Muhammad: Break with the JewsAnnunciation, v. 40 depicts Jesus as being a Word from God (cf^214. John
1:1, 14) and the "Messiah," which is one of the earliest Qur'anic usages of
this title. The alleged prophecy about Jesus speaking from the cradle (v. 41)
is similar to Qur'an 19:31. The v. 43 states that God was to teach Jesus the
Book, the Wisdom, the Torah and the Gospel, and says further that Jesus
was to make clay birds live, to heal those who were born bli^215 nd, to heal
lepers and to raise the dead. Jesus was also to proclaim what should be
eaten and stored (?), and this, together with the statement about Jesus
confirming the Torah but allowing some things which were forbidden
(v. 44), seems to have been part of Muhammad's (Christian-based) polemic
against the Jewish dietary laws. In v. 45 Jesus' disciples ("hawariyun") are
described as being God's helpers and Muslims. The v. 48 shows^216 that God
was to let Jesus die before His ascension, and Muslim exegetes have been
largely unsuccessful in reconciling this verse with the traditional interpreta-
tion of Qur'an 4:156. In v. 52 Jesus is said to have been create^217 d as Adam
was, and v. 54 seems to refer to a cursing challenge Muhammad made to
Christians. Although v. 57 appears to search for common groun^218 d between
Muslims and the People of the Book, the vv. 58f, which mention the Torah
and Gospel again, state that Abraham was neither a Jew, nor a Christian. In
v. 61 the claim is made that Muhammad and the Muslims were the closest
to Abraham. The v. 62 shows that some of the People of the Book were
actively trying to influence Muhammad followers, the vv. 63f depict the
People of the Book as having rejected the Qur'an and accuses them of
cloaking the truth in lies. The v. 68 maintains that some of the People of the
Book are trustworthy in financial matters, and v. 69, which allegedly quotes
People of the Book as saying that they were not obligated concerning the
"unlearned," appears to refer to the Jewish practice of exac^219 ting interest
from gentiles. In v. 72 some of the People of the Book are accuse^220 d of
corrupting the Book verbally (not in written form), v. 73 may be an implied
rejection of Christ's deity (in which encouragement is given to be "rabbani"
who learn and study the Book), and v. 74 forbids accepting angels or
prophets as lords. The vv. 75f speak of God's covenant with the prophets
and allude to Muhammad, who was to confirm the Book. The v. 78
expresses the belief in what was given to Muhammad, Abraham, Ishmael,
Isaac, Jacob, the tribes, Moses and Jesus without discriminating between