Overall meaning : Prophet, why do you forbid yourself what Allah has made lawful for you, thereby seeking to please some of your wives? Allah is All-Forgiving, All-Merciful.
Allah has prescribed for you, believers, a way to absolve yourselves from your oaths through expiation. Allah is your Guardian and Protector, and He is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
Remember when the Prophet told something in confidence to his wife Hafsah. When she disclosed it to ‘Aa’ishah—and Allah informed him of this—he reproachfully informed Hafsah of one part of the secret she had divulged and graciously said nothing about the other. When the Prophet thus let Hafsah know of her disclosing his secret to ‘Aa’ishah, Hafsah asked, ‘Who has told you this?!’ He replied, ‘The All-Knowing, the All-Wise God has informed me of it all.’
If you two, Hafshah and ‘Aa’ishah, turn to Allah in repentance, this will be better for you as you have done something that necessitates repentance, for your hearts have swerved from showing due respect to the Prophet; but if you join forces to hurt him, know that Allah will support him against you, and so will Gabriel, and the righteous among the faithful (such as Abu Bakr and ‘Umar). The angels, too, are his helpers.
Were he to divorce you, his Lord will certainly give him in your place better wives than yourselves, submissive to Allah, true believers, obedient to Allah, penitent and given to worship and fasting—both previously married and virgins.