Sublime

Others say the switching back and forth is a subtle way of indicating the direction in which Jacob-Israel’s heart is focused at the time: Jacob is the old man, who looks to himself, but Israel is the new man, who looks to God.

Jacob is called Israel; it’s the first time we see this word in Scripture. The name eventually refers not only to this one man, but to his descendants too.

“Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.”1