Overall meaning : Allah Almighty reminds the children of Israel of Allah’s command to Moses to order their forefathers to slaughter a cow in order for them to strike the body of the murder victim with a part of the cow so he would come back to life and reveal the identity of the murderer. They expressed strong disapproval, became obstinate, as was their custom, and accused him of making fun of them. He sought refuge in Allah from being one of the foolish people who mock others.
Stubborn as ever and complicating matters for themselves even more, they said to Moses, ‘Ask your Lord to describe it to us so we know what type of cow they were required to slaughter. He told them that it had to be neither old nor young but of middle age and urged them to do what they were commanded. They asked him again to ask his Lord about its colour! He told them that it had to be of yellow colour, so pure and rich in tone as to delight the beholders.
They asked Moses again to ask his Lord to describe it more to them, arguing that they were utterly confused about the cow in question and explaining that this time they would, if Allah willed, be guided to find the right cow they were commanded to slaughter.
Moses said, ‘Allah says that it has to be a cow that has never been put to work—not trained to plough the earth or irrigate crops; a pure yellow cow that is sound and free from any blemish or other colour on her skin.’
‘Now you have told us all, Moses,’ they said, ‘and have pointed out all the characteristics that distinguish it from the other cows.’ They eventually found it and slaughtered it, though they almost did not do it!
Then the Almighty asks them to call to mind the time when they killed a person and had a dispute amongst themselves as to who the murderer was. They protested their innocence and placed the blame on one another, but Allah was to expose the murderer so that what they were hiding would come to light and thus put an end to their dispute.
Hence, Allah Almighty commanded them to strike the victim’s corpse with a part of the cow. When they did this, the murder victim came back to life, by Allah’s leave, and informed them of his murderer. Just as Allah brought the murder victim to life, so too He will restore the dead to life on the Day of Judgement, and He shows His clear signs to people so that they may be refrain from disobeying Him.
Then their hearts hardened even after witnessing such an extraordinary incident! Indeed, their hearts became as hard as rocks, or even harder. Despite their hardness, rocks are in fact far better that the hearts of such people, for there are rocks from which streams gush forth; others split open and water issues out of them; and yet some others that fall down for fear of Allah. Allah is not unaware of what they do, and He will surely repay them fully according to their deeds.