Israel

The name God gave to Jacob. It came to refer to all his descendants collectively, at any one time. The descendants of Jacob’s 12 sons were often called the sons of Israel, the house of Israel, the people (men) of Israel, or the Israelites. Israel was also used as the name for the ten-tribe northern kingdom that broke away from the southern kingdom, and later as a term for anointed Christians, “the Israel of God.”​—Ga 6:16; Ge 32:28; 2Sa 7:23; Ro 9:6.