فَخَلَفَ مِنۢ بَعْدِهِمْ خَلْفٌ وَرِثُوا۟ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ يَأْخُذُونَ عَرَضَ هَـٰذَا ٱلْأَدْنَىٰ وَيَقُولُونَ سَيُغْفَرُ لَنَا وَإِن يَأْتِهِمْ عَرَضٌ مِّثْلُهُۥ يَأْخُذُوهُ ۚ أَلَمْ يُؤْخَذْ عَلَيْهِم مِّيثَـٰقُ ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ أَن لَّا يَقُولُوا۟ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ إِلَّا ٱلْحَقَّ وَدَرَسُوا۟ مَا فِيهِ ۗ وَٱلدَّارُ ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ لِّلَّذِينَ يَتَّقُونَ ۗ أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ 169
Translations
And there followed them successors who inherited the Scripture [while] taking the commodities of this lower life and saying, "It will be forgiven for us." And if an offer like it comes to them, they will [again] take it. Was not the covenant of the Scripture [i.e., the Torah] taken from them that they would not say about Allāh except the truth, and they studied what was in it? And the home of the Hereafter is better for those who fear Allāh, so will you not use reason?
Transliteration
Fakhalafa min ba'dihim khalfun warithul-kitaba ya'khuduna 'arada hadha al-adna wa yaqulun sayughfaru lana wa in ya'tihim 'aradun mithluh ya'khuduh. Alam yu'khad 'alaihim mithaqul-kitabi an la yaqulu 'alallahi illa al-haqq wa darasum ma fih. Wa al-daru al-akhirah khayrun lilladhina yattaqun. Afala ta'qilun.
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah rebukes generations of scholars who inherited the Torah but abandoned its teachings, pursuing worldly gains and making unlawful statements about Allah while falsely assuming they would be forgiven. Ibn Kathir and Al-Qurtubi emphasize that despite the covenant taken upon the People of the Book to safeguard the Scripture and speak only truth about Allah, they compromised their trust for material benefit. The ayah culminates by affirming that the Hereafter is superior for the God-conscious and questions why people fail to use their intellect to recognize this reality.
Revelation Context
This ayah addresses the behavior of subsequent generations of Jewish scholars (the Children of Israel) who deviated from the path of their righteous predecessors. It is set within the broader context of Surah Al-A'raf's discussion of nations and their responses to divine guidance, particularly focusing on the Children of Israel's oscillation between obedience and transgression throughout history.
Related Hadiths
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: 'The best of you are my generation, then those who follow them, then those who follow them, then there will come people whose testimony precedes their oath and their oath precedes their testimony' (Sahih Bukhari 2652). This hadith parallels the ayah's concern about the decline in integrity among later generations of scholars.
Themes
Key Lesson
Knowledge without righteousness and integrity is dangerous; those who inherit religious understanding must actively preserve and live by its teachings rather than exploiting them for worldly gain. The pursuit of material wealth at the expense of truth and divine guidance leads to spiritual ruin, whereas conscious piety (taqwa) and prioritizing the eternal reward leads to true success.