Overall meaning : The Jewish scholars whom Allah charged to observe the Torah and did not observe it are like a donkey carrying on its back books whose contents it does not comprehend. Evil indeed is this example of people who reject Allah’s signs; Allah does not guide those who wrong themselves through their unbelief and rejection of the truth.
Say to the Jews, Muhammad, ‘You who follow the Jewish faith, if you truly claim to be the chosen and beloved people of God to the exclusion of all other people, then wish for death to rid yourselves of the difficulties of this worldly life and be moved to Paradise and its bliss!’
The Jews, however, will never wish for death by reason of the acts of unbelief they have committed in this life. Allah is well aware of the wrongdoers.
Say to them, ‘Death from which you run away will certainly overtake you. Then you will be returned after your death to Allah, who knows the unseen and the visible; and He will inform you of what you have done in this worldly life and repay you according to your actions.’