Israelites (Noun)
Meaning
The ethnic group claiming descent from Abraham and Isaac (especially from Isaac's son Jacob); the nation whom God chose to receive his revelation and with whom God chose to make a covenant (Exodus 19).
Classification
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects.
Examples
- The Israelites worshiped Yahweh as their one true God in obedience to his commandments and laws given to Moses on Mount Sinai.
- According to biblical history, the Israelites left Egypt under the leadership of Moses after suffering under the harsh Pharaonic rule for several centuries.
- The Israelites were promised by God through Abraham that their descendants would be numerous as the stars in the heaven and that they would inherit the land of Canaan.
- The Israelites, when entering Canaan, were instructed by God to be holy and separate from other nations by not imitating their sinful customs and idolatrous practices.
- God's covenant with the Israelites was meant to bless not only themselves, but also other nations, given that the entire world was to be blessed through Abraham and his descendants.