ABSTRACT
The selected case is those traditions transmitted in early Muslim exegesis in relation to the story of ‘the cow of the Banū Isrāʾīl’ (Q. 2:67–74). The article identifies themes and motifs from which these traditions are composed in order to show the development and expansion in the narration through the time. Comparing Biblical and post-Biblical texts, common elements are investigated to show how Muslim exegetes used the existing material from pre-Islamic traditions on the one hand, and invented new elements and motifs on the other hand, in order to create a more or less coherent narrative as a contextual background for the Qur’anic text.
