Senses
1. Israel (proper name and nation) — The Hebrew proper name יִשְׂרָאֵל (Yisrael/Israel), the most frequent proper noun in the Hebrew Bible with over 2,500 occurrences. Originally the name given to the patriarch Jacob after wrestling with the divine being at Peniel (Gen 32:29), meaning 'God persists/contends' (from שָׂרָה + אֵל). Subsequently used to designate: (1) the patriarch himself, (2) the twelve-tribe confederation, (3) the united monarchy under Saul, David, and Solomon, (4) the northern kingdom after the schism, and (5) the covenant people as a theological entity. The multilingual evidence shows remarkable consistency: Israël in French, Yisrael in Spanish, إِسْرَائِيل in Arabic, इस्राएल in Hindi, and 이스라엘 in Korean. Prepositional forms (ב-ישראל, מ-ישראל, ל-ישראל), the conjunctive (ו-ישראל), and adversative constructions (על-ישראל 'against Israel') are all grammatical inflections of this single referent, not distinct senses. 2507×
AR["إِسْرائِيلَ","إِسْرَائِيل","إِسْرَائِيلَ","إِسْرَائِيلُ"]·ben["ইস্রায়েল","ইস্রায়েলের"]·DE["Israel","Israels","Jisrael"]·EN["Israel"]·FR["Israël"]·heb["ישראל","ישראל"]·HI["इस्राएल","इस्राएल-के","इस्राएल-ने"]·ID["Israel"]·IT["Israele"]·jav["Israel","Israèl","Israél"]·KO["이스라엘의","이스라엘이","이스라엘이라"]·PT["Yisra'el"]·RU["Израиль","Израиля","Исраэля"]·ES["Yisrael"]·SW["Israeli","Yisraeli","wa-Israeli","wa-Yisraeli","ya-Yisraeli"]·TR["Yisrael'in","İsrail","İsrail'in"]·urd["اسرائیل","اسرائیل-نے","اسرائیل-کے"]
BDB / Lexicon Reference
יִשְׂרָאֵל2507 n.pr.m. et gent. Israel (E†l persisteth, persevereth (or juss. Let E†l persist) [usually contendeth (NesEg 60 ff.) or Let E†l contend (GrayProp. N. 218), but v. DrHastDict. Bib. Jacob 530]; on vocalization v. LagBN 131 f. Kit 1 Ch 4:16 (Hpt); MI5, + 5 times ישראל; in Egyptian Y-si-r-ʾl SteindorffZAW xvi (1896), 331, cf. BreastedBib. World ix (1897), 62 ff. PatonSyriac and Pal. 134;…