What is the meaning of Israel?

Answer 1

Israel - which we get from the Greek, is originally in the Hebrew, "Yisrael" (ישראל).

Yisrael means, quite literally, "He has striven with God," or "He has been saved by God," based on which translation of "sra" was meant to be used.

"Yi", in the Hebrew, is a prefix indicating the masculine incomplete verb form "he". "S.R.A" (שרא), in the Hebrew, comes from the Semitic root "S.R.Y." (שרי), which means "to strive or to struggle." The word "El," (אל) in the Hebrew, is a form of the word for God.

When you see 'el' in any Hebrew name, it is a form of the word for God. See other names such as Ishmael (God has heard), Michael (Who is like God), and Daniel (My judge is God).

To better understand which meaning of Sra we are to use, we need to understand the origin of the name Israel. The origins came from Genesis chapter 32 where Jacob struggles with a man all night long until he is blessed. The man asks Jacob's name, then tells him that his name is no longer Jacob, but Israel, because he has striven with God and with man. (Genesis 32:28) Therefore, we can say that the word 'Israel', based on The Bible, means "He has striven with God."

Jacob (now Israel) became the father of the nation of Israel through his twelve sons - which is why you may hear the phrase, "Children of Israel" referring to the nation itself.

Jewish Answer:

Actually, the etymology of "Israel" is given in the verse itself (Genesis 32:29), which according to Jewish tradition is translated as: "for you have striven with angels and with men, and have prevailed." (The word Elohim, unlike יהוה , is not always used as the name of God. It can refer to judges [Exodus 22:6-8], mighty forces, or angels; and in this instance it is traditionally translated as angels). Somewhat similarly, the Aramaic (Targum) translates it as "you have striven in the presence of God" (not "with God").