The Meaning of Superiority of the Children of Israel in the Verse " I Preferred you to (All) Creatures"

The holy verse “O Children of Israel! Remember My favour wherewith I favoured you and how I preferred you to (all) creatures” is repeated twice in the Quran. In this verse, God requests the children of Israel to remember the gifts that God has bestowed them. The holy Quran has different verses in which a small number of these gifts are mentioned. Salvation of the children of Israel from Pharaoh’s despotism, sending lots of prophets, Torahو the manna and the quails, growth of shadow of clouds on the scorching desert and bubbling spring from stone are among the divine gifts to the children of Israel. The verse under discussion indicates the superiority of the children of Israel and Jews over all creatures. However, existence of some verses concerning the superiority of the prophet Mohammad’s nation and also uttering curses on some of the children of Israel have provided the ground of some conflicts with this verse. Precise explanation of “the children of Israel”, “the aspects of their preference” and “Creatures” (the two worlds) in this verse will clarify the commentary of this verse and its conflicts will be removed. The paper indicates that this holy verse is not general and absolute within these three areas.