The concept of Jews as the chosen people is the belief that the Jewish people, via the Mosaic and Abrahamic covenants, are selected to be in a covenant with God. It is a core element of Judaism, although its meaning has been interpreted in different ways and has varied over time.
Much has been written about these topics in rabbinic literature. In modern times, the three largest Jewish denominations — Orthodox Judaism, Conservative Judaism and Reform Judaism — maintain the belief that Jews have been chosen by God for a purpose. Sometimes this choice is seen by believers as charging the Jewish people with a specific mission—to be a light unto the nations, and to exemplify the covenant with God as described in the Torah.
Biblical origins In the Hebrew Bible, chosenness or election refers to God's decision to enter a series of covenants – i.e. binding agreements – with Abraham and later a group of his descendants, the Israelites; some descendants were later to be excluded.
The term "chosen people" ( hāʿām hanīvḥar) is a rabbinic term, not used directly in the Bible. The biblical terms ʿam segullah and ʿam nahallah mean “treasure people” and “heritage people” respectively.
Israelites being properly the chosen people of God is found directly in the Book of Deuteronomy 7:6Clements, Ronald (1968). God's Chosen People: a Theological Interpretation of the Book of Deuteronomy. In series, Religious Book Club, 182. London: S.C.M. Press as the verb baḥar (בָּחַר), and is alluded to elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible using other terms such as goy kadosh meaning "holy people", Book of Exodus 19:6.
According to the Torah, the nations which inhabited Canaan after Jacob left violated God's laws and were to be vomited out of the land as a result, however their iniquity was not sufficiently great to deserve that result until a few hundred years later, which was when God then brought Jacob's descendants back to the land, with a warning that they too would be cast out if they violated God's rules regarding idolatry and other 'abominations'. In Deuteronomy, the Torah states: "when the Lord delivers the Israelites to the land, the other nations will be cast out, and "thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them" Deuteronomy 7:5-7:6, "But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire. For thou art a holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be His own treasure, out of all peoples that are upon the face of the earth."
A similar passage speaking of Israel as the chosen people follows prohibitions on baldnessSee concordance qarach (קָרַח); qorchah or qorcha (קָרְחָה) and cutting yourself in mourning, "For thou art a holy people".
The Torah also says, "Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure unto me from all the peoples, for all the earth is mine." God promises that he will never exchange his people with any other: "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."
Other Torah verses about chosenness, "And you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation" "The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people; for you were the fewest of all people; but because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your ancestors."
The obligation imposed upon the Israelites was emphasized by the prophet Amos: "You only have I singled out of all the families of the earth: therefore will I visit upon you all your iniquities."
Isaiah and Jeremiah viewed God's loving choice of Israel as a means to teaching monotheism, combatting idolatry, curbing human arrogance, ending violence, lust, greed, extreme chauvinism and warfare, and ushering in a new society .
Rabbinic views Most Jewish texts do not state that "God chose the Jews" by itself. Rather, this is usually linked with a mission or purpose, such as proclaiming God's message among all the nations, even though Jews cannot become "unchosen" if they shirk their mission. This implies a special duty, which evolves from the belief that Jews have been pledged by the covenant which God concluded with the biblical patriarch Abraham, their ancestor, and again with the entire Jewish nation at Mount Sinai."Chosen people." Encyclopedia Britannica. 20 February 2018. In this view, Jews are charged with living a holy life as God's priest-people.
In the Jewish prayerbook (the Siddur), chosenness is referred to in a number of ways. The blessing for reading the Torah reads, "Praised are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who has chosen us out of all the nations and bestowed upon us His Torah." In the "Kiddush", a prayer of sanctification, in which the Sabbath is inaugurated over a cup of wine, the text reads, "For you have chosen us and sanctified us out of all the nations, and have given us the Sabbath as an inheritance in love and favour. Praised are you, Lord, who hallows the Sabbath." In the "Kiddush" recited on festivals it reads, "Blessed are You ... who have chosen us from among all nations, raised us above all tongues, and made us holy through His commandments." The Aleinu prayer refers to the concept of Jews as a chosen people: "It is our duty to praise the Master of all, to exalt the Creator of the Universe, who has not made us like the nations of the world and has not placed us like the families of the earth; who has not designed our destiny to be like theirs, nor our lot like that of all their multitude. We bend the knee and bow and acknowledge before the Supreme King of Kings, the Holy One, blessed be he, that it is he who stretched forth the heavens and founded the earth. His seat of glory is in the heavens above; his abode of majesty is in the lofty heights.Translation by Philip Birnbaum, "High Holyday Prayerbook"
Sometimes this choice is seen as charging the Jewish people with a specific mission—to be a light unto the nations, and to exemplify the covenant with God as described in the Torah. This view, however, does not always preclude a belief that God has a relationship with other peoples—rather, Judaism held that God had entered into a covenant with all humankind, and that Jews and non-Jews alike have a relationship with God. Biblical references as well as rabbinic literature support this view: Moses refers to the "God of the spirits of all flesh", and the TanakhHebrew Bible also identifies prophets outside the community of Israel. Based on these statements, some rabbis theorized that, in the words of Natan'el al-Fayyumi, a Yemenite Jewish theologian of the 12th century, "God permitted to every people something he forbade to others...[and] God sends a prophet to every people according to their own language."Levine, 1907/1966 The Mishnah states that "Humanity was produced from one man, Adam, to show God's greatness. When a man mints a coin in a press, each coin is identical. But when the King of Kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, creates people in the form of Adam not one is similar to any other."Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5 The Tosefta, a collection of important post-Talmudic discourses, also states: "Righteous people of all nations have a share in the world to come."Sanhedrin 105a)
Within Judaism, the status as a "chosen people" does not connote ethnic supremacy, nor does it preclude a belief that God has a relationship with other peoples—rather, Judaism holds that God had entered into a covenant with all humankind, and that Jews and non-Jews alike have a relationship with God. Biblical references as well as rabbinic literature support this view: Moses refers to the "God of the spirits of all flesh", the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) also identifies prophets outside the community of Israel and the prophet Jonah is explicitly told to go prophesize to the non-Jewish people of Nineveh. Jewish tradition is clear that there were interactions of non-Jewish prophets with God which are not recounted in the Torah. Based on these statements and stories, some rabbis theorized that, in the words of Natan'el al-Fayyumi, a Yemenite Jewish theologian of the 12th century, "God permitted to some people that which he forbade to others ... [and] God sends a prophet to every people according to their own language." (Levine, 1907/1966) The Mishnah states that "Humanity was produced from one man, Adam, to show God's greatness. When a man mints a coin in a press, each coin is identical. But when the King of Kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, creates people in the form of Adam not one is similar to any other" (Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5).
According to the Rabbis, "Israel is of all nations the most willful or headstrong one, and the Torah was to give it the right scope and power of resistance, or else the world could not have withstood its fierceness."Beẓah, 25b
"The Lord offered the Law to all nations; but all refused to accept it except Israel."Mek. Yitro, Pes. R. K. 103b, 186a, 200a
How do we understand "A Gentile who consecrates his life to the study and observance of the Law ranks as high as the high priest", says R. Meïr, by deduction from Lev. xviii. 5; II Sam. vii. 19; Isa. xxvi. 2; Ps. xxxiii. 1, cxviii. 20, cxxv. 4, where all stress is laid not on Israel, but on man or the righteous one.Sifra, Aḥare Mot, 86b; Bacher, "Ag. Tan." ii. 31
Maimonides states: It is now abundantly clear that the pledges Hashem made to Avraham and his descendants would be fulfilled exclusively first in Yitzchak and then in Yaakov, Yitzchak son. This is confirmed by a passage that states, "He is ever mindful of His covenant ... that He made with Avraham, swore to Yitzchak, and confirmed in a decree for Yaakov, for Yisrael, as an eternal covenant."Tehillim 105: 8,9Avraham Yaakov Finkel. The essential Maimonides. Translations of the Rambam, Jason Aronson Inc, Northvale New Jersey London
The Gemara states this regarding a non-Jew who studies Torah [his 7 mitzvot] and regarding this, see Shita Mekubetzes, Bava Kama 38a who says that this is an exaggeration. In any case, this statement was not extolling the non-Jew. The Rishonim explain that it is extolling the Torah.
Tosfos explains that it uses the example of a kohen gadol (high priest), because this statement is based on the verse, "y'kara hi mipnimim" (it is more precious than pearls). This is explained elsewhere in the Gemara to mean that the Torah is more precious pnimim (translated here as "inside" instead of as "pearls"; thus that the Torah is introspectively absorbed into the person), which refers to lifnai v'lifnim (translated as "the most inner of places"), that is the Holy of Holies where the kahon gadol went.
In any case, in Midrash RabbaBamidbar 13:15 this statement is made with an important addition: a non-Jew who converts and studies Torah etc.