The Children of Israel

The children of Israel — the descendants of Ya'qub (Israel) — occupy a major place in the Quran. A people to whom God sent many prophets and granted great blessings, they are also recalled for their failings, as a warning for all.

The Quran often addresses the children of Israel directly: 'Remember My favour which I bestowed upon you and that I preferred you above all others.' They received the Torah, were saved from Pharaoh, fed in the desert, and saw arise among them a lineage of prophets: Musa, Harun, Dawud, Sulayman, Zakariyya, Yahya, Isa...

But the Quran also recalls their failings: the worship of the golden calf, transgressions, pride. It announces that they would 'twice cause great corruption on the earth.' The Quranic account is neither blind praise nor wholesale condemnation: it shows a people showered with favours, tested, sometimes faithful and sometimes rebellious — a mirror held up to any community that receives much and must answer for it.

The children of Israel teach that receiving much entails much responsibility. Showered with blessings and prophets, they are a reminder for every community: God's favours are a responsibility, not a privilege earned once and for all.

يَا بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ اذْكُرُوا نِعْمَتِيَ

Fils d’Israël ! Souvenez-vous des bienfaits dont Je vous ai pourvus et rappelez-vous que J’ai fait de vous Mon peuple élu.

2:47

وَقَضَيْنَا إِلَىٰ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ فِي الْكِتَابِ

Nous avons annoncé aux fils d’Israël dans les Ecritures qu’ils répandraient par deux fois le mal sur terre et afficheraient un orgueil démesuré.

17:4