Apostate prophet seeks evidence; Jews said Ezra is son of God?

In answer to the video "The Most Ignorant Quran Verse"

In 9:30 the Quran accuses some Jews of over exalting one of their prophets, Ezra. It is important here to note that a statement that starts with "the people said" without being followed by a precise designation of the individuals concerned inside the group is a literary feature of Arabic usage of sentences; its aim is to point to a prevailing tendancy among a larger group. It is the equivalent to "Most people said". This is all the more true when the single feminine form is used, as in this case.

So in 9:30, it does not mean that all the Jews said this, but it does bring the attention to a significant group amongst them which happened to say it. The same verbal form is used in 5:64-66 for the Jews, and again because in the introductory statement "the Jews said" there was no precise designation of the guilty individuals, the passage ends by making a distinction between the sinners and the righteous, thus showing that although both belong to the same larger group, not all of them are concerned with the accusation levelled against their comunity.

Further corroboration can be seen in the prophetic sayings, where a glimpse of what shall occur on the day of judgement is given, when people are seperated into different groups. The first group, those who consciously worshipped anything other than Allah are sent to hellfire. Then 2 groups are made from among the worshippers of Allah; the righteous and the sinners. In both groups there will be Muslims and non muslims, such as Jews and Christians. The Quran repeatedly says, among the people of the book, both righteous and sinners will be rewarded accordingly in the hereafter. Finally, a party will be brought forth from those who worshipped Allah among the people of the book. They will be those whom the Quran accuses of transgression in regards to Ezra and Jesus

"and SOME of the people of the Book who worshipped Allah are left. Then the Jews would be summoned, and it would be said to them: What did you worship? They will say: We worshipped 'Uzair, son of Allah. It would be said to them: You tell a lie...Then it will be said to the Christians, 'What did you use to worship?' They will reply, 'We used to worship Messiah, the son of Allah.' It will be said, 'You are liars..." 

The Quran is here making a historical observation pertaining to the beliefs of the Arabian peninsula. It is already well-documented that not all Jews had the same beliefs. Even within the HB and NT, one finds competing theologies such as the Sadducees' disbelief in the resurrection, while it is a pillar of the orthodox Jewish belief. Paul observes that some Jews in his lifetime worshiped angels Col2:18. There were Jews and gentiles among the proto-christian sect that deified Jesus. That is besides the numerous idolatrous practices Jews have done since the times of Moses, and recorded in the HB.

Ezra was believed to have ascended up to heaven without dying by certain Jews, just as Christians argued Jesus ascended to heaven. In the Jewish apocalypse 2 Esdras 14 God tells him that 

"You will be taken from among human beings, and you will associate from now on with my son and with those who are like you until the times are finished". 

There is nothing far-fetched in the assertion of these Arabian Jews, their over exaltation of Ezra especially in the context of the religious competition that existed between Christianity and Judaism in the Arabian peninsula. The Quran often references this, and the following verse is a similar style to the one in question

2:113"And the Jews say: The Christians do not follow anything (good) and the Christians say: The Jews do not follow anything (good) while they recite the (same) Book. Even thus say those who have no knowledge, like to what they say; so Allah shall judge between them on the day of resurrection in what they differ".

It was in such religious prejudice that the Jews and Christians would even go as far as condemning their opponents on matters that had no religious basis from the book they shared. 9:30 is an example of the religious prejudices reaching extremes, but in this case, it caused them to utter words of unbelief regarding their own religious figures. The next verse states

9:31"They have taken their doctors of law and their monks for lords besides Allah, and (also) the Messiah son of Marium and they were enjoined that they should serve one Allah only, there is no god but He; far from His glory be what they set up (with Him)".

There is an important omission in the verse. Although both Jews and Christians have raised their religious figures as God's sons, and both have set their scholars and monks as God's partners in the sense that they follow their authority blindly even if it innovates and contradicts what was revealed to them, yet in contrast to Ezra only Jesus is mentionned as having been raised to a divine status. And this is to differentiate between the Christians who willingly did so, whereas with the Jews, their type of idolatry in regards to Ezra was indirect, through descriptions overstepping the limits of acceptable monotheistic belief. There is a reason why that transgression is only mentionned once, in contrast to the deification of Jesus which is repeatedly condemned throughout the Quran. The hadith itself states that they used to worship Allah, although they will be convicted of worshipping Ezra 

"and SOME of the people of the Book who worshipped Allah are left. Then the Jews would be summoned, and it would be said to them: What did you worship? They will say: We worshipped 'Uzair, son of Allah..." 

These Jews were pointed and publicly exposed for their transgression. That is why when they will be singled out from among other Jews on the day of resurrection, as per the hadith quoted earlier, then questionned as to who they used to worship, they will immidiately know that this questionning will be related to the accusation made against them in their lifetime, and will thus convict their own selves, admitting to their worship of Ezra.

An important Quranic principle is that those who associate with Allah's essence and authority, whether deities, saints or personalities, religious leaders or their own selves by following ways incited by their own desires 9:31,6:136-9,25:43,36:60,42:21,45:23 do so many times unknowingly 

23:84-9,29:60-65"And if you ask them, Who created the heavens and the earth and made the sun and the moon subservient, they will certainly say, Allah. Whence are they then turned away?" 

The attribution of intrinsic powers and authority to any of those entities, their leaders, their own selves, or Mary who in addition is included in prayer rituals, even without naming any of them "gods" is equal to taking them as gods besides Allah. 

This appelation, Ezra's sonship to God, implies that someone might be compared in essence to God, to whom there is no likeness in the heavens and the earth, the Supreme above all things 3:83,19:88-95,13:15,22:18. This title is so much honor no one deserves, not the greatest prophets or angels, not anything of His creation. The greatest of the greatest creations, although honored and drawn near to Allah, are only fit to be called His slaves

19:93,21:26"And they say: The Beneficent Allah has taken to Himself a son. Glory be to Him. Nay! they are honored servants".

Another important point is that 9:30 does not necessarly state that what they uttered concerning Ezra and Jesus has scriptural basis. This means that although it might be the case, as in Jesus' case who is referred to with the title son of man and son of God in the NT, it isnt necessarly so as in Ezra's case.

 There are other such instances where the Quran exposes some false utterances of the Jews and challenges them to bring the scriptural basis 2:94,2:111,3:75. Elsewhere it denounces their misinterpretations aimed at satisfying their own interests, either by advancing certain concepts contrary to their scriptures' intent or hiding certain realities fully present in them 3:71,78,98-99.
The point of the verse is that they were not interested in proclaiming the truth, they were interested in their partisanship, even at the expense of the truth. Serving God, as the above verse states, is not in their equation.