Jump to content

Israel (name)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Israel
Pronunciation
In English:
In Hebrew:
  • Modern: [jisʁaˈʔel]
    Biblical: [jiɬraːˈʔeːl]
GenderMale
LanguageSemitic
Origin
Word/nameEl (deity)
Meaning"He struggles with God"
Region of originNear East
Look up Israel or ישראל in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Israel (Hebrew: יִשְׂרָאֵל, Modern: Yīsraʾel, Tiberian: Yīsrāʾēl) is a masculine Hebrew name.

Etymology

[edit]

In Hebrew, the name Israel comes from sara (Hebrew: שָׂרָה, lit. 'to struggle [with]')[1] and el (Hebrew: אֵל, lit. 'God'). After Jacob wrestles with the angel in the Book of Genesis,[2] the Angel of the Lord tells him that his name is now Israel, because he has "struggled with God and man and prevailed" (Genesis 32:28, 35:10). The Hebrew verb sarita, used in the passage, has also been translated into English as "striven," "wrestled," and "contended." The general consensus is the name is a reference to the Jewish people's ongoing struggle with God and the obligation they have to explore their faith.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9] According to John Day, the name Israel means 'El rules' or 'he who struggles with El', which is a clear indication of the Canaanite deity's influence on the early Israelite religion, by these preserved names and epithets. It was considered to be in line with the evidence from the Ugaritic texts, where El is the supreme god.[10]

The word "wrestlers" in Ancient Greek is "palaestis," which may be related to "Palaistinê" used by Herodotus.[11] Palaistinê would then mean "Land of the wrestlers" or "Land of Israel."[12]

History

[edit]

The given name is attested during the Bronze Age in Eblaite (𒅖𒊏𒅋, Išrail) and Ugaritic (𐎊𐎌𐎗𐎛𐎍, Yšrʾil) languages.[13] Ysrỉꜣr (Ancient Egyptian: 𓇌𓊃𓏤𓏤𓂋𓇋𓄿𓂋𓏤) appears c. 1208 BCE on the Merneptah Stele of Egypt, where it refers to a foreign people, likely the Israelites.

The word Israel has a strong association with Judaism. In the Book of Genesis, after God renames the patriarch Jacob as Israel, his twelve sons become the heads of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The Land of Israel (Hebrew: ארץ ישראל, romanized: Eretz Yisrael) is mentioned throughout the Hebrew Bible as the home of nations such as Israel and Judah. Today, Israel also refers to the State of Israel, which is home to almost half of the world's Jewish population.[14]

Usage

[edit]

The name is popular among modern Jews, especially those from an Orthodox Jewish background, and, to a lesser extent, Christians. Its Hebrew form is Yisra'el, which is romanized as Israel in English and Spanish and as Yisroel in Yiddish or Ladino. Diminutive forms include Izzy (English), Israelito (Spanish), Isser (Yiddish), Srul (Yiddish), Sruli (Yiddish), Srulik (Yiddish) and Srulke (Yiddish).

Given name

[edit]

Surname

[edit]

Fictional characters

[edit]
  • Israel Boone, son of title character in TV series Daniel Boone

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ שָׂרָה‎ śarah "to contend, have power, contend with, persist, exert oneself, persevere" (Strong's Concordance H8323) שָׂרַר‎ śarar "to be or act as prince, rule, contend, have power, prevail over, reign, govern" (Strong's Concordance 8280)
  2. ^ "Bible Gateway passage: Genesis 32:22-32 - New International Version". Bible Gateway. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
  3. ^ "Israel Means To Struggle With God". My Jewish Learning. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
  4. ^ "Wrestling with God and Jewish Tradition". Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
  5. ^ Shuman, Barbara K. "God Wrestling". reformjudaism.org. Retrieved June 20, 2025.
  6. ^ "Wrestling With God". American Jewish University. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
  7. ^ "Faith and Doubt". American Jewish University. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
  8. ^ "Judaism - Experiences and Emotion". Cultural Atlas. 2022-01-01. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
  9. ^ "Wrestling with God - Mishpacha". www.mishpacha.org. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
  10. ^ Day, John (2010-06-15). Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0-567-53783-6.
  11. ^ Jacobson, David. "When Palestine Meant Israel". The BAS Library. Retrieved 2025-10-20.
  12. ^ David M. Jacobson, Palestine and Israel, 1999, p. 65-67: "In the earliest Classical literature references to Palestine generally applied to the Land of Israel in the wider sense. A reappraisal of this question has given rise to the proposition that the name Palestine, in its Greek form Palaistine, was both a transliteration of a word used to describe the land of the Philistines and, at the same time, a literal translation of the name Israel. This dual interpretation reconciles apparent contradictions in early definitions of the name Palaistine and is compatible with the Greeks' penchant for punning, especially on place names."
  13. ^ Hasel, Michael G. (2 September 1998). Domination and Resistance: Egyptian Military Activity in the Southern Levant, ca. 1300-1185 B.C. Brill Publishers. p. 195. ISBN 978-90-04-10984-1. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  14. ^ "Jewish Population Rises to 15.3 Million Worldwide | The Jewish Agency". The Jewish Agency for Israel - U.S. 2022-09-28. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Israel_(name)&oldid=1321417486"