# Israel

Pronunciation: US say "IZ-ray-uhl" /ˈɪz.ɹeɪ.əl/; UK

## Proper noun

1. A country in Western Asia along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, officially named the State of Israel.
   - Simple: A country in the Middle East, on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
   - _Israel declared its independence in 1948._
   - _She spent a semester studying abroad in Israel._
2. The Jewish people considered collectively as a single community, in liturgical and poetic usage. *(literary)*
   - Simple: The Jewish people thought of together as one group, used in prayers and poems.
   - _The cantor sang of Israel gathered before its God._
   - _May Israel dwell in peace, the congregation prayed together._
3. The ancient land and kingdom of the Israelites in Western Asia, as described in the Bible.
   - Simple: The land and kingdom of the Jewish people in ancient times, as told 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._
4. An ancient kingdom occupying the northern part of the region, distinct from the southern kingdom of Judah.
   - Simple: An old northern kingdom in the Land of Israel, separate 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._
5. A name given to the patriarch Jacob after his struggle at Peniel, recorded in Genesis 32:28.
   - Simple: A second name given to the patriarch Jacob in the Bible.
   - _Genesis tells how Israel blessed his sons before his death._
   - _Elijah prayed to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel on Mount Carmel._

## Other meanings

- (proper noun) A masculine given name of Hebrew origin, borne by Jewish and Christian families alike.
- (proper noun) A surname found among families of various origins.

## 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".

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/israel (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).