18أَن أَدّوا إِلَيَّ عِبادَ اللَّهِ ۖ إِنّي لَكُم رَسولٌ أَمينٌMuhammad Asad"Give in unto me, O God's bondmen!1 Verily, I am an apostle [sent] unto you, worthy of trust!Most of the classical commentators (e.g., Tabari, Zaniakhshari, Razi, Baydawi) point out that this phrase can be understood in either of two senses, namely: "Give in unto me, O God's bondmen ('ibad)", implying a call to the Egyptians (since all human beings are "God's bondmen") to accept the divine message which Moses was about to convey to them; or, alternatively, "Give up to me God's servants", i.e., the children of Israel, who were kept in bondage in Egypt, inasmuch as the vocalization 'ibada is applicable to the vocative as well as the accusative case, either of these two interpretations is legitimate.