The Quran

Preface

وَقالَتِ اليَهودُ عُزَيرٌ ابنُ اللَّهِ وَقالَتِ النَّصارَى المَسيحُ ابنُ اللَّهِ ۖ ذٰلِكَ قَولُهُم بِأَفواهِهِم ۖ يُضاهِئونَ قَولَ الَّذينَ كَفَروا مِن قَبلُ ۚ قاتَلَهُمُ اللَّهُ ۚ أَنّىٰ يُؤفَكونَ

Yusuf Ali

The Jews call ?Uzair a son¹ of God, and the Christians call Christ the son of God. That is a saying from their mouth; (in this) they but imitate² what the unbelievers of old used to say. God’s curse be on them: how they are deluded away from the Truth!³

In n. 718 to 5:18, I have quoted passages from the Old Testament, showing how freely the expression “sons of God” was used by the Jews. A sect of them called 'Uzayr a son of God, according to al Baidawi. In Appendix 2 (Sūra 5.) I have shown that the constitution of Judaism dates from 'Uzayr (Ezra). The Christians still call Christ the Son of God.
Taking men for gods or sons of God was not a new thing. All ancient mythologies have fables of that kind. There was less excuse for such blasphemies after the Prophets of God had clearly explained our true relation to God than in the times of primitive ignorance and superstition.
Cf. 5:75.