Why are Jews considered God's Chosen People?

Answer 1

Jewish Answer

In Judaism, the phrase 'chosen' does not mean that we think that we are better than anyone else or have an elevated status in God's eyes. What 'chosen' refers to is that we were chosen to keep the Torah, that is it. What most people don't know is that according to Jewish teachings, God actually offered the Torah to every other nation before the Israelites but we were the only ones to accept it without question.

Judaism teaches that there are different paths to God and Judaism is the path for Jews. The Torah provides the guidelines for the Jewish path.

Non-Jewish Answer

Before Israel was even a nation, before there was the word 'Jew' God made a covenant with Abram: "And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed'" (Genesis 12:1-3) The great nation that descended from Abraham was Israel. God kept his covenant to Abram and blessed Israel so that through them, all the families of the earth will be blessed. God did not choose the Jews to make them superior in any way, rather He chose them so they can bless all the nations on earth.

Answer 2

Answer:

Because Jews mostly pay attention to God and are very spiritualy connected to Him. Also, The Jewish people are descended from Jacob (Israel), the grandson of Abraham, with whom God established an everlasting covenant.

Genesis 17:7 - And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you.

Answer Before Israel was even a nation, before there was the word "Jew," God made a covenant with Abraham: "And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.'" (Genesis 12:1-3) The great nation that descended from Abraham was Israel. God kept his covenant with Abraham and blessed Israel so that through them, all the families of the earth will be blessed. God did not choose the Jews to make them superior in any way; rather He chose them so they can bless all the nations on earth.

Answer:

That concept comes from Christianity because it was prophesied that the Messiah would be born of the Israelite tribe of Judah. Thus, "chosen."

However, as the last remaining tribe of Israel, with the others scattered, they hold to their well-documented belief in a God who created the earth and would bring ultimate justice to it, by way of a Messiah.

Answer:

It just means "chosen" to keep more laws. God offered the covenant to all the nations, but all refused to accept it unconditionally. Finally the Jews agreed. They "chose" God, so God "chose" them in return (Deuteronomy 26:16-19). "Chosen" doesn't mean "superior" or anything like that. Judaism teaches that all humans are equal.

Answer:

In Judaism, the phrase "chosen" does not mean that we think that we are better than anyone else or have an elevated status in God's presence. What "chosen" refers to is that we were chosen to keep the Torah; that is it. What most people don't know is that according to Jewish teachings, God actually offered the Torah to every other nation before the Israelites but we were the only ones to accept it without question.

Judaism teaches that there are different paths to God and Judaism is the path for Jews. The Torah provides the guidelines for the Jewish path.

Answer 3

According to the Torah, they were. See Deuteronomy 7:6 (NIV): 6 For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.

It is worth noting that many non-Jews (as well as less-educated Jews) misunderstand the concept of "chosen-ness". It is not a statement of ethnic superiority in the vein of the übermensch or "White Pride". The Jewish understanding is that the Jewish people were charged with a distinct mission/task that the rest of the world was not assigned and this is to elevate the spiritual character of the world. This charge is very similar to that which monks and nuns take on in Catholicism and nobody chastises them for this act because we understand the hardship that comes out of that level of dedication. Jews are compelled to be so dedicated. That's it. Jews do not claim non-Jews to be inferior, unimportant, unworthy or lacking full rights in this life, or even unworthy of entering "the good place" after death. They, in fact, advocate exactly the opposite (that non-Jews are equal, critical, worthy of rights, have a reserved place in the "good place" after death provided they are good people).

(Another more pop-culturally modern version of this is the idea of the "Fellowship of the Ring" in the "Lord of the Rings". The members of the Fellowship are in no way superior or better than the rest of the inhabitants of Middle Earth, they just have a specific task to which they have been assigned and upon which the entire world depends. People outside the Fellowship are more than capable of helping this mission, and some of them (like King Theoden of Rohan and Faramir of Gondor) certainly do. It is just that the onus of responsibility lies on the Fellowship.)

Answer 4

The Torah (Bible, Old Testament) clearly states that fact in several places.

The only part that has never been settled and is still up for debate is: Chosen for what ?

Answer:

To answer "chosen for what?", see Deuteronomy 26:16-19. To be a godly people and keep the Torah.

Answer 5

Because God told them they are. Read Exodus ch.19 and Deuteronomy 26:16-19.

Those and many other passages state explicitly that we are chosen to receive

God's Torah and live by it.

Answer 6

Because of God's statement in Exodus ch.19, that if the Jews accept the Torah (which they did), "Now therefore, if you (the Jews) will hearken unto My voice, and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own treasure from among all peoples; for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which you (Moses) shall speak unto the children of Israel."

Answer 7

Abraham chose to serve God, and did so with great self-sacrifice, long before receiving any sign from God. Only after that did God speak to him, when Abraham was in his seventies. Because Abraham chose God on his own initiative and taught others, God chose him to receive His blessing, which would continue through the generations.

See also the Related Link.

More about Abraham

Answer 8

In very early times, many nations of the Middle East had a chief national god who looked after his people and protected them from enemies. Because the god was more powerful than the people, he was considered to have chosen his people, rather than the other way around. Over time, nations were conquered, demonstrating that their god was not powerful after all. As a result, most nations moved on and adopted the gods of their conquerors.
The Israelites, perhaps because they were almost always militarily weak and so did not require of God that he maintain their national independence, moved gradually towards monotheism under their national God, who was held to have chosen them. During times of adversity, Jews believed that their God was punishing them for wrongdoing, thus avoiding the dilemma of a God who could not protect them.

Thus, the Jews became the Chosen People of God.

Answer 9

Just before giving the Torah to the Israelites, God stated that "You will be a treasured nation to Me" (Exodus 19:5). This reiterates what God said to each of the three Forefathers of the Israelites, who were superlative servants of God (Genesis 12:2, for one example). Abraham served God for many decades before God spoke to him and brought him into His covenant.

Note that this is contingent upon our full observance of the Torah, as stated tens of times in the Hebrew Bible (see 2 Kings ch.17 for one example).

See also:

More about the Israelite Forefathers

Archaeology indicating the accuracy of the Hebrew Bible

Answer 10

In the Torah, Deuteronomy 14:2, the text says: "For you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and God has chosen you to be his treasured people from all the nations that are on the face of the earth."

Numerous other passages allude to this, the earliest being Genesis 17:7 where God says to Abraham: "And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you."

These are the starting point for debates that continue to this day about the meaning of chosenness. Amos 3:2, for example, counters the idea that chosenness confers any advantages by saying: "You only have I singled out of all the families of the earth: therefore will I visit upon you all your iniquities." This idea is expanded on in the Talmud by a midrash (tale) repeated several times, for example, at the start of tractate Avoda Zara, where God says that He offered the Torah to every other nation on Earth before finally offering it to the Children of Israel, and that the Children of Israel only accepted the Torah (and the covenant made at Siani) when God suspended the mountain over their heads and threatended to drop it on them.