This verse adds a unique layer to the Islamic Dilemma by bringing the angelic source of the revelation into the witness box. It doesn't just affirm the text of the Bible; it stakes the very credibility and character of Gabriel (Jibril) on the integrity of the previous scriptures.
Surah 2:97:
"Say: Who is an enemy to Gabriel! For he it is who hath revealed to thy heart by Allah's leave, confirming that which was before it, and a guidance and glad tidings to believers.
In this verse, Gabriel is presented as the one who brings the "confirmation."
If Gabriel brings a message that says, "I am here to confirm the Gospel," and then that message proceeds to deny the Crucifixion (the very core of the Gospel), Gabriel has failed his mission.
Gabriel is either confirming a corrupted book (making him a messenger of falsehood) or he is confirming a preserved book that contradicts the very message he is currently delivering. To a polemicist, this suggests that the "Gabriel" of the Quran is not the same Gabriel of the Bible, or that the Quranic claim of confirmation is a logical impossibility.
The Arabic phrase "lima bayna yadayhi" is an idiom for something that is currently present or "in front of" someone.
If I say I am confirming the book "between your hands," I am not talking about a lost original in a heavenly vault. I am talking about the physical manuscript you are currently holding.
The books "between the hands" of the 7th-century Christians were the Four Gospels and the Epistles. By using this phrase, the Quran (via Gabriel) validates the Biblical Canon as it existed in the 7th century. If that canon is the "Truth," then the Quranic Jesus (who is not the Son of God) is a different person entirely.
In the Bible, Gabriel appears to Daniel and Mary to announce the coming of the Messiah and His kingdom.
The Gabriel of the Bible announces the "Son of the Most High" (Luke 1:32). The "Gabriel" of the Quran (Surah 19:19-21) confirms the birth of a "pure son" but elsewhere the Quran denies that God has a son (Surah, 19:35).
If the same angel is the source of both revelations, and he "confirms" the previous one, why does he change the identity of the person he is announcing? A "confirmation" that changes the identity of the subject is actually a negation.
Surah 2:97 says Gabriel brought the Quran to confirm what was 'between the hands' of the people in the 7th century.
By what standard is Gabriel 'confirming' the Bible if the Quran denies the Trinity, the Deity of Christ, and the Atonement—the three pillars of the book he claims to confirm?"
This verse essentially puts the "Messenger" in a position where he must either be a confirmer of a lie or a confirmer of a book that calls his new message false.