Surah Al Baqarah Tafseer

قَالَ إِنَّهُ يَقُولُ إِنَّهَا بَقَرَةٌ لاَّ ذَلُولٌ تُثِيرُ الَارْضَ وَلَا تَسْقِي الْحَرْثَ

He says, `It is a cow neither trained to till the soil nor water the fields,'

meaning, it is not used in farming, or for watering purposes. Rather, it is honorable and fair looking.

Abdur-Razzaq said that Ma`mar said that Qatadah said that,

مُسَلَّمَةٌ لاَّ شِيَةَ فِيهَا

sound, having no blemish in it."'

means, "The cow does not suffer from any defects."

This is also the opinion of Abu Al-Aliyah and Ar-Rabi.

Mujahid also said that;

the Ayah means the cow is free from defects.

Further, Ata' Al-Khurasani said that;

the Ayah means that its legs and body are free of physical defects.

...

قَالُواْ الانَ جِيْتَ بِالْحَقِّ

They said, "Now you have brought the truth."

فَذَبَحُوهَا وَمَا كَادُواْ يَفْعَلُونَ

So they slaughtered it though they were near to not doing it.

Ad-Dahhak said that Ibn Abbas said that the Ayahmeans,

"They did not want to slaughter it."

This means that even after all the questions and answers about the cow's description, the Jews were still reluctant to slaughter the cow.

This part of the Qur'an criticized the Jews for their behavior, because their only goal was to be stubborn, and this is why they nearly did not slaughter the cow.

Also, Ubaydah, Mujahid, Wahb bin Munabbih, Abu Al-Aliyah and Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam said,

"The Jews bought the cow with a large amount of money."

There is a difference of opinion over this