The Arabic expression in this verse (adding the first word- instead of just add a preposition of (Be) to the second word) reflects the meaning that this act of breaking the covenant is not just one time, rather it is frequently done. So that every letter in the Holly Quran has a meaning and a purpose. Allah in another verse says:
لُعِنَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِن بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ عَلَىٰ لِسَانِ دَاوُودَ وَعِيسَى ابْنِ مَرْيَمَ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ بِمَا عَصَوا وَّكَانُوا يَعْتَدُونَ (78) كَانُوا لَا يَتَنَاهَوْنَ عَن مُّنكَرٍ فَعَلُوهُ ۚ لَبِئْسَ مَا كَانُوا يَفْعَلُونَ
(Cursed were those who disbelieved among the Children of Israel by the tongue of David and of Jesus, the son of Mary. That was because they disobeyed and [habitually] transgressed. (79) They used not to prevent one another from wrongdoing that they did. How wretched was that which they were doing.) (Al-Maaida: 78-79)
So because of their breach of their covenant, Allah (swt) cursed them. As pre-mentioned, the covenant is either the one that was taken from every soul of the children of Adam (PBUH):
وَإِذْ أَخَذَ رَبُّكَ مِن بَنِي آدَمَ مِن ظُهُورِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ وَأَشْهَدَهُمْ عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِهِمْ أَلَسْتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ ۖ قَالُوا بَلَىٰ ۛ شَهِدْنَا ۛ أَن تَقُولُوا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ إِنَّا كُنَّا عَنْ هَٰذَا غَافِلِينَ
(And [mention] when your Lord took from the children of Adam – from their loins – their descendants and made them testify of themselves, [saying to them], “Am I not your Lord?” They said, “Yes, we have testified.” [This] – lest you should say on the day of Resurrection, “Indeed, we were of this unaware.”) (Al-Baqara: 285)
The way of taking this covenant is unknown, but we believe in it because Allah (swt) has informed us about. Another possible covenant is the faith, which the children of Israel broke by killing and denying the Prophets, as well as causing corruption in the earth and many more of their bad acts which the Zionists do.
(… وَجَعَلْنَا قُلُوبَهُمْ قَاسِيَةً …) (…and made their hearts hard…): Heart is an organ that pumps blood in the form of impulses, but we are surprised that the Holy Qur’an talks about the heart in a different way:
إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَذِكْرَىٰ لِمَن كَانَ لَهُ قَلْبٌ أَوْ أَلْقَى السَّمْعَ وَهُوَ شَهِيدٌ
(Indeed in that is a reminder for whoever has a heart or who listens while he is present [in mind].) (Qaaf: 37)
And does not say: (whoever has a mind). Allah (swt) as well says:
أَفَلَا يَتَدَبَّرُونَ الْقُرْآنَ أَمْ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبٍ أَقْفَالُهَا
(Then do they not reflect upon the Qur’an, or are there locks upon [their] hearts?) (Muhammad: 24)
The Prophet (saws) said:
“There is a piece of flesh in the body if it becomes good (reformed) the whole body becomes good but if it gets spoilt the whole body gets spoilt and that is the heart.”[1]
Hence, the mind is the heart is not just a pump of blood, rather it thinks and comprehends.
It was said that the heart is a muscle that pumps blood for two decades, and the world was surprised by one of the great Western scientists when he said: The heart is a center in which there are more than forty thousand nerve centers, and these centers and nerve cells are called the brain of the heart, and it is that which emits emotions, feelings and sensations, and everything that is attached to the body its center is in the brain of the heart. This meaning surprised the world, even the hard-liners in non-religious extremism and those who do not believe in Allah (swt). It surprised them that the heart is what makes sense and not the mind, and it is the heart that transmits the required information, and when they transferred the heart of one person to another, the person changed as if he was the owner of the heart from which he was transferred. The heart, these forty thousand neurons located in the heart are responsible for feelings, emotions and …. You reason with the heart, and love with the heart, and the heart becomes hard and soft, and the heart feels and becomes blind, as mentioned in the Holy Qur’an, and as it mentioned in the Hadith of the Prophet (saws). This was one of the latest miracles that happened to tell people: It is not the mind that is responsible, but the heart.
(… وَجَعَلْنَا قُلُوبَهُمْ قَاسِيَةً …) (…and made their hearts hard…): Allah (swt) made their hearts grow hard and the stain has covered their hearts of that which they were earning. The Prophet (saws) said:
“When the believer commits sin, a black spot appears on his heart. If he repents and gives up that sin and seeks forgiveness, his heart will be polished. But if (the sin) increases, (the black spot) increases. That is the Ran that Allah mentions in His Book: “Nay! But on their hearts is the Ran (covering of sins and evil deeds) which they used to earn.”[2]
The “Ran” is on their hearts not in their minds.
(… يُحَرِّفُونَ الْكَلِمَ عَن مَّوَاضِعِهِ …) (…They distort words from their [proper] usages …): Among the most things that the Jews did is distorting words from their proper usages, and this is very serious in the heavenly laws. Distortion is either distorting the words of Allah (swt), or distorting their interpretation as the extremist enemies of Islam did when they killed in the name of the Qur’anic verses, whereas the Holy Qur’an has forbidden killing, and we cannot refer to a verse out of its context from the Holy Qur’an and say: This verse is a ruling. Rather, we must refer to everything related to the Holy Qur’an starting from the reasons for its revelation, the rulings of the Arabic language, the rules of interpretation, the actions of the Prophet (saws), and his biography, and the way his companions understood the verse.
(… وَنَسُوا حَظًّا مِّمَّا ذُكِّرُوا بِهِ …) (…and have forgotten a portion of that of which they were reminded. …): That is, what was revealed to them from the Torah, and forgetting is due to the inability to comprehend, or lack of interest, and this forgetting leads to concealment, and this concealment leads to distortion as the Jews did with the Torah. Hence, forgetting here is not in the form that we think, but rather it indicates lack of interest.
(… وَلَا تَزَالُ تَطَّلِعُ عَلَىٰ خَائِنَةٍ مِّنْهُمْ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا مِّنْهُمْ …) (…And you will still observe deceit among them, except a few of them.…): When the Prophet (saws) went to Banu al-Nadir and they brought a rock to throw it at him, Allah (swt) told him about their betrayals by Gabriel (PBUH). But there are many betrayals other than that, that is why Allah (swt) says: (except a few of them). Although the talk about the attempt to kill the Prophet(saws), Allah (swt) says:
(… فَاعْفُ عَنْهُمْ وَاصْفَحْ …) (…But pardon them and overlook [their misdeeds]…): There is a difference between forgiving and overlooking the misdeeds; forgiveness is to pardon someone when he commits a crime or assault, that is, you nullify the punishment he deserves for his crime. As for overlooking the misdeeds, meaning that you erase this act from your heart, this is the meaning of Allah’s (swt) saying:
وَالْكَاظِمِينَ الْغَيْظَ وَالْعَافِينَ عَنِ النَّاسِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ يُحِبُّ الْمُحْسِنِينَ
(and who restrain anger and who pardon the people – and Allah loves the doers of good;) (Ali-Imran: 134)
( إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُحْسِنِينَ … ) (Indeed, Allah loves the doers of good.…): So the doers of good are the ones who know the meaning of forgiveness, a person may pardon, but he does not forgive, but the benefactor is the one whose heart knows forgiveness, and he can erase this trace from himself as Allah (swt) says:
ادْفَعْ بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ فَإِذَا الَّذِي بَيْنَكَ وَبَيْنَهُ عَدَاوَةٌ كَأَنَّهُ وَلِيٌّ حَمِيمٌ
(Repel [evil] by that [deed] which is better; and thereupon the one whom between you and him is enmity [will become] as though he was a devoted friend.) (Fussilat: 34)
[1] Sahih al-Bukhari: Book of Belief, Chapter of Chapter: The superiority of that person who leaves all doubtful things for the sake of his religion, Hadith No. 52.
[2] Sunan ibn Majah: Book of Zuhd, Chapter: Sins, Hadith No. 4244.