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Why is it common to refer to Jacob as Jacob, rather than calling him Israel?

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There are several examples in the Bible where faithful people were given a new name: - Abram became Abraham (Genesis 17:5 ) - Sarai became Sarah (Genesis 17:15 ) - Jacob became Israel (Genesis 32:28 ; 35:10 ) - Simon became Peter (Matthew 16:18 ; John 1:42 ) Usually, we refer to Abraham as Abraham, Sarah as Sarah, and Peter as Peter – using their new names. Given that pattern, why is it more common to refer to Jacob as Jacob, rather than his new name, Israel? Interestingly, it seems that Jacob was given his new name twice, as if he forgot it the first time (Genesis 32 and 35). Among the mentions of Jacob/Israel in the Bible, there are 17 occurrences of the phrase “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” but only four occurrences of “Abraham, Isaac, and Israel.” Sometimes God himself uses the name Jacob, after having said “you will no longer be called Jacob” (Genesis 35:10). As evidence of modern usage, the Wikipedia article for Abram/Abraham is Abraham , but the Wikipedia article for Jacob/Israel is Jacob . Also, Abraham and Jacob are the names of the relevant tags here on Christianity Stack Exchange.
Asked by Samuel Bradshaw (1887 rep)
Feb 4, 2022, 06:07 AM
Last activity: Aug 31, 2022, 12:28 AM