ISRAEL. - Originally a surname of Jacob, then the name of the people descended from his 12 sons. God changed the name of the patriarch Jacob (v.) to I. (Gen. 32:28).
Since this change was made following a victorious "struggle" (śārah = Arabic śarā [Th. Nöldeke, Neue Beiträge zur semit. Sprachwissenschaft, Strasbourg 1910, p. 75], "to fight") undertaken by the patriarch (Gen. 32:24-32; the conception in Hos. 12:4 ff. is different), the name of I. is explained as: "He struggles with God." But since in theophoric names God is usually the subject, some, departing from Gen. 32:29, explain it as: "God fights (for him)." It should be considered, however, that the struggle takes place at night and that the mysterious wrestler wishes to be dismissed at daybreak, and it is at daybreak that the change of name occurs; it is not excluded that Scripture hints at the second meaning of the name: Śārah = Arabic śarā "to shine" (cf. O. Procksch, Die Genesis, 2nd-3rd ed., Leipzig 1924, p. 373), that is: "God shines," which would agree with the biblical theophanies and with the frequent association "God and light" in the prophetic literature and in biblical hymnody.
Eugenio Zolli