According to Taberî, the Israelites regarded the command that Moses received from God (slaughtering the cow) as mockery and jest, even though they should have known that a command or prohibition delivered by a prophet in God's name cannot be a subject of mockery. The text also transmits several different reports about the identity of the slain person and the killer (through the paths of Ibn Abbas, Ubeyde, and Wahb b. Munayyah); the details of these events form the background of the cow-slaughtering command. Taberî notes that if the Israelites had slaughtered any cow at the first command, this would have been sufficient for them, but because they questioned with stubbornness and obstinacy, God also made the matter more difficult for them.

فلو اعترضوا بقرة فذبحوها لأجزأت عنهم، ولكنهم شددوا وتعنتوا موسى، فشدد الله عليهم

Zamakhsharî states that the command to give trusts to their rightful owners and to judge with justice is directed at rulers (wilāh), and after this command comes the command to obey. He explains that the meaning of 'Ulū'l-amr' refers to just rulers who uphold truth and justice, and that tyrannical rulers are not from God and His Messenger, therefore they are not included in this command to obey. He also transmits the report that the verse is related to the story of taking the key of the Kaaba from Uthman b. Talha and returning it.

والمراد بأولى الأمر منكم امراء الحق لأن امراء الجور الله ورسوله بريئان منهم فلا يعطفون على الله ورسوله في وجوب الطاعة لهم

In this text, al-Rāzī explains the meaning of seeking refuge (istia'ādhah, 'aūdhu billāh) through the relationship between servant and Lord; the expression 'aūdhu' is the servant's admission of his own powerlessness and poverty, while the expression 'billāh' is the acknowledgment of the Mighty One's complete power and might. He also addresses the question of why 'aūdhu billāh' is said rather than 'aznī' (protect me), explaining that there is a covenant between the Lord and servant, and that the Satan has influence over humans only through invitation, with the real affliction coming from man's own self.

فقوله { أعوذ } إشارة إلى الحاجة التامة فإنه لولا الاحتياج لما كان في الاستعاذة فائدة وقوله { بالله } إشارة إلى الغنى التام للحق فقول العبد { أعوذ } إقرار على نفسه بالفقر والحاجة

According to Qurtubī, when the Israelites said that Moses commanded them to slaughter a cow, they said 'Are you mocking us?' because they did not regard this as an appropriate answer to their questions; Moses responded by seeking refuge in God from being among the ignorant. The text also explains that the expression 'you have killed a soul' may have been placed later in recitation but earlier in meaning, that is, a murder had occurred before the cow-slaughtering command. This ordering issue is supported by a similar structure in the story of Noah.

وقوله : قتلتم نفسا مقدم في المعنى على جميع ما ابتدأ به من شأن البقرة ويجوز أن يكون قوله : قتلتم في النزول مقدما والأمر بالذبح مؤخرا

Ibn Kathīr transmits the stories related to the verse from Ubeyde, Abū'l-Āliyah, and al-Suddī: it is narrated that the slain person was killed by a relative (nephew or cousin) who wanted to exclude him from the inheritance, the Israelites appealed to Moses, and the matter became difficult as a result of their unnecessary complications against the command to slaughter a cow. However, the author notes that these reports are from Isrāiliyyāt sources, that there are contradictions among them, and that only the parts that conform to the truth should be accepted.

وهذه السياقات عن عبيدة وأبي العالية والسدي وغيرهم فيها اختلاف ما والظاهر أنها ما خوذة من كتب بني إسرائيل وهي مما يجوز نقلها ولكن لا تصدق ولا تكذب فلهذا لا يعتمد عليها إلا ما وافق الحق عندنا والله أعلم

According to Bayḍāwī, this group of verses is a continuation of the story that begins with the verse 'When you killed a soul and disputed about it...', and the delayed mention of the command here is to highlight another instance of the Israelites' bad behavior—mocking the command, unnecessarily prolonging the question, and immediately abandoning obedience. According to the story, there was a rich old man among them; his nephews killed his son with the intention of inheriting his wealth and left him at the city gate, then they began to seek blood revenge; God commanded them to slaughter a cow and strike the corpse with a part of it so that it would come to life and inform about the killer. The statement 'Are you mocking us?' can be interpreted as either that this is a matter of mockery or a place of mockery, or that they are being mocked, or that excessive derision makes him himself the very embodiment of mockery; this carries the purpose of seeing what is said as distant or impossible and belittling it.

وقصته: أنه كان فيهم شيخ موسر فقتل ابنه بنو أخيه طمعا في ميراثه، وطرحوه على باب المدينة، ثم جاءوا يطالبون بدمه، فأمرهم الله أن يذبحوا بقرة ويضربوه ببعضها ليحيا فيخبر بقاتله.