And [recall] when you said, "O Moses, we can never endure one (2:61)

Almuntakhab Fi Tafsir Alquran Alkarim

Again that once when you said to Mussa: we cannot bear to eat always the same kind of food nor can we put up with it, and so beseech Allah, your Creator, on our behalf to make the soil produce for us what it vegetates of its verdure and of its cucumber, its garlic and lentils and of its onions. Displeased as he was, Mussa said: Will you people exchange the worthy and wholesome food for the food of the lower quality! If this be your wish, then leave Sinai and go down to a town and you will come to have what you asked for. There and then were they stamped with humiliation and misery and came within the measure of Allahs wrath. This was in the train of their denial of Allahs revelations and signs demonstrating Omnipotence and Authority and of bringing death unjustifiably upon the Prophets of their own nation. Such vices were a sequel to the disobedience natural to them that it drew after it their addiction to transgression

Tafseer Tafheem-ul-Quran by Syed Abu-al-A'la Maududi

(2:61) Remember: You grumbled: "O Moses, we cannot endure one and the same sort of food. Pray your Lord to bring for us the products of the earth green herbs, vegetables, corn, garlic, onions, pulses and the like." Moses replied: "What! would you exchange that which is meaner for that which is nobler? *77 Well, go and live in a town and you will get there what you demand." By and by, they became so degraded that disgrace and humiliation, misery and wretchedness were stamped upon them and they incurred Allah's wrath. That was because they began to reject the Revelations of Allah *78 and kill His Messengers without any just cause; *79 that was the consequence of their disobedience and their persistent transgression against the Law.

And [recall] when you said, "O Moses, we can never endure one meaning

*77). This does not mean that their real fault lay in asking for things which entailed cultivation instead of availing themselves of manna and quails which they received without any toil. What is emphasized here is that rather than being concerned with the great purpose for which they had been brought to the Sinai they relished the foods which gratified their palates to such a degree that they could not forgo them even temporarily (cf. Numbers 11: 4-9).
*78). There are several ways in which one might deny the signs of God. First, one might refuse to accept those teachings of God which one found contrary to one's fancies and desires. Second, one might know that something is from God and yet wilfully flout it. Third, one might know well the import of God's directives and yet distort them.
*79). The Israelites recorded their crimes in detail in their own history. Here are just a few examples from the Bible:
(1) After the death of Solomon the state of the Israelites was split into two: the State of Judah with its capital in Jerusalem, and the State of Israel with its capital in Samaria. This was followed by a series of wars between the two States so that the State of Judah sought the assistance of the Aramacan State of Damascus against its own kinsmen. At this, Hamani the seer went under God's direction to Asa the king and rebuked him. Instead of rectifying his behaviour, Asa was so angry that he put the seer in the stocks. (See 2 Chronicles 16: 7-10.)
(2) When Elijah denounced the Jews for their worship of Baal and invited them to retun to monotheism, Ahab, the king of Israel pursued him for the sake of his pagan wife so that he had to take refuge in the mountains of the Sinai peninsula. On this occasion, according to the Bible, he said: '. . . the people of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword., and 1, even 1 only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away' (1 Kings 19: 14).
(3) The same king Ahab imprisoned another Prophet, Micah, for no other reason than that of speaking the truth. King Ahab ordered that he should be given only bread and water. (See 1 Kings 22: 26-7)
(4) When idol-worship and moral corruption became prevalent in Judah and the Prophet Zechariah raised his voice against them, he was stoned to death in the very court of the house of the Lord. (See 2 Chronicles 24: 2l.)
(5) When the Israelite State of Samaria was wiped out by the State of Jerusalem, the Prophet Jeremiah deplored the condition of the Israelites. He warned them that it was time they set about mending their ways otherwise they would face an even more calamitous end than that of Samaria. The response to this sincere preaching was abuse and curses: he was beaten, imprisoned, put in the stocks and lowered by ropes into a cistern, where he was left to die of hunger and thirst. He was also accused of various crimes, including treason and conspiracy. (See Jeremiah 15: 10; 18: 20-3; 20: 1-18; 36-40)
(6) It is reported of another Prophet, Amos, that when he denounced the widespread errors and corruption in the State of Samaria and warned of the evil consequences that follow such misdeeds, he was condemned to exile and told to pursue his prophetic task somewhere beyond its frontiers. (See Amos 7: 10-13.)
(7) When John the Baptist protested against the acts of moral corruption that were brazenly practised in his court, Herod, the ruler of Judah, first put John into prison, then had him beheaded at the request of a dancing girl, and had his head set on a platter and presented to the girl. (See Mark 6: 17-29)
(8) The same hostility to Prophets is evident from the life of Jesus. The priests and political leaders of Israel ultimately became inflamed against Jesus, who criticized them for their impiety and hypocrisy and invited them to true faith and riahteousness. It was this which piompted them to prepare a false case against him and persuade the Romans to sign a death sentence. Later, when the Roman governor, Pilate, asked them which of the two prisoners - Jesus or Barabbas, a notorious brigand - should be released on the occasion of the feast, they asked for the release of Barabbas and for the crucifixion of Jesus (Matthew 27: 20-6). This is a shameful chapter in the record of the Jewish nation, to which the Qur'an refers here in passing. It is evident that when a nation chooses its most notoriously criminal and wicked people for positions of leadership, and its righteous and holy men for gaol and the scaffold, God has no alternative but to lay His curse and damnation on that nation.
 

And [recall] when you said, "O Moses, we can never endure one meaning in Urdu

یاد کرو، جب تم نے کہا تھا کہ، "اے موسیٰؑ، ہم ایک ہی طرح کے کھانے پر صبر نہیں کرسکتے اپنے رب سے دعا کرو کہ ہمارے لیے زمین کی پیداوار ساگ، ترکاری، کھیرا، ککڑی، گیہوں، لہسن، پیاز، دال وغیرہ پیدا کرے" تو موسیٰؑ نے کہا: "کیا ایک بہتر چیز کے بجائے تم ادنیٰ درجے کی چیزیں لینا چاہتے ہو؟ اچھا، کسی شہری آبادی میں جا رہو جو کچھ تم مانگتے ہو، وہاں مل جائے گا" آخر کار نوبت یہاں تک پہنچی کہ ذلت و خواری اور پستی و بد حالی اُن پر مسلط ہو گئی اور وہ اللہ کے غضب میں گھر گئے یہ نتیجہ تھا اس کا کہ وہ اللہ کی آیات سے کفر کرنے لگے اور پیغمبروں کو ناحق قتل کرنے لگے یہ نتیجہ تھا ان کی نافرمانیوں کا اور اس بات کا کہ وہ حدود شرع سے نکل نکل جاتے تھے