And when it became known regarding what was mentioned about the cause that this supplication against them is due to their previous ill manners in their words, and the ugliness that appeared from their actions, there arose a desire for what is appropriate for them. So Allah, the Most High, said in a confusing manner: ﴿Obedience﴾ meaning: from them ﴿and a good word﴾ meaning: with submission, acquiescence, and good compliance is better for them than what they have shown of affection in obedience and what their state has revealed of aversion. [And] He made the two names indefinite so that they may be suitable for glorification and what is below it. Then He caused His saying, ascribed to the command, to be a confirmation of the content of the speech: ﴿So when the matter is resolved﴾ meaning: so when they are commanded with the fighting that was mentioned [in] the beginning of the surah and other commands, a matter that is determined and resolved upon. ﴿If they had been truthful to Allah﴾ meaning: the Greatest King, the All-Encompassing in power and knowledge regarding their saying which they said in seeking the revelation, ﴿it would have been﴾ their truthfulness for Him ﴿better for them﴾ meaning: than their excuses and their slipping away from it, as a pretext for the determination of the revelation in submission that in their stubbornness against the command and their hesitance from it is a type of good. And it is permissible [that] “better” is a noun not for comparison so that it may be understood that their lying is evil for them.