According to Taberî, this verse explains Allah's grace toward the disbelievers and polytheists in granting them respite despite their sins and disbelief, rather than punishing them immediately. Furthermore, the story mentioned in the context of the verse refers to a community that fled their homeland in thousands out of fear of death, whom Allah killed and then revived through the supplication of a prophet. Taberî transmits different reports from exegetes such as Ibn Abbas, Wahb b. Munabbih, and as-Suddi, and narrates their disagreements concerning the number of this community (four thousand, eight thousand, more than thirty thousand, forty thousand) and the reason for their flight (plague, fleeing from jihad).

قال: كانوا أربعة آلاف خرجوا فرارا من الطاعون، فأماتهم الله، فمر عليهم نبي من الأنبياء، فدعا ربه أن يحييهم حتى يعبدوه، فأحياهم

According to Zamakhshari, Allah's grace upon humans is manifested through giving them reason, sending revelation, and teaching them the lawful and unlawful; yet despite this, humans fall into polytheism and do not recognize this grace. According to an alternative view, this grace is that Allah places evidence that all can observe and reason from equally, but most people follow their desires and do not look at these proofs, remaining as disbelieving ingrates.

وقد نصب مثل تلك الأدلة لسائر الناس من غير تفاوت ، ولكن أكثر الناس لا ينظرون ولا يستدلون اتباعا لأهوائهم ، فيبقون كافرين غير شاكرين

Kurtubi lists many different views concerning the number of the community mentioned in this verse (hundreds of thousands, eighty thousand, forty thousand, thirty thousand, seven thousand, three thousand, among others); however, because the word 'ألوف' is a plural of multitude and is not used for numbers below ten, he prefers that their numbers were more than ten thousand. Furthermore, according to Ibn Zayd's view, the word 'ألوف' does not express the number of the community but rather indicates that they were in harmony without division and discord (مؤتلفون) among themselves; however, when a group fled from death seeking safety and separated from the community, Allah killed them.

والصحيح أنهم زادوا على عشرة آلاف لقوله تعالى : وهم ألوف وهو جمع الكثرة ولا يقال في عشرة فما دونها ألوف

Ibn Kathir explains this verse with the story of a community from the Children of Israel who, while fleeing from plague, gathered in a valley and were collectively killed by Allah through two angels, and then revived through a prophet named Hezekiel. In this story, he notes that there is a lesson and admonition that fleeing from fate avails nothing and that the one to flee to is again Allah. He also emphasizes that this event constitutes conclusive proof that physical resurrection on the Day of Judgment will take place.

وفي هذه القصة عبرة ودليل على أنه لن يغني حذر من قدر وأنه لا ملجأ من الله إلا إليه فان هؤلاء خرجوا فرارا من الوباء طلبا لطول الحياة فعوملوا بنقيض قصدهم وجاءهم الموت سريع في آن واحد

According to Baydawi, the verse speaks of a community that fled their homes out of fear of death; these could be the people of Davardan village who fled from plague, or a group of the Children of Israel who fled from their king's call to jihad. Allah killed them and then revived them so that they would understand that escape from fate and decree is impossible and would take admonition. The benefit of the story is to encourage Muslims toward jihad and martyrdom and to instill reliance on Allah and submission to divine decree.

فأماتهم الله ثم أحياهم ليعتبروا ويتيقنوا أن لا مفر من قضاء الله تعالى وقدره. أو قوما من بني إسرائيل دعاهم ملكهم إلى الجهاد ففروا حذر الموت فأماتهم الله ثمانية أيام ثم أحياهم.

According to this exegete, the text transmits a report that the verse of charity in Sura 2:245 is explained by a narration showing to whom charity should be given according to the number of dinars (oneself, family, servants, parents, relatives, and lastly in the way of Allah). He also notes that the custom of the Qur'an is to mix together matters of monotheism, exhortation and advice, and legal rulings. Furthermore, he discusses that news concerning the resurrection of the dead must be accepted with certainty in terms of both possibility and veracity.

قال عطاء : عن ابن عباس نزلت هذه الآية في رجل أتى للنبي عليه الصلاة والسلام فقال إن لي دينارا فقال : أنفقه على نفسك