In the middle of the Moses story and just after a description of Moses that casts him as the ultimate example of a prophet (vv. 142–55) comes a pair of verses that shifts the focus elsewhere. The action jumps forward from the prayer of Moses (vv. 155–56) and God’s answer (v. 156) to a time when people possess both Torah and Gospel (v. 157). In those scriptures, according to this verse, they find a prophet “written with them” ( maktūban ‘ indahum ).

The Arabic original for the expression here translated “of the common people” is ummī , a term that some Muslim translators have rendered “who can neither read nor write” (e.g., Pickthall). Muslim commentators connected this verse with 29.48, which mentions reading and writing.

This prophet is a lawmaker who calls humanity to believe not only in Allah but also in “His messenger” (v. 158). The expression “the prophet,” with definite article, does not occur frequently in the Quran. See the analysis of the uses of this expression at 66.9 (p. 579).

Muslim commentators identified the “ ummī prophet” with Muhammad and said this verse means that references to Muhammad are found in the Torah and Gospel. This claim seems to have given rise to two kinds of polemic from the Muslim community: one that attempts to find passages in the Bible that Muslims then claim are references to Muhammad; and another that claims that since references to Muhammad cannot be found in the Bible, Jews and Christians must have changed or erased the references. See the analysis of the Quran’s “Gospel” verses at 57.27.

Some instructions about verse 157–58 to be an insertion. The Moses story flows quite smoothly from verse 103 to verse 156, then picks up at verse 159 until verse 171. The descriptions of this ummī prophet in verse 157–58 seem out of place in Sūra 7, where the messenger is otherwise only a “warner” (v. 188) like messengers from Noah to Shu‘ayb. Understood from a different angle, however, if the Quran’s intention is to recommend its own messenger, it would make sense to place these verses directly after the very favorable portrait of Moses.