2:96

Wa latajidannahum ahrasannaasi 'alaa hayaatinw wa minal lazeena ashrakoo; yawaddu

ahaduhum law yu'ammaru alfa sanatinw wa maa huwa bi muzahzihihee minal 'azaabi ai
yu'ammar; wallaahu baseerum bimaa ya'maloon

You will find them, of all mankind, the most eager for life, even more than the
polytheists. Every one of them wishes he could live a thousand years; but to be
granted a long life will not nudge him from the punishment. God is Seeing of what
they do.

And verily, you will find them (the Jews) the greediest of
mankind for life and (even greedier) than those who ascribe partners to Allah. One
of them
wishes that he could be given a life of a thousand years. But the grant of such
life will not save
him even a little from (due) punishment. And Allah is Seer of what they do.

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ASBAB AL NUZUL

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- Disbelievers wish They could live longer

This is why Allah said next ,

"But they will never long for it because of what their hands have sent before them
(i.e.what
they have done: And Allah is Aware of the Zalimin. And verily, you will find them
(the Jews)
the greediest of mankind for life." meaning, greedy to live longer, because they
know their evil
end, and the only reward they will have with Allah is total loss. This life is a
prison for the
believer and Paradise for the disbeliever. Therefore, the People of the Book wish
they could
delay the Hereafter, as much as possible. However, they shall certainly meet what
they are
trying to avoid, even if they are more eager to delay the Hereafter than the
polytheists who do
not have a divine book.

- Muhammad bin Ishaq narrated that Ibn Abbas commented on

"But the grant of such life will not save him even a little from (due) punishment"

Long life shall not save them from torment .Certainly, the polytheists do not
believe in resurrection
after death, and they would love to enjoy a long life. The Jews know the
humiliation they will
suffer in the Hereafter for knowingly ignoring the truth.

- Also, Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin

Aslam said, "The Jews are most eager for this life. They wish they could live for a
thousand
years. However, living for a thousand years will not save them from torment , just
as Iblis-
Satan - long life did not benefit him, due to being a disbeliever.
"And Allah is Seer of what they do."
meaning, "Allah knows what His servants are doing,
whether good or evil, and will compensate each of them accordingly

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TAFSIR AL TUSTARI

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Decoding the Quran

And you will surely find them to be of the most ambitious of people about the
worldly life! Even more than those who live in shirq (duality; associating partners
with Allah). Each one of them desires to live a thousand years! Whereas a long
lifespan will not distance them from suffering. And Allah, as their essential
reality, is the Basir (the evaluator of what they do).

...
[2:96] And you shall find them (the lām of la-tajidannahum is for oaths) the people
most covetous of life, and, more covetous of it than, the idolaters, who reject the
[idea of the] Resurrection, for the former know that their journey’s end will be
the Fire, while the idolaters do not believe even in this; any one of them would
love, wishes, that he might be given life for a thousand years (law yuʿammar, ‘[if
only] he might be given life’: the particle law, ‘if only’, relates to the verbal
noun and functions with the sense of
an, ‘that’, and together with its relative clause explains the [implicit] verbal
noun in the object of the verb yawaddu, ‘he would love’); yet, any one of them, his
being given life (an yuʿammara, ‘that he should be given life’, constitutes the
subject of the verb muzaḥziḥihi, ‘that it should budge him’ [this verb comes
later], as though it were taʿmīruhu, ‘the giving of life to him’) shall not budge,
remove, him from the chastisement, of the Fire. God sees what they do (yaʿmalūna
may be alternatively read taʿmalūna, ‘you do’), and will requite them. [ʿAbd Allāh]
Ibn Ṣūryā5 asked the Prophet (ṣ), or ʿUmar [b. al-Khaṭṭāb], about which angel
brings down the revelation, and he replied that it was Gabriel; he [Ibn Ṣūryā] then
said, ‘He is our enemy, because he brings chastisement with him; had it been
Michael, we would have believed in him, because he brings fertility and security.’
Then, the following was revealed: