Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:174
Indeed, they who conceal what Allah has sent down of the Book and exchange it for a small price - those consume not into their bellies except the Fire. And Allah will not speak to them on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He purify them. And they will have a painful punishment.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The discourse on the explanation of His statement, the Exalted: إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ يَكْتُمُونَ مَآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ مِنَ ٱلْكِتَٰبِ وَيَشْتَرُونَ بِهِۦ ثَمَنًا قَلِيلًا (Surah al-Baqarah, 2:174).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, means by His statement "Indeed, those who conceal what Allah has sent down of the Book" the scribes of the Jews, who concealed from the people the matter of Muḥammad — the Prophet ﷺ — and his prophethood, while they found it recorded with them in the Torah, in exchange for bribes (rushā) which they received for that, as in:
2494 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement "Indeed, those who conceal what Allah has sent down of the Book" — the entire verse —: these are the People of the Book; they concealed what Allah had sent down to them and had made clear to them of the truth and the guidance, concerning the sending of Muḥammad — the Prophet ﷺ — and his affair.
2495 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning His statement Indeed, those who conceal what Allah has sent down of the Book and sell it for a paltry price, he said: These are the People of the Book; they concealed what Allah had sent down to them of the truth and Islam and the matter of Muḥammad — the Prophet ﷺ.
2496 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "Indeed, those who conceal what Allah has sent down of the Book" — these are the Jews; they concealed the name of Muḥammad — the Prophet ﷺ.
2497 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning His statement "Indeed, those who conceal what Allah has sent down of the Book", and the one in Āl ʿImrān: Indeed, those who sell the covenant of Allah and their oaths for a paltry price [Surah Āl ʿImrān, 3:77] — both were revealed together concerning the Jews.
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As for the explanation of His statement "and sell it for a paltry price": by it He means: they purchase something with it. And the "hāʾ" in "with it" (bihi) refers back to the "concealing." The meaning is thus: with their concealing of what they concealed from the people regarding the matter of Muḥammad — the Prophet ﷺ — and the matter of his prophethood, they purchased a paltry price. That is because what they received — for their distorting the Book of Allah and explaining it in an incorrect manner, and their concealing of the truth therein — was only paltry worldly goods, as in:
2498 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "and sell it for a paltry price", he said: they concealed the name of Muḥammad — the Prophet ﷺ — and took in exchange for it a paltry object of desire; that is the paltry price.
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I have already clarified earlier the nature of their "purchasing" with it, in a manner that relieves me of repeating it here.
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The discourse on the explanation of His statement, the Exalted: أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ مَا يَأْكُلُونَ فِى بُطُونِهِمْ إِلَّا ٱلنَّارَ وَلَا يُكَلِّمُهُمُ ٱللَّهُ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَٰمَةِ وَلَا يُزَكِّيهِمْ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ (174).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, means by His statement "Those" — these who conceal what Allah has sent down of the Book regarding the matter of Muḥammad — the Prophet ﷺ — in exchange for the wretched bribery given to them, for which they distort the signs (āyāt) of Allah and alter their meanings — "eat nothing in their bellies", through their eating of the bribes which they took for it and the promised wage (juʿāla), and what they took for it as compensation — "but the Fire", that is to say: nothing but that which causes them to enter the Fire (al-nār) and to burn therein, just as the Exalted, whose mention is exalted, has said: Indeed, those who unjustly devour the property of orphans only devour fire in their bellies, and they will burn in a blazing fire [Surah al-Nisāʾ, 4:10]. The meaning of this is: they eat in their bellies only that which causes them to enter the Fire through their eating. He thus contented Himself with the mention of "the Fire" and the listeners' understanding of the meaning of the words, without mentioning "that which causes them to enter it or leads them into it." And in accordance with what we have said about this, a group of the exegetes has spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
2499 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbdallāh ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ: "Those who eat nothing in their bellies but the Fire", he says: what they took for it as compensation.
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If a questioner says: Can eating also take place somewhere other than in the belly, such that it is said "what they eat in their bellies"?
The answer is: The Arabs do say: "I became hungry in other than my belly, and I became sated in other than my belly." For this reason it was said "in their bellies", just as one says: "so-and-so did this himself (he himself)." And we have already clarified this elsewhere before.
As for His statement "and Allah will not speak to them on the Day of Resurrection", He says: He will not speak to them with that which they love and desire; but with that which torments them and which they detest, with that He will indeed speak to them. For the Exalted, whose mention is exalted, has informed us that He will say to them — when they say: Our Lord, take us out of this; if we return, then we are truly wrongdoers — He will say: Remain therein, despised, and speak not to Me — both verses [Surah al-Muʾminūn, 23:107-108].
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As for His statement "nor purify them", by it He means: nor purify them of the defilement of their sins and their unbelief (kufr); "and for them is a painful punishment (ʿadhāb)", that is to say: an agonizing one.
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Footnotes:
(31) Al-juʿl and al-juʿāla: a stipulated wage that is fixed for one who says or does something.
(32) See what has gone before, 2:272, and this volume 3:159-160.
(33) See what has gone before, 1:573-574, and this volume 3:88.
(34) See what has gone before, 1:283; then 2:140, 377, 506, 540.
