What Does Israel Mean in the Bible?

The various ways "Israel" is used biblically can be easily sorted out.

The word Israel means many things in the Bible. At times in the Old Testament, it refers to a specific group of people who are the offspring of three patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. At others, it refers to the nation God created from their descendants.[1] This nation was sovereign, independent, and united for about 400-500 years, from the period of the conquest of Canaan (14^th-15^th century BC) until the 10 northern tribes rebelled against King Rehoboam and declared their national sovereignty around 931 BC.  At that point, Israel became synonymous with the country in the north, while the Davidic monarchy continued to reign over the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, known as the nation of Judah, in the south.

But Israel means even more than that. At times, it refers to a person, the man named Israel. God changed Jacob’s name after an all-night wrestling match wherein Yahweh conquered Jacob’s pride and self-sufficiency.[2] It can also refer to territory, the physical piece of land the descendants of Abraham were promised to inhabit and possess for as long as they kept their covenant with Yahweh. Before Israel occupied the land, it was called Canaan. Now, the land itself is more often than not referred to as Palestine.

In the New Testament, Israel can refer to all these things, but it can also refer to a spiritual entity called the Church. You read that right. Twice in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul refers to those who have put their faith in Jesus, Jews and Gentiles alike, as Israel.

How could this be? Are there two Israels today? Are Christians now viewed as the New Israel? Yes and no. While a distinction must be made between ethnic Jews and Christians, between the Church and the nation of Israel as it is constituted today, the New Testament is clear that it is only those who have put their faith in Jesus who are a part of God’s New Covenant. This group is referred to in the New Testament by many names: the Church, the Body of Christ, the Bride of Christ, God’s Temple, God’s Building, God’s Husbandry, the Assembly of the Firstborn, the Israel of God, and others.

Does this mean that the Church has replaced the ethnic people of Israel as God’s chosen people? Not exactly. God’s New Covenant, which has fulfilled and succeeded every promise made to the people of Israel in the Old Testament, is open to persons of every tribe, nation, and language in the world. Jewish people are invited, along with everyone else, to come and participate in God’s New Covenant by putting their faith in His Messiah, His Son, Jesus, as the atoning sacrifice for sin and the only way to the Father.

God has not replaced Israel, but he has replaced the old, broken covenant that was made alongside Abraham’s descendants with a new, eternal covenant that is open to all people. While the word Israel means many things in the Bible, perhaps the most significant meaning can be found in the writings of Paul, who says in Galatians 3:7 that “it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.” 

Everyone who has put their faith in Jesus is a true Israelite, being built and fashioned collectively into a new, holy dwelling place for God.

[1] The word nation itself often refers to the people, as opposed to the sovereign state of Israel.

[2] To make things even more complex, sometimes references to the person Israel in the Bible are symbolically representative of the entire people group.

An Israeli flag, the symbol of the Jewish Nation as it is currently constituted.

What Does Israel Mean in the Bible?

Blake Barbera is the founder and Lead Teaching Minister at That You May Know Him. He has been teaching the Bible for more than two decades, and has served the Church in various capacities during that time, including as a missionary and pastor. He currently teaches New Testament and Biblical Interpretation part-time at a Bible College and Seminary, along with his work for That You May Know Him.

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