Translation:
Allah did aforetime take a covenant from the Children of Israel, 709 and we appointed twelve captains among them. And Allah said: "I am with you: if you (but) establish regular prayers, practise regular charity, believe in my messengers, honour and assist them, and loan to Allah a beautiful loan, 710 verily I will wipe out from you your evils, and admit you to gardens with rivers flowing beneath; but if any of you, after this, resisteth faith, he have truly wandered from the path or rectitude." 711
Allah did aforetime take a covenant from the Children of Israel, 709 and we appointed twelve captains among them. And Allah said: "I am with you: if you (but) establish regular prayers, practise regular charity, believe in my messengers, honour and assist them, and loan to Allah a beautiful loan, 710 verily I will wipe out from you your evils, and admit you to gardens with rivers flowing beneath; but if any of you, after this, resisteth faith, he have truly wandered from the path or rectitude." 711
Translation:
AND, INDEED, God accepted a [similar] solemn pledge 21 from the children of Israel when We caused twelve of their leaders to be sent [to Canaan as spies]. 22 And God said: "Behold, I shall be with you! If you are constant in prayer, and spend in charity, and believe in My apostles and aid them, and offer up unto God a goodly loan, 23 I will surely efface your bad deeds and bring you into gardens through which running waters flow. But he from among you who, after this, denies the truth, will indeed have strayed from the right path!"
AND, INDEED, God accepted a [similar] solemn pledge 21 from the children of Israel when We caused twelve of their leaders to be sent [to Canaan as spies]. 22 And God said: "Behold, I shall be with you! If you are constant in prayer, and spend in charity, and believe in My apostles and aid them, and offer up unto God a goodly loan, 23 I will surely efface your bad deeds and bring you into gardens through which running waters flow. But he from among you who, after this, denies the truth, will indeed have strayed from the right path!"
Commentary:
21 The interpolation of "similar" is justified by the obvious reference to verse 7 above. The pledge was similar in that it related to obedience to God's commandments.
22 Lit., "when We sent out twelve leaders from among them". This is a reference to the Biblical story (in Numbers xiii), according to which God commanded Moses to send out one leading personality from each of the twelve tribes "to spy out the land of Canaan- before the children of Israel invaded it. (The noun naqib, here rendered as "leader", has also the meaning of "investigator" or "spy" inasmuch as it is derived from the verb naqaba, which signifies - among other things - "he scrutinized" or "investigated"). The subsequent near-revolt of the children of Israel-caused by their fear of the powerful tribes which inhabited Canaan (cf. Numbers xiv)-is briefly referred to in the first sentence of verse 13 and more fully described in verses 20-26- of this surah.
23 I.e., by doing righteous deeds.
21 The interpolation of "similar" is justified by the obvious reference to verse 7 above. The pledge was similar in that it related to obedience to God's commandments.
22 Lit., "when We sent out twelve leaders from among them". This is a reference to the Biblical story (in Numbers xiii), according to which God commanded Moses to send out one leading personality from each of the twelve tribes "to spy out the land of Canaan- before the children of Israel invaded it. (The noun naqib, here rendered as "leader", has also the meaning of "investigator" or "spy" inasmuch as it is derived from the verb naqaba, which signifies - among other things - "he scrutinized" or "investigated"). The subsequent near-revolt of the children of Israel-caused by their fear of the powerful tribes which inhabited Canaan (cf. Numbers xiv)-is briefly referred to in the first sentence of verse 13 and more fully described in verses 20-26- of this surah.
23 I.e., by doing righteous deeds.
709 Cf. 2:63 and 78, "Moses . . . called for the elders of the people... and all the people answered together and said, 'All that the Lord hath spoken we will do'." (Exod. 19:7-8.) This was under the towering height of Mount Sinai . The captains or elders or leaders of the people were selected, one from each of the twelve tribes, (see 2:60 and n. 73). For census purposes the names of the elders of the tribes are given in Num. 1:4-16: they are called "every one the head of the house of his fathers". Later, twelve other "heads of the Children of Israel" were selected to spy out of the land of Canaan : their names are mentioned in Num. 13:1-16. See also 5:22 -29 and notes.
710 Cf. 2:245, n. 276. The phrase means "spending in the cause of Allah." Allah in His infinite grace looks upon this as a loan, for which He gives a recompense manifold.
711 The path of rectitude: or the even way: see 2:108, n. 109.