Surah Al Anbiya Tafseer

وَمَا جَعَلْنَاهُمْ جَسَدًا لاَّ يَأْكُلُونَ الطَّعَامَ

And We did not place them in bodies that did not eat food...

meaning, rather they had bodies that ate food, as Allah says:

وَمَأ أَرْسَلْنَا قَبْلَكَ مِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ إِلاَّ إِنَّهُمْ لَيَأْكُلُونَ الطَّعَامَ وَيَمْشُونَ فِى الاٌّسْوَاقِ

And We never sent before you any of the Messengers but verily, they ate food and walked in the markets. (25:20)

meaning, they were human beings who ate and drank like all other people, and they went to the marketplaces to earn a living and engage in business; that did not affect them adversely or reduce their status in any way, as the idolators imagined.

مَا لِهَـذَا الرَّسُولِ يَأْكُلُ الطَّعَامَ وَيَمْشِى فِى الاٌّسْوَاقِ لَوْلا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْهِ مَلَكٌ فَيَكُونَ مَعَهُ نَذِير

اًأَوْ يُلْقَى إِلَيْهِ كَنْزٌ أَوْ تَكُونُ لَهُ جَنَّةٌ يَأْكُلُ مِنْهَا

And they say:"Why does this Messenger eat food, and walk about in the markets. Why is not an angel sent down to him to be a warner with him Or (why) has not a treasure been granted to him, or why has he not a garden whereof he may eat!" (25:7-8)

وَمَا كَانُوا خَالِدِينَ

nor were they immortals.

meaning, in this world; on the contrary, they lived, then they died.

وَمَا جَعَلْنَا لِبَشَرٍ مِّن قَبْلِكَ الْخُلْدَ

And We granted not to any human being immortality before you. (21:34)

But what distinguished them from others was that they received revelation from Allah, and the angels brought down to them from Allah His rulings concerning His creation, what He commanded and what He prohibited