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The name Israel actually identifies three different things-a man, a people and a country. The man was Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel. The people who descended from his twelve sons eventually became the Israelites. The same people are also known as Jews, Hebrews and Semites. The country of Israel is the land in which the Israelites settled initially in ancient times and more recently in modern times. The country has also been known as Canaan and Palestine. All the different names are rooted in their history.

One could say the people started about 2100 BC when a man named Abraham settled near the Dead Sea. He had left Ur, a city in the Mesopotamian area to settle in Canaan. He believed God had sent him to this particular area and promised the land would belong to his descendents. (Genesis 12) This promise has always been remembered by the Jews who continue to claim the land based on this ancient promise.

Abraham had two sons. The eldest son, Ishmael was by Hagar who was a servant to Abraham's wife, Sarah. When Sarah conceived in late age and bore Isaac, Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael away into the desert. The Bible records Ishmael as the ancestor of what we know today as the Arab nations. The enemity between the Jews and Arabs is traced back to Abraham's rejection and mistreatment of Hagar and her son. This enemity has increased through the centuries and is the basis of much of the hostilities in the Middle East today.

It was Isaac's son Jacob who married two women and had twelve sons and one daughter. Jacob had various adventures, including a wrestling match with an unknown "man". When the match concluded, Jacob's opponent blessed him and changed his name to Isra-el, meaning "One who strives (or wrestles) with God".

During his lifetime there was a great famine in the known world. One of Israel's sons, Joseph, had attained a powerful position in Pharoah's court in Egypt, so Israel moved his family to Egypt. Their descendents lived in Egypt for about 400 years. During this period they had become virtual slaves to the Egyptians. Historical accounts of Egypt mention a large group of non-native people called "Habiru". It is believed these were the Israelites. The name Habiru was eventually corrupted to Hebrew. During their residence in Egypt, each of the twelve sons' descendents had evolved to a tribe. The Habiru were a loose federation of these tribes which later became known as the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

The country of Israel began about 1406 BC. The

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