According to Taberî, the verse describes how the Children of Israel repeatedly broke the covenant they repeatedly gave to their Lord in the Torah; the verb 'nabaza' here means 'to throw, abandon, reject'. Furthermore, the expression 'nakadahu ferîkun minhum' emphasizes that the majority of those who broke the covenant did so, not a minority. This attitude is connected to their breaking of the covenant that Allah took from them regarding believing in Muhammad, as explained in the narration of Ibn Abbas with the example of Malik b. Sayf denying in the Torah that a covenant was taken from them regarding Muhammad.

وأما العهد: فإنه الميثاق الذي أعطته بنو إسرائيل ربهم ليعملن بها في التوراة مرة بعد أخرى، ثم نقض بعضهم ذلك مرة بعد أخرى. فوبخهم جل ذكره بما كان منهم من ذلك وعير به أبناءهم إذ سلكوا منهاجهم في بعض ما كان جل ذكره أخذ عليهم بالإيمان به من أمر محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم من العهد والميثاق فكفروا وجحدوا ما في التوراة من نعته وصفته

According to Râzî, this verse describes another kind of ugly deed of the Jews; the reason why the verse says 'a group from among them' is not that all those who made the covenant did not or would not believe, but that some of them believed or could believe, therefore the group is mentioned with specification. Furthermore, it is emphasized that this group is not small in number but forms a majority. Two views are narrated regarding the expression 'lâ yü'minûn': the first is that most of these transgressors will never confirm the Prophet because of their envy and injustice, the second is that they did not confirm their own scripture, because they behaved like hypocrites among their people, showing belief in the Prophet and his scriptures and then not fulfilling what it required.

لأن في جملة من عاهد من آمن أو يجوز أن يؤمن فلما لم يكن ذلك صفة جميعهم خص الفريق بالذكر

Kurtubî explains that the word 'nabz' mentioned in this verse means 'to throw, hurl'; he states that this concept is a metaphor expressing taking something lightly and not acting upon it, thereby abandoning it. He compares this to the Arabs' idioms that express abandoning and turning away from something, such as 'throw this behind you, put it under your feet'.

وهذا مثل يضرب لمن استخف بالشيء فلا يعمل به تقول العرب : اجعل هذا خلف ظهرك ودبرا منك وتحت قدمك أي اتركه واعرض عنه

According to Ibn Kesîr, this verse describes how the Children of Israel did not refrain from breaking any covenant they made; they made a covenant one day and broke it the next day. Because they treated these covenants as nothing, Allah blamed them, and as a result of this covenant-breaking that followed, they denied the Prophet who was sent to them and whose description, signs, and news are in their scriptures.

فالقوم ذمهم الله بنبذهم العهود التي تقدم الله إليهم في التمسك بها والقيام بحقها ولهذا أعقبهم ذلك التكذيب بالرسول المبعوث إليهم وإلى الناس كافة الذي في كتبهم نعته وصفته وأخباره

According to Beydâvî, the expression 'transgressors' mentioned in the 99th verse refers to those among the disbelievers who are rebellious; when transgression is used for a type of sin, it points to the greatness of that sin, that it is a behavior that exceeds limits. The verse was revealed regarding Ibn Suriyyâ; he claimed that they did not recognize anything he brought to the Prophet. In the 100th verse, the expression 'most of them do not believe' is to refute the misconception that only a small group actually broke the covenant or that those who did not openly break it secretly believed.

والفسق إذا استعمل في نوع من المعاصي دل على عظمه كأنه متجاوز عن حده. نزل في ابن صوريا حين قال لرسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم، ما جئتنا بشيء نعرفه، وما أنزل عليك من آية فنتبعك.