Establishing Identity via the Naming of Jacob as Israel

The Biblical Patriarch Jacob was renamed Israel in Gen 32. The story tells us the meaning of his namesake. Jacob was a deceiver or "supplanter," from birth up until this point, but rather than clinging to the heal of his human-given identity, here Jacob wrestles with God to give him a new identity.

The story goes that God renamed the Deceiver as Israel, and it defines it for us: "One who strives (sara) with God" (and men and prevails). The word strive also has a synonym in 32:24 (abaq) that is translated as "wrestle," or literally, "get dusty," and scholars will often point out that this is a physical fight because Jacob literally "got dusty" with God.

The significance of Jacob "getting dusty" with God does not stop at a physical fight. It has much more of a deeper magic that can only been seen when reading it in context with the rest of the epic narrative. In Genesis 1:26-28 we read that God made humanity in the Image of God, and in Genesis 2:7 we read that humanity was created out of the dust of the Earth. In Genesis 3 humanity redefined itself not as God's image but rather under the authority of the "whispering deceiver" (nachash, often translated "serpent").

The renaming of Jacob as one who wrestles with God fits into a redemptive and re-creative Type of undoing what was done in Genesis 3. Jacob sheds his serpent-given identity of a deceiver and instead assumes the identity of one who chooses to define himself as one who joins in God's efforts by "getting dusty." Joining God in the vocation of re-creation is not enough though, and Jacob decides he will not let go of God until God redefines his identity. God obliges, redefining Jacob as Israel, one who strives with God, in the authority of God, on behalf of men. Jacob prevails, and thus Israel is born.