Israel (name)

Israel is a biblical given name. According to the biblical Book of Genesis the patriarch Jacob was given the name Israel (Hebrew: יִשְׂרָאֵל, Standard Yisraʾel Tiberian Yiśrāʾēl) after he wrestled with the angel (Genesis 32:28 and 35:10). The given name is already attested in Eblaite (𒅖𒊏𒅋, išrail) and Ugaritic (𐎊𐎌𐎗𐎛𐎍, yšrʾil).[4] Commentators differ on the original literal interpretation. The text of Genesis etymologizes the name with the root śarah "to rule, contend, have power, prevail over":[5] שָׂרִיתָ עִם־אֱלֹהִים  (KJV: "a prince hast thou power with God"), but modern suggestions read the el as the subject, for a translation of "El/God rules/judges/struggles",[6] "El fights/struggles".[7]

Israel
Pronunciation/ˈɪzreɪəl, -riəl/
Hebrew: [jisʁaˈʔel]
Hebrew: [jiɬraˈʔei̯l]
GenderMale
Origin
Word/nameHebrew
Meaning'God Contended',[1] 'Wrestles with God',[2] 'Triumphant with God'[3]
Other names
Related namesIzzy, Isaac, Rae

The name appears on the Merneptah Stele as 𓇌𓊃𓏤𓏤𓂋𓇋𓄿𓂋𓏤 (ysrỉꜣr), referring to a foreign group of people.

In Jewish and Christian texts from the Greco-Egyptian area during Second Temple Judaism and beyond the name was understood to mean "a man seeing God" from the ʾyš (man) rʾh (to see) ʾel (God).[8]

Jacob's descendants came to be known as the Israelites, eventually forming the tribes of Israel and ultimately the kingdom of Israel, whence came the name of modern-day State of Israel.

In Israel, the name "Israel Israeli" is sometimes used to mean someone whose name is unknown or unspecified. Israel was a common name among Chaldeans until recent times. A famous Chaldean author is Bishop Israel Audo, famous for authoring a book about the Chaldean Genocide. In Nazi Germany, male Jews who did not have "typically Jewish" given names were forced to add "Israel" as of January 1939. This decree was revoked by the Allies in 1945.

Given name
  • Israel (Bishop of Caucasian Albania), 7th century CE
  • Israel Adesanya (born 1989), Nigerian professional mixed martial artist, kickboxer, and boxer.
  • Israel Alter (also: Yisraʾel Alter, 1901–1979), Jewish composer and last chief cantor in Hanover, Germany
  • Israel Asper (1932–2003), Canadian media magnate
  • Israel of Axum, Emperor of Ethiopia in the 6th century CE
  • Israel Baker (1919–2011), American violinist and concertmaster
  • Israel Baline (1888–1989), the birth name of American composer Irving Berlin
  • Israel Bissell (1752–1823), American post rider and colonial militia officer
  • Israel Cruz (born 1983), Australian singer
  • Israel Dagg (born 1988), New Zealand rugby player
  • Israel ben Eliezer (1698–1760), Jewish mystical rabbi
  • Israel Englander, billionaire hedge fund manager
  • Israel Folau (born 1989), Australian rugby player
  • Israel Gelfand (1913–2009), Russian mathematician
  • Israel Gigato (born 1987), Spanish football player
  • Israel the Grammarian, 10th-century European scholar
  • Israel Hands, 18th-century pirate
  • Israel Houghton (born 1971), American singer and Christian worship leader
  • Israel Idonije (born 1980), Nigeria-born Canadian player of American football
  • Israel Kamakawiwoʻole (1959–1997), Hawaiian singer and spiritual leader
  • Israel Keyes (1978–2012), American serial killer, rapist, bank robber, burglar, and arsonist
  • Israel Kirzner (born 1930), American economist
  • Israel of Krems, 14th-/15th-century Austrian rabbi
  • Israel "Izzy" Lang, American football running back
  • Israel Machado (born 1960), Brazilian basketball player
  • Israel Ochoa (born 1964), Colombian cyclist
  • Israel Ori (1658–1711), Armenian prominent figure of the Armenian national liberation movement and a diplomat that sought the liberation of Armenia from Persia and the Ottoman Empire
  • Israel Pellew (1758–1832), British admiral
  • Israel Putnam (1718–1790), American general
  • Israel Raybon (born 1973), American football player
  • Israel Regardie (1907–1985), British occultist
  • Israel B. Richardson (1815–1862), Union major general in the American Civil War
  • Israel Ruiz, Jr. (born 1943), New York politician
  • Israel Shahak (1933–2001), Israeli author
  • Israel Shamir (born 1947), Swedish anti-Zionist writer
  • Israel Vázquez (born 1977), Mexican boxer
  • Yisrael Meir Lau (born 1937), former Chief Rabbi of Israel

Surname

References
  1. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Israel". Behind the Name.
  2. "Israel Definition and Meaning - Bible Dictionary". Bible Study Tools.
  3. James P. Boyd, Bible dictionary, Ottenheimer Publishers, 1958
  4. Michael G. Hasel, Domination and Resistance: Egyptian Military Activity in the Southern Levant, Brill, 1998
  5. 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)
  6. Hamilton 1995, p. 334
  7. Wenham 1994, pp. 296–97 The Jewish Study Bible of Oxford University Press says on page 68 "The scientific etymology of Israel is uncertain, a good guess being '[The God] El rules.'"
  8. The Old Testament pseudepigrapha. Charlesworth, James H. London: Darton, Longman & Todd. 1983–1985. p. 703. ISBN 0232516278. OCLC 14814462.CS1 maint: others (link) CS1 maint: date format (link)
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