The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 2) — Page 329
PT. 6 AL-MA'IDAH CH. 5 have entered it, then surely you will be victorious. And "put your trust in Allah, if you are believers. '660 3:161; 5:12; 9:51. as 660. Important Words: of (against them). The word a particle has several meanings. Here it gives the meaning of "against" (Lane). The Quran says: i. e. and they have a crime or offence standing against me (26:15). In his Arabic Grammar, Wright says that the particle is sometimes used in "a hostile sense in which case it can be generally rendered as 'against' or 'upon', as in i. e. he went out against him or he rebelled against him. " Commentary: The two "men" spoken of here are generally supposed to be Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh (Num. 14:6). But from the context Moses and Aaron appear more likely to be the two "men" here referred to. The word (man) is thus here expressive of manliness and courage. By using this word, the Quran means to say that of that big host of cowardly people there were only two men who were truly brave and courageous. That these two brave men were Moses and Aaron themselves may also be inferred from the fact that when these two "men" spoke to their people, and urged them to "enter" the land, the latter, in reply, 769 addressed none other but Moses, saying, O Moses, we will never enter it so long as they remain in it (5:25), thus making it clear that it was Moses himself who had spoken to them the words contained in this verse. Again, when the people refused to obey Moses, he is reported to have prayed to God, saying, My Lord, I have power over none but myself and my brother, therefore make Thou a distinction between us and the rebellious people (5:26). Now, if the two "men" had been other than Moses and Aaron, they should have certainly been included in his prayer by Moses, because they had deserved it by boldly offering to enter the land in spite of resistance, exhorting others also to do so. But Moses prayed only for himself and his brother, which shows that the two men whom God praises as "men", (i. e. brave men) and of whom He speaks as His favoured ones were Moses and Aaron themselves. God does not name them but simply speaks of them as i. e. "two brave men" in order to praise their manliness and courage and at the condemn by same time to implication the cowardice of the other Israelites who were with them. The expression, enter the gate advancing against them, possesses a spiritual connotation as well. For