اردشیر محمدی بختیاری

Although many scholars have regarded verse 46 of Surah al Nisāʾ and verse 78 of Surah Āli ʿImrān as among the Qur’anic passages indicating the textual corruption of the Torah, or even of both Testaments, a closer reading of these verses reveals that they refer more precisely and profoundly to the linguistic and intellectual practices of a group among the Jews. By employing wordplay and limited semantic shifts, they caused confusion and doubt among their audience while presenting their statements as though they were derived from the sacred text of the Torah. An examination of the key terms Yalwūn and al Kitāb, along with reflection on the concepts of distortion and al Kalim in lexical and Qur’anic sources, indicates that these verses primarily critique a form of linguistic trickery and limited semantic distortion rather than a literal and fundamental alteration of the sacred text itself. Historical and narrative analyses likewise confirm that the verses do not refer to an actual textual alteration of the Torah; rather, what occurred involved linguistic manipulation and semantic shifts intended to deceive or mock. Therefore, it is highly plausible that these verses do not constitute evidence for the textual corruption of the Torah. Instead, their principal concern is to warn against linguistic misuse rather than an actual and direct modification of the wording of the sacred text. Through a close analysis of the key vocabulary of these verses, supported by historical and narrative reports, this study seeks to demonstrate that these passages signify wordplay more than they serve as evidence of textual corruption.