The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 1) — Page 390
CH. 2 AL-BAQARAH PT. 2 اِنَّ اللهَ قَدْ بَعَثَ And their Prophet said to. 248 وَقَالَ لَهُمْ نَبِيُّهُمْ إِنَّ اللهَ قَدْ بَعَثَ لَكُمْ طَالُوتَ مَلِكًا قَالُوا أَن يَكُونُ :you Talit as a king They said them: 'Allah has appointed for 'How can he have sovereignty لَهُ الْمُلْكُ عَلَيْنَا وَ نَحْنُ أَحَقُّ بِالْمُلْكِ مِنْهُ over us while we are better وَلَمْ يُؤْتَ سَعَةً مِّنَ الْمَالِ قَالَ اِنَّ اللهَ entitled to sovereignty than he and he is not given abundance اصْطَفَهُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَزَادَهُ بَطَةً فِي الْعِلْمِ of wealth? He said: Surely Allah has chosen him above وَالْجِسْمِ وَاللهُ يُؤْتِ مُلْكَهُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ you and has increased him وَاللهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ abundantly in knowledge and body. ' And "Allah gives sovereignty to whom He pleases and Allah is Bountiful, All- Knowing. 254 254. Important Words: "3:27. (Talut) is the attributive name of an Israelite king who lived about two hundred years before David and about the same number of years after Moses. Most commentators regard Tālūt to be a name of Hebrew origin and consider him to be synonymous with Saul (1. Sam. ch. 9). As Hebrew is only an offshoot of Arabic, the word Ṭālūt appears to be derived from the Arabic root Jb i. e. he became tall or high a description coinciding with the one given in the verse under comment viz. one increased abundantly in knowledge and body. It is, however, not right to identify Ṭalut with Saul. The description of the Quran fits more with Gideon (Judg. chs. 6-8) than with Saul. Gideon lived in about 1250 390 B. C. and the Bible calls him a "mighty man of valour" (Judg. 6:12) which is the same as Țālūt. Commentary: There has been a difference of opinion as to the identity of the person to whom the name Ṭālūt has been applied. According to a number of Muslim commentators, Tālūt stands for Saul, and the passage refers to the reign of Saul. Christian writers have, however, taken exception to this view. According to them the incidents related in this passage refer to two different periods which are separated from each other by the long interval of 200 years; and these critics refer to this passage as an instance of historical anachronism, found in the Quran. The passage does indeed refer to two different periods, but if