chosen people


noun (often initial capital letters)

the Israelites. Ex. 19.

Origin of chosen people

First recorded in 1525–35

Words nearby chosen people

British Dictionary definitions for chosen people

chosen people

pl n

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

Cultural definitions for chosen people

Chosen People

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.