Israel
- 1A country in Western Asia along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, officially named the State of Israel.
Israel declared its independence in 1948.
She spent a semester studying abroad in Israel.
Note
An old name on a modern map: English has had the word since Old English, borrowed through Latin and Greek from Hebrew yisra'él, long before any modern state bore it. The adjective is Israeli (Israeli soil). In political writing the name often stands for the government as much as the territory: people support Israel, and Israel acts, fights and is criticized.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- Israel was already used in Old English. cdn.ymaws.com
- English Israel derives through Latin and Ancient Greek from Hebrew yisra'él. en.wiktionary.org
- The English word predates the establishment of the modern State of Israel. en.wiktionary.org
- 2The Jewish people considered collectively as a single community, in liturgical and poetic usage.
The cantor sang of Israel gathered before its God.
May Israel dwell in peace, the congregation prayed together.
Note
Prayer speaks to the people directly. Hear, O Israel opens the Shema and addresses the whole community as a single listener. Notice the construction the people Israel, with no "of": the name stands beside the noun like a title. Outside worship and verse, plain prose says the Jewish people, because this use in ordinary writing invites confusion with the modern state.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- The Shema opens with words translated as “Hear, O Israel.” chabad.org
- The opening addresses Israel collectively using singular address. en.wikisource.org
- 3The ancient land and kingdom of the Israelites in Western Asia, as described in the Bible.
Scripture traces the twelve tribes settling across Israel after the exodus.
The Hebrew Bible describes Israel as stretching from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south.
Note
Scripture's name for the territory itself, often in the fuller form the Land of Israel. That phrase keeps it distinct from the modern state, which covers roughly the same ground. In religious writing it is the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people, so the word carries a sense of inheritance rather than of borders. Context, not spelling, tells the reader which Israel is meant.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- Scripture uses “the land of Israel” as a territorial name. en.wikisource.org
- Jewish religious tradition regards the land as an ancestral homeland and inheritance. en.wikisource.org
- 4An ancient kingdom occupying the northern part of the region, distinct from the southern kingdom of Judah.
Israel fell to the Assyrians in 722 BCE, well before Judah did.
From the reign of Omri onward, the kings of Israel ruled from the city of Samaria.
Note
Here the name shrinks to the north, and its partner defines it: Israel and Judah, the two kingdoms left after the split. Ten tribes broke from the line of David to form it, so "the ten tribes" and "the northern kingdom" are its usual stand-ins in history writing. When Judah is named nearby, this is the Israel meant.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- Israel here denotes the northern kingdom. en.wikipedia.org
- In the biblical account, the division produced the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. en.wikipedia.org
- The biblical account assigns ten tribes to the kingdom that broke away from David's dynasty. en.wikisource.org
Less common meanings
- 5A name given to the patriarch Jacob after his struggle at Peniel, recorded in Genesis 32:28.
Genesis tells how Israel blessed his sons before his death.
Elijah prayed to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel on Mount Carmel.
SimilarJacob
Note
The name begins as a renaming. The 1611 Bible gives the reason in Jacob's encounter: "for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed." From this one man the name passes to his descendants and the people. That is why the familiar triad Abraham, Isaac and Jacob can also appear as Abraham, Isaac and Israel.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 5 facts
- In the biblical account, Jacob receives the name Israel following his struggle at Peniel, in Genesis 32:28. kingjamesbibleonline.org
- Genesis 32:28 in the 1611 King James Bible contains the quoted explanation, spoken to Jacob by his opponent. The item modernizes spelling and punctuation. kingjamesbibleonline.org
- Within the biblical narrative, Israel becomes the name of Jacob's descendants and their people. en.wikipedia.org
- The biblical patriarchal triad can name Jacob as Israel; Exodus 32:13 supplies an example. en.wikisource.org
- Abraham, Isaac and Jacob also occur together as a patriarchal triad. en.wikisource.org
- 6A masculine given name of Hebrew origin, borne by Jewish and Christian families alike.
- 7A surname found among families of various origins.
Use it in a sentence
Write your own sentence with Israel, and AI will tell you whether it fits and which meaning you used.
Origin
Hebrew יִשְׂרָאֵל (yisra'él) reached English through Ancient Greek Ἰσραήλ, Latin Israel, and then Old and Middle English, and according to the Bible it was the name given to Jacob, so that his descendants became the Israelites and their country the kingdom or land of Israel. The name itself is very old, already found in Eblaite and Ugaritic, and its meaning has been given as "God rules", "he prevails with God" or "he wrestles with God".