Taberî explains the expression 'tedâra'tüm' (فتدارأتم) in the verse as the Children of Israel disputing about the murdered person and blaming one another; he notes that the root of the word comes from 'derâ' (crookedness, quarreling). He also transmits the story behind this dispute as follows: a group of cousins who wanted to seize the inheritance killed their wealthy uncle and threw his corpse at the gate of another city, and the inhabitants of the two cities blamed each other.

يعني بقوله جل ثناؤه: واذكروا يا بني إسرائيل إذ قتلتم نفسا. والنفس التي قتلوها هي النفس التي ذكرنا قصتها في تأويل قوله يعني فاختلفتم وتنازعتم، وإنما هو فتدارأتم فيها على مثال تفاعلتم من الدرء، والدرء: العوج

According to this exegete, the expression 'muhricun' in the verse informs that the hidden murder case from the past would be revealed with certainty; since the concealment of the murderer would lead to strife and corruption, Allah has ordained that this concealment be removed. This indicates that Allah does not love corruption, does not will it, and did not create it. Furthermore, the verse indicates that Allah knows all things and that the good or evil that the servant conceals will sooner or later be revealed.

فدل ذلك على أنه سبحانه لا يريد الفساد ولا يرضى به ولا يخلقه . المسألة الثانية : الآية تدل على أنه تعالى عالم بجميع المعلومات وإلا لما قدر على إظهار ما كتموه .

According to Ibn Kesîr, the expression 'ihtelaftüm' in this verse refers to the Children of Israel falling into disagreement about the murdered person (according to one view, quarreling about it). Regarding which organ of the cow was used to strike the dead, different reports are transmitted (skin, bone, thigh meat, and the like), but Ibn Kesîr notes that this detail was deliberately left ambiguous by Allah and was not specified because it contained no religious or worldly benefit. For this reason, he emphasizes that this detail should remain unspecified unless a sound transmission exists.

فالمعجزة حاصلة به وخرق العادة به كائن وقد كان معينا في نفس الأمر فلو كان في تعيينه لنا فائدة تعود علينا في أمر الدين أو الدنيا لبينه الله تعالى لنا ولكنه أبهمه ولم يجيء من طريق صحيح عن معصوم بيانه فنحن نبهمه كما أبهمه الله

According to Beydâvî, the expression 'ادارأتم' describes the murderers mutually accusing one another regarding the murdered person, with everyone throwing the crime off themselves and attributing it to another; the word originally was 'تدارأتم' but the tâ letter underwent assimilation into dâl and a connecting hamza was added. Many reports from linguistic and jurisprudential perspectives are transmitted regarding what part of the cow is meant by 'baa'dha' (its some/one part) (the smallest part, its tongue, its right thigh, its ear, its tail-base, and the like). Furthermore, Beydâvî connects the wisdom of Allah not reviving the slain directly but imposing certain conditions to spiritual and moral lessons such as worship, the benefit of orphans, the blessing of trust in Allah, compassion toward children, and choosing the best and setting a high compensation; and he exemplifies this with the report of Umar selling a camel for 300 dinars and sacrificing it. Finally, in the text, through an allegorical reading, 'slaughtering the cow' is interpreted as killing the lustful power of the self.

وأن من أراد أن يعرف أعدى عدوه الساعي في إماتته الموت الحقيقي، فطريقه أن يذبح بقرة نفسه التي هي القوة الشهوية حين زال عنها شره الصبا، ولم يلحقها ضعف الكبر

According to Kurtubî, this expression is a sentence placed at the beginning of the story; that is, the true meaning is 'you killed a soul and quarreled over this matter, and Moses said: Allah commands this.' He transmits two views about the reason for the killing: one is that a man did not give his daughter (whom he loved) to his uncle's son and killed him for this reason; the other is that someone killed his relative to seize his inheritance and attributed it to another tribe. In this context, he also discusses juristically the matter of one who intentionally kills being deprived of inheritance and blood money.

ومعنى ادارأتم : اختلفتم وتنازعتم قاله مجاهد