Biblical patriarch and namesake of Israel
Jacob (Israel)
Genesis explains the name Israel through his struggle with a divine being and makes his sons the tribes' ancestors.
What the sources say
Each block is a sourced statement. Click the number to see the cited page.
3 statements
Tradition or narrative
The only explanation of the name Israel from an Israelite source is in Genesis, where it is another name for Jacob. There are two versions of how Jacob received it: in Genesis 32, after wrestling with God, and in Genesis 35, at a place later called Bethel, with no struggle. This shows there was more than one understanding of the name within Israel itself.
Tradition or narrative
The Bible portrays the entire people as an extended family of 12 tribes descended from Jacob's sons. The first group named is Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan and Naphtali; the list continues with Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, whose line divides into Ephraim and Manasseh, and Benjamin. Genesis thus narrates Israelite origins as one family's history.
Tradition or narrative
Genesis records episodes of sexual violence and deceit in Jacob's family: Dinah was raped by a man who afterward offered to marry her; Reuben lay with his father's concubine; Judah had relations with his daughter-in-law Tamar, in disguise, thinking she was a prostitute; and Joseph was propositioned by another man's wife. Whether or not they happened, the authors recognize that sexual behavior often involved violence and deceit, and biblical law sought to protect Israelites.