, hunger and exposure to the sun. As in the case of Jesus, nailing the hands (and likely the feet also) of the accused to a stake was customary among the Romans. (John 20:25, 27; Luke 24:39; Ps. 22:16, NW, 1957 ed., ftn.; Col. 2:14) Since the wrists have always been considered by anatomists as part of the hands, some medical men think the nails were driven between the small bones of the wrists to prevent the stripping out that could have occurred if driven through the palms.—See Arizona Medicine, March, 1965, p. 184.

      The record does not say whether the evildoers impaled alongside Jesus were nailed or simply tied to the stakes. If only tied, this might explain why, when Jesus was found dead, they were still alive and had to have their legs broken. (John 19:32, 33) Death by suffocation soon followed the breaking of their legs, since, as some think, this would have prevented the raising of the body to ease tension of chest muscles. Of course, this is not a conclusive point on why the evildoers outlived Jesus, for they had not experienced the mental and physical torture inflicted on Jesus. He had previously undergone an all-night ordeal in the hands of his enemies, in addition to being beaten by the Roman soldiers, perhaps to the point that he could not carry his own torture stake, as was the custom.—Mark 14:32–15:21; Luke 22:39–23:26.

      IMPALEMENT OF JESUS

      Most Bible translations say Christ was “crucified” rather than “impaled.” This is because of the common belief that the torture instrument upon which he was hung was a “cross” made of two pieces of wood instead of a single pale or stake. Tradition, not the Scriptures, also says that the condemned man carried only the crossbeam of the cross, called the patibulum or antenna, instead of both parts. In this way some try to avoid the predicament of having too much weight for one man to drag or carry a third of a mile (.5 kilometer) from the Castle of Antonia to Golgotha.

      Yet, what did the Bible writers themselves say about these matters? They used the Greek noun stau·rosʹ twenty-seven times and the verbs stau·roʹo forty-four times, sy·stau·roʹo (the prefix sy, meaning “with”) five times, and a·na·stau·roʹo (a·naʹ, meaning “again”) once. They also used the Greek word xyʹlon, meaning wood, five times to refer to the torture instrument upon which Jesus was nailed.

      Stau·rosʹ in both the classical and koi·neʹ Greek carries no thought of a “cross” made of two timbers. It means only an upright stake, pale, pile or pole, as might be used for a fence, stockade or palisade. Says Douglas’ New Bible Dictionary of 1962 under “Cross,” page 279: “The Gk. word for ‘cross’ (stauros, verb stauroō) means primarily an upright stake or beam, and secondarily a stake used as an instrument for punishment and execution.”

      The fact that Luke, Peter and Paul also used xyʹlon as a synonym for stau·rosʹ gives added evidence that Jesus was impaled on an upright stake without a crossbeam, for that is what xyʹlon in this special