Israel

The story

1. Hebrew · derived fromיִשְׂרָאֵל“Israel”
2. Ancient Greek · derived fromἸσραήλ
3. Latin · derived fromIsrael
4. Middle English · inherited fromIsrael
5. English todayIsrael

From Middle English Israel, from Old English, borrowed from Latin Israel, from Ancient Greek Ἰσραήλ (Israḗl), from Hebrew יִשְׂרָאֵל (yisra'él, “Israel”). In the Bible, it is said to be from the name יִשְׂרֶה אֵל (yisré 'él) given to Jacob in Genesis 32:29, after which his descendants came to be known as Israelites and their land as the "kingdom/land of Israel". The personal name, already attested in Eblaite 𒅖𒊏𒅋 (iš-ra-il) and Ugaritic 𐎊𐎌𐎗𐎛𐎍 (yšrỉl), has been variously translated as "he wrestles with God", "he prevails with God", or "God rules" (possibly from the same root ש־ר־ה/ש־ר־ר as שָׂרָה (“Sarah”)). Line 27 of the Merneptah Stele (from about 1200 B.C.E.) is thought to contain the earliest attestation of the name Israel in any language, Egyptian ysrjꜣr. : i-i-z:Z1s*Z1s:r-i-A-r:Z1*T14-A1*B1:Z2 Doublet of Yisroel.

Words from the same roots