"On the Jewish Question" (in German: "Zur Judenfrage") is an essay by Karl Marx written in the autumn of 1843. It is one of Marx’s earliest attempts to address categories that would later be known as historical materialism – the materialist conception of history. It has been argued that the work contains elements of anti-Semitism (see Interpretation section below).

The essay critiques two studies by another young Hegelian, Bruno Bauer, on the Jewish quest for political emancipation in Prussia. Bauer argued that Jews could achieve political emancipation only if they renounced their particular religious consciousness, as political emancipation requires a secular state, which, he claimed, would not allow much "space" for social identities like religion. According to Bauer, religious demands are incompatible with the idea of "Rights of Man," and true political emancipation, for Bauer, requires the abolition of religion.

Marx uses Bauer's essay as an opportunity to present his own analysis of liberal rights. Marx argues that Bauer is mistaken in assuming that in a "secular state," religion would not play a prominent role in social life, citing the persistence of religion in the United States, which, unlike Prussia, did not have an official state religion. In Marx's analysis, the "secular state" is not opposed to religion; it actually presupposes it. The removal of citizenship qualifications related to religion or property does not mean the abolition of religion or property; rather, it introduces a new way of viewing citizens disconnected from these aspects. On this note, Marx moves beyond the issue of religious freedom toward his broader concern – Bauer’s analysis of "political emancipation." 

Marx concludes that while individuals may be 'spiritually' and 'politically' free in a secular state, they can still be restricted in their freedom by material limitations due to income inequality, a premise that would later form the basis of his critique of capitalism.