Jesus was strengthened by Gabriel, peace be upon him, in that Gabriel was commanded to accompany him wherever he went, until Allah raised him up to heaven. (1)
It is also said that Gabriel, peace be upon him, was called a spirit because of his subtle nature and his role in bringing revelation, which is the cause of hearts coming to life. Ibn Abbas and Saʿid ibn Jubayr said: The Holy Spirit is the Greatest Name of Allah, by which Jesus would bring the dead to life and show people wonders. It is also said that it is the Gospel, which He made a spirit for him, just as He made the Quran a spirit for Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, because it is the cause of hearts coming to life. Allah, Most High, says: “Thus We have revealed to you a spirit by Our command” (al-Shura 42:52).
When the Jews heard Jesus mentioned, they said, “O Muhammad, you have not performed deeds like those of Jesus—as you claim—nor have you done as the prophets whose accounts you recount to us did. So bring us what Jesus brought, if you are truthful.”
Allah, Most High, said: “Whenever a messenger came to you, O company of Jews, with that which your souls did not desire, did you act arrogantly?” That is, you behaved with pride and considered yourselves too great to have faith. “So a party”—that is, a group—“you denied,” such as Jesus and Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him; “and a party you kill,” that is, you killed, such as Zechariah, John, Shuʿayb, and the other prophets whom they killed, peace be upon them.
“And they said”—that is, the Jews—“Our hearts are wrapped.” This is the plural of “wrapped,” referring to that which has a covering over it. Its meaning is: they are covered over, so they neither comprehend nor understand what you say. This was stated by Mujahid and Qatadah. Similar to this is His saying: “They say, ‘Our hearts are within coverings’” (Fussilat 41:5). Ibn Abbas recited it as ghuluf, with the lām vowelled with a u, which is also the recitation of al-Aʿraj. It is the plural of ghilāf—that is, “Our hearts are vessels containing every kind of knowledge, and so we have no need of your knowledge.” This was stated by Ibn Abbas and ʿAtaʾ. Al-Kalbi said: Its meaning is that they are vessels containing every kind of knowledge, so that they retain every report they hear except your report: they neither understand it nor retain it; and had it contained any good, (3) they would have retained and understood it.
Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, said: “Rather, Allah has cursed them”—that is, Allah has driven them away and distanced them from every good—“because of their disbelief; so little do they believe.” Qatadah said: Its meaning is that only a few of them will believe, for those among the polytheists who believed were more numerous than those among the Jews who believed. That is, they believe but little; the accusative form of “little” [is circumstantial. Maʿmar said: They believe only in a little of what is in their possession, while disbelieving in most of it; that is, they believe in but little, and the accusative form of “little”] (4) is due to the omission of the preposition, while “what” is pleonastic according to both of them. Al-Waqidi said: Its meaning is that they do not believe at all, whether little or much, as when one person says to another, “How little you do such-and-such,” meaning, “You do not do it at all.”
“And when there came to them a Book from Allah”—that is, the Quran—“confirming”—that is, agreeing with—“what was with them”—that is, the Torah—“and previously they”—that is, the Jews, before Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, was sent—“had sought victory over those who disbelieved,” namely the Arab polytheists. This was because, whenever they were beset by a hardship and an enemy assailed them, they would say: “O Allah, grant us victory over them through the prophet who will be sent at the end of time, whose description we find in the Torah.” Thus they would be granted victory. They would say to their polytheist enemies: “The time of a prophet who will arise is drawing near—”