chosen people

American  

noun

1. Often Chosen People (in the Bible) the Israelites.

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chosen people British  

plural noun

1. any of various peoples believing themselves to be chosen by God, esp the Jews

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Chosen People Cultural  

1. A term applied to the Jews (see also Jews). According to the Old Testament, God chose the descendants of Abraham through the line of Isaac and Jacob — the ancestors of today's Jews — as the people through whom he would reveal himself to the world. God therefore freed them from slavery in Egypt (see also Egypt) and led them into the Promised Land.

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Etymology

Origin of chosen people

First recorded in 1525–35

Example Sentences

God said to his chosen people: “You cannot see my face, for no one can see me and live.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 13, 2025

Some Christians support Israel due to Old Testament writings that Jews are God’s chosen people and that Israel is their rightful homeland.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 24, 2023

The ONS ran a regular survey through the pandemic: testing randomly chosen people in order to estimate the number of people who had the virus.

From BBC • Jun. 13, 2023

The concept of a final judgment was also appealing to Judeans, who held that they were not only God’s chosen people but also persecuted by the forces of evil.

From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023

I felt such intense pride at that point, not as an African, but as a Xhosa; I felt like one of the chosen people.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela