The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 1) — Page 395
PT. 2 AL-BAQARAH CH. 2 forth to encounter Jālūt and his وَلَمَّا بَرَزُوا لِجَالُوتَ وَجُنُودِهِ قَالُوا رَبَّنَا And when they issued. 251 أَفْرِغْ عَلَيْنَا صَبْرًا وَ ثَبِّتْ اَقْدَامَنَا ,forces, they said: “O our Lord "pour forth steadfastness upon "3:148, 201; 7:127. he ran about without stopping. They sayi. e. the horse about in the field, sometimes going this way and galloped ,means جال القوم جولة sometimes that way the people drew back and then made a joint onslaught of means, they assailed or assaulted one another in battle, etc. (Aqrab & Tāj). Thus is an attributive name meaning, a person or a people who is unruly and moves about attacking and assaulting others. In the Bible the parallel name is Goliath (1 Sam. 17:4) which means, "running, ravaging and destroying spirits" or "a leader or a giant" (Enc. Bib. and Jew. Enc. ). The Bible uses the name about one individual but really the word signifies a party of ruthless freebooters, though it may also be applied to certain individuals symbolizing the characteristics of the party. The Quran appears to have used it in both these senses in the verses under comment. Commentary: Self-control and discipline are the key to most successes, and possession of these qualities is necessary to successfully meet God's trials. The present verse speaks of one such trial. The exception of a handful of water was made with a twofold purpose: (1) 395 to afford the marching force an essential physical relief by permitting them to moisten their parched throats, but at the same time to prevent them from drinking freely, which would have damped their spirits and made them negligent of the enemy; and (2) to make the trial all the more tantalizing, for in many cases it is easier to withhold from a thing altogether than to use it in a strictly limited measure. The Bible mentions the incident in Judg. 7:5-6. The concluding clause, i. e. how many a small party has triumphed over a large party by Allah's command, contains a mighty lesson of hope for the righteous. When God wills a thing, numbers do not matter. The truth of this statement has been borne out by history in all ages. The Jālūt spoken of in this verse does not signify a person but a people, while the word (forces) points to the helpers and associates of these people. The Bible refers to Jālūt under the name of Midianites who pillaged and harassed the Israelites and destroyed their land for several years (Judg. 6:1-6). The Amalekites and all the eastern tribes assisted the Midianites in their raids (Judg. 6:1) and formed "the forces" referred to in the verse.