Walaqad AAalimtumu allatheena iAAtadaw minkum fee assabti faqulna lahum koonoo qiradatan khasi-een (surah Baqarah: 65)

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

(2:65) And you know well the story of those among you who broke Sabbath. *82 We said to them, "Be apes *83 despised and hated by all.

Wa laqad `alimtumul lazeena`-tadaw minkum fis Sabti faqulnaa lahum koonoo qiradatan khaasi`een

*82). Sabbath, i.e., Saturday . Itwas laid down that the Israelite should consecrate that day for rest and worship. They were required to from abstain from all worldly acts, including cooking (which they mightneither do themselves, nor have their servants do for them). The injunctions, in this connection wereso strict that violation of the Sabath was to be punished with death. (See Exodus 31:12-17. ) When religious and moral decadence, however, spread among the Israelites they indulged in open desecration of the Sabbath, so much so that in jewish towns trade and commerce were carried out in broad daylight.
*83). The details of this incident are mentioned later in Surah 7, vv. 163 ff. The exact manner in which their transformation into apes took place is disputed. Some scholars are of the opinion that the transformation was a physical one, while others hold that they were invested with the attributes characteristic of apes. But both the words and the manner in which this incident is recounted in the Qur'ain seem to suggest that what took place was a physical transformation of certain persons into apes rather than just a moral metamorphosis. What seems plausible to me is that while their minds were allowed to remain intact, their bodies were changed into those of apes.