chosen people
7
7.5
- noun
- Literature
:
pueblo elegido
- From generation to generation, for years before the birth of Christ, the rule of law has been passed from hand to hand among the chosen people.
- chosen people of God
- divinely chosen people
Examples
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J was speaking to the Jews, God's chosen people and nation.
Blog text (3) -
"Well, the Israelites were the chosen people of the Bible, weren't they?"
Fiction book (1994) -
This has given us an identity as the chosen people.
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You are the chosen people.
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But then after all, they were His chosen people.
Fiction book (2000) -
We are God's chosen people.
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The majority turned their back on God's chosen people for the love of money and empty promises.
Blog text (13) -
What is Israel's duty as a chosen people?
Fiction book (2000) -
The Pilgrims believed they were God's chosen people and that He had given them this land (Horsman 3, 82-83; Cherry 26).
Academic text (2013) -
We are God's chosen people who believe we have a special purpose.
Synonyms
43
8.1
A small group of people seen as chosen or special
28
6.4
People from the ancient Hebrew nation who are descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
A group of people picked and treated as more important
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a compositional phrase: 'chosen' (selected) modifies 'people' (a group), so a learner who knows both words can infer it means people who have been selected for a special role or purpose. The specifically religious nuance (selected by God) is a pragmatic/cultural detail but does not prevent a B1 learner from deriving the basic meaning from the constituents.
Etymology
Chosen people comes from the Bible, where God picked the Israelites for a special job. The picture of God actually choosing a small group, chosen people, helps explain why the phrase now means a group who think they are 'selected by God' for a 'special purpose'.