Al-Baqarah 2:54 واذ قال موسى لقومه يا قوم انكم ظلمتم انفسكم باتخاذكم العجل فتوبوا الى باريكم فاقتلوا انفسكم ذالكم خير لكم عند باريكم فتاب عليكم انه هو التواب الرحيم ٥٤
وَإِذۡ
قَالَ
مُوسَىٰ
لِقَوۡمِهِۦ
يَٰقَوۡمِ
إِنَّكُمۡ
ظَلَمۡتُمۡ
أَنفُسَكُم
بِٱتِّخَاذِكُمُ
ٱلۡعِجۡلَ
فَتُوبُوٓاْ
إِلَىٰ
بَارِئِكُمۡ
فَٱقۡتُلُوٓاْ
أَنفُسَكُمۡ
ذَٰلِكُمۡ
خَيۡرٞ
لَّكُمۡ
عِندَ
بَارِئِكُمۡ
فَتَابَ
عَلَيۡكُمۡۚ
إِنَّهُۥ
هُوَ
ٱلتَّوَّابُ
ٱلرَّحِيمُ
٥٤
And ˹remember˺ when Moses said to his people, “O my people! Surely you have wronged yourselves by worshipping the calf, so turn in repentance to your Creator and execute ˹the calf-worshippers among˺ yourselves. That is best for you in the sight of your Creator.” Then He accepted your repentance. Surely He is the Accepter of Repentance, Most Merciful.
— Dr. Mustafa Khattab, The Clear Quran
And [recall] when Moses said to his people, "O my people, indeed you have wronged yourselves by your taking of the calf [for worship]. So repent to your Creator and kill yourselves [i.e., the guilty among you]. That is best for [all of] you in the sight of your Creator." Then He accepted your repentance; indeed, He is the Accepting of Repentance, the Merciful.
— Saheeh International
Read Tafsir
Ibn Kathir (Abridged)
The Children of Israel kill each other in Repentance
This was the repentance required from the Children of Israel for worshipping the calf. Commenting on Allah's statement;
وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَى لِقَوْمِهِ يَقَوْمِ إِنَّكُمْ ظَلَمْتُمْ أَنفُسَكُمْ بِاتِّخَاذِكُمُ الْعِجْلَ
(And (remember) when Musa said
…The Children of Israel kill each other in Repentance
This was the repentance required from the Children of Israel for worshipping the calf. Commenting
…