Israel’s name before it became Israel was Jacob.
When you say Israel, you mean both Jacob and the Israelite nation that descended from Abraham through Jacob.
The people we know, and the Old Testament speaks of it this way, the people we know were not called Abrahamites or Abramites. They were not called Isaacites. They were called Israelites. That’s the name that they got. That’s what the angel said to Jacob in Genesis 32. The angel jumped on Jacob in the night.
Jacob thinks it’s a hit man from Esau, grabs hold of him and won’t let him go. And the angel said, and it was all a setup, don’t you see? If the angel had wanted to put him down, he’d have put him down. But the angel says to him, let me go, for it’s getting to be dawn. And Jacob says, I won’t let you go until you assure me you’re not going to hurt me. Those words aren’t in the text.
What’s in the text is, I’m not letting you go until you give me your name. And the angel said, well, why are you asking me my name? That is, why are you insisting on this assurance? And he says, tell me your name. The angel says to Jacob and Jacob says, and you’re supposed to imagine, see and hear this. Jacob said, my name is Tripper Upper, Supplanter My name is Cheater. He thinks he’s dealing with a hit man from Esau. He stole from Esau and he had him over a barrel the first time and he really took advantage of the man and the last word he heard from his mother was this. Rebecca said, he’s going to kill you for what you did to him. You better run to Mesopotamia to Uncle Laban. So off he ran.
and all the years he spent there. Now he’s coming back and he’s all very blessed. And he’s about to enter into Canaan again. And he’s afraid of Esau. And he thinks it’s an Esau man that has jumped on him in the night. He said, I want assurance from you that you’re not going to hurt me or I won’t let you go.
And to give him the name is to make this wholehearted confession, you see. But the angel said, tell me your name. And he thinks he’s talking to an Esau guy. He well, I admit, I do admit, I’ve been a cheater.
And the angel changes his name from Jacob to Israel. So Israel, all of the Israelites would say, we are descendants of Jacob, who is Israel.