El-elohe-Israel

El-elohe-Israel (meaning Mighty One, God of Israel, or God, the God of Israel) is the name Jacob gave to the altar he erected at Shechem after his peaceful return from Paddan-aram and his tense meeting with Esau (Genesis 33:18–20). Having purchased a parcel of ground from the sons of Hamor, Jacob set up the altar there as an act of worship acknowledging the God who had protected him through all his years away from Canaan and had brought him back safely.

The name is theologically significant: Jacob identifies the deity he worships specifically as "the God of Israel" — using his covenant name Israel rather than his birth name Jacob. This represents Jacob's full embrace of his God-given identity after the wrestling at Peniel (Genesis 32:28). The altar at Shechem positioned God's claim in the heart of Canaan, at the location where Abram had first built an altar upon entering the promised land (Genesis 12:6–7), connecting Jacob's worship to the covenant inheritance of the patriarchs.