Quranic Lesson 134 Surah Al Baqarah(93)

In this ayah the events that have been continuously referred from last few ayahs to the next several sections are all the most famous events in the history of the Israelites, which every child of that nation knew. That is why instead of describing them in detail, each event has been briefly referred to. The purpose of this historical account is actually to show that on one hand there are these and these favors that Allah has done to you, and on the other hand there are these and these deeds that you have done in response to these favors.

In this ayah Allah is telling about Israelites that when Allah made a covenant with you and raised the mountain above your heads and said hold fast to what we have given you with full strength and now you must cling to it (Torah and sharia given to them) and keep listening…. the usual word after سمعنا is وأطعنا meaning we listen and we obey however due to their mischievous nature they changed it into سمعنا و عصينا meaning we listen and we disobey… and this worship and sanctification of the calf went deep down in their hearts, so O’ prophet tell them how bad is the thing your iman (belief) is teaching you if you claim you are momin (believers) then is this the attitude that the iman (belief) should take you that you have been worshipping calf.