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named Israel when Jacob was told: “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but
Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have
overcome.”
(Genesis 32:28)
He struggled with the angel and prevailed. The re-naming is confirmed at
Bethel in
Gn. 35:10
, where God Almighty appears to Jacob and says, “Your
name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be
your name.” Henceforth, Israel appears throughout the Old Testament as
an occasional synonym for Jacob; it is used most frequently when the
Patriarch’s descendants are called “the children or people Israel”.
The Hebrew language, in which most of the Old Testament was
documented, dates as a living language from the twelfth to the second
century BC. Although Aramaic became popular for many Jews, and many
spoke the language of the countries where they settled, Hebrew was
preserved as the language of ritual and sacred writing.
To make a distinction and to use the past to illuminate the present, the
Hebrew nation was chosen to serve God’s purpose, and that purpose was
fulfilled. However, these past distinctions as revealed in scripture show a
profound difference between the Jew and Gentile today. Israel is now a
country, but the essence of the word
Israel
means the children or people
Israel; latter called “chosen of God,” and those chosen today do not
necessarily reside in a country named Israel. The Hebrews or Jews are now
considered a race of peoples, originating from a country now called Israel.
The definition of Israel as given in
Strong’s Dictionary
certainly conforms to
the latter understanding. It is given as Yisra’el as, yis-raw-ale’: he will rule as
God; Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also [typically] of his posterity
—
Israel.
Those who were considered part of Israel, are now citizens of that country.
In every other part of the world, they are called Jews, but are descended
from the Hebrew race. Jews are not an ethnic group but rather a religion.
The name Israel is a country where the religion descended from Judea and
was called Judaism, as their ancestors are Hebrew. People who worshipped
one God were considered Jews, and those who did not were called Gentiles,
regardless of their ethnic backgrounds. Those who lived within Judea were
called Jews, and became a religion; they were one Hebrew nation. However,
the ethnic backgrounds varied to some extent. The connotation of “the
chosen of God” extends beyond a nationality or race of people, but most
importantly applies to the essence of the name Israel. A distinct
