Quote:
{2:83} And [recall] when We took the covenant from the Children of Israel, [enjoining upon them], "Do not worship except God; and to parents do good and to relatives, orphans, and the needy. And speak to people good [words] and establish prayer and give zakah." Then you turned away, except a few of you, and you were refusing.
We discussed the word "Zakah" before. I think we should translate it "alms", which is perfect for this verse.
معرضون does not quite mean refusing. The Arabic word is derived from a word that means "width" or "display" and the Arabic dictionary states that the Arabs have always used it to indicate boasting or exaggerating about something. The word is often used in the Quran to mean deliberate neglect, e.g.,
I'm not clear of the connection between this semantic, deliberate neglect, and the origin of the word. Can anybody enlighten me on this?
Would a better translation of the last sentence be, "Then you turned away, except for a few of you, boasting [about it]."?