A group of ancient nomadic people stands before a simple stone altar in a vast desert valley beneath a towering mountain.

People group

The People of Israel

The nation descended from Jacob, whom God renamed Israel — the covenant people through whom the Scriptures came.

Scripture traces this people through Jacob.

Most of the thousands of verses that say "Israel" speak of this people rather than of the man. Jacob the individual keeps his own profile; this page gathers the collective.

Scripture names this people collectively but does not identify an individual member in the current records.