The Addressee of the Verse

The Christians, through excess (ghuluww), elevated Jesus beyond the bounds of humanity and considered him the son of God, while the Jews, through negligence (tafrīṭ), thought that he, who was a divine miracle, had a father and slandered his mother: “And for their faithlessness, and their uttering a monstrous calumny against Mary” (4:156).

The address “O People of the Book” (yā ahl al-kitāb) is general and encompasses both Jews and Christians, since both groups had excesses (ghuluww) in their religion: “The Jews say, ‘Ezra is the son of God,’ and the Christians say, ‘Christ is the son of God’… They have taken their scribes and their monks as lords besides God” (9:30-31). However, based on the subsequent sentences and the context of the verse, the address “O People of the Book” (yā ahl al-kitāb) concerns the Christians.