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In the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament, the Israelites are referred to as "the people of God" in Judges 20:2 and 2 Samuel 14:13. The phrases "the people of the Lord" [1] and "the people of the Lord your God" are also used. [2] In those texts God is also represented as speaking of the Israelites as "my people". [3]
In Judaism, the concept of the Jews as chosen people (Hebrew: הָעָם הַנִבְחַר hāʿām hanīvḥar) is the belief that the Jews as a people, via descent from the ancient Israelites, are a chosen people, i.e. selected to be in a covenant with God.
Throughout history, various groups of people have considered themselves to be the chosen people of a deity, for a particular purpose.The phenomenon of "chosen people" is well known among the Israelites and Jews, where the term (Hebrew: עם סגולה / העם הנבחר, romanized: am segulah / ha-am ha-nivhar) originally referred to the Israelites as being selected by Yahweh to worship only ...
It is common Jewish practice to restrict the use of the names of God to a liturgical context. In casual conversation some Jews, even when not speaking Hebrew, will call God HaShem (השם), which is Hebrew for 'the Name' (compare Leviticus 24:11 and Deuteronomy 28:58). When written, it is often abbreviated to ה׳.
God chose the Jewish people to be in a unique covenant with God; the description of this covenant is the Torah itself. God further declared in the Torah through prophecy to Moses that his "firstborn" is the Israelites. However, closeness and being chosen does not imply exclusivity as anyone can join and convert.
The national god Yahweh, who selects those to rule his realm and his people, is depicted in the Hebrew Bible as having a hand in the establishment of the royal institution. In this sense, the true king is God, and the king serves as his earthly envoy and is tasked with ruling his realm.
This is an accepted version of this page This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 10 January 2025. Semitic-speaking Israelites, especially in the pre-monarchic period This article is about the Hebrew people. For the book of the Bible, see Epistle to the Hebrews. For the Semitic language spoken in Israel, see Hebrew language. Judaean prisoners being deported into exile to other parts ...
In the Hebrew Bible, Israel first appears in Genesis 32:29, where an angel gives the name to Jacob after the latter fought with him. [31] [32] [33] The folk etymology given in the text derives Israel from yisra, "to prevail over" or "to struggle with", and El, a Canaanite-Mesopotamian creator god that is tenuously identified with Yahweh.