4.46 – Some of those who are Jews alter words from their positions
This is the second of four verses in the Quran that contain the Arabic verb ḥar
rafa – often translated as “distort” or (as here) “alter” but understood by the earliest Muslim commentators on the Quran to mean “tampering with” or “mishandling” (also 2.75; 5.13; 5.41).
In this case, the subject is “some who are Jews.” Though some Muslim polemicists have used this verse to accuse the Bible of corruption, the verse itself seems to picture a kind of wordplay by the Jews between Hebrew and Arabic that shows disrespect to the messenger. This is how many Muslim commentators understood the expression “twisting with their tongues.”