What Does It Mean For Jews to Be the Chosen People?
According to Jewish belief, Jews are the Chosen People because they were chosen to make the idea of one God known to the world. It all began with Abraham, whose relationship with God has traditionally been interpreted in two ways: either God chose Abraham to spread the concept of monotheism, or Abraham chose God from all the deities that were worshiped in his time. Either way, the idea of “chosenness” meant that Abraham and his descendants were responsible for sharing the word of God with others. God’s Relationship with Abraham and the Israelites Why do God and Abraham have this special relationship in the Torah? The text doesn’t say. It certainly was not because the Israelites (who later became known as Jews) were a mighty nation. In fact, Deuteronomy 7:7 states, “It is not because you are numerous that God chose you, indeed you are the smallest of people.” Though a nation with a massive standing army may have been the more logical choice to spread the word of God, the success of such
