Saturday, December 4, 2010

Israel

Israel - which we get from the Greek, is originally in the Hebrew, "Yisrael". 
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 the masculine form "he". "Sra", in the Hebrew, comes from the Semitic root "Sry", which means "to strive or to save." The word "El," 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)