وَلَمَّا جَآءَ عِيسَىٰ بِٱلْبَيِّنَـٰتِ قَالَ قَدْ جِئْتُكُم بِٱلْحِكْمَةِ وَلِأُبَيِّنَ لَكُم بَعْضَ ٱلَّذِى تَخْتَلِفُونَ فِيهِ ۖ فَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُونِ 63
Translations
And when Jesus brought clear proofs, he said, "I have come to you with wisdom [i.e., prophethood] and to make clear to you some of that over which you differ, so fear Allāh and obey me.
Transliteration
Wa-lammā jāʾa ʿĪsā bil-bayyināt qāla qad jīʾtukum bil-ḥikmah wa-li-ubayyin lakum baʿḍ al-ladhī takhtālifūn fīh fa-ttaqū Allāh wa-aṭīʿūn
Tafsir (Explanation)
When Jesus came with clear signs and proofs, he declared that he brought wisdom and came to clarify matters of dispute among the people, calling them to piety and obedience to God. According to Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari, the 'clear signs' (al-bayyināt) refer to Jesus's miracles and the wisdom refers to the Torah and the teachings he brought, while the disputed matters he clarified included issues of law, practice, and doctrine that had become points of contention among the Children of Israel. This ayah emphasizes that a primary purpose of prophethood is to guide people toward truth and resolve their differences through divine guidance.
Revelation Context
This ayah is part of the Meccan Surah Az-Zukhruf, which addresses the polytheists of Mecca. In this context, the Qur'an presents Jesus as an example of a messenger sent with clear signs and wisdom, implying that Muhammad, like Jesus before him, comes with similar divine authority and should be similarly obeyed. The surah uses Jesus's message as a parallel to Muhammad's mission to the Arabian people.
Related Hadiths
The hadith in Sahih Muslim where the Prophet Muhammad said, 'I have been sent with the shortest and most comprehensive words' relates to the theme of wisdom and clarity in conveying God's message. Additionally, Surah 5:46 (Al-Ma'idah) mentions 'We gave Jesus the Gospel containing guidance and light,' which complements this ayah's emphasis on Jesus bringing wisdom and clarification.
Themes
Key Lesson
Messengers of God come not merely with miraculous signs but primarily with wisdom and guidance to clarify truth and resolve human conflicts through divine instruction; believers must respond to this guidance with piety and obedience. In our contemporary context, this teaches that true leadership and authority derive from conveying truth clearly and helping resolve disagreements through principled guidance rooted in divine wisdom.