According to Taberî, the command 'do not kill one another' is not a direct prohibition of the Jews killing each other, but rather means that because of their religious unity, when one person kills another, it is considered as if he has killed himself. He also conveys that this expression can mean that the person who causes death through retaliation is evaluated as if he has actually killed himself. Regarding who the address is directed to, he prefers the view that this is not merely an address to the Jews living in the time of the Prophet, but a general address that encompasses all ancestors from the time of Moses onwards who remained bound by the covenant and affirmed the Torah.

ولكنهم نهوا عن أن يقتل بعضهم بعضا، فكان في قتل الرجل منهم الرجل قتل نفسه، إذ كانت ملتهما بمنزلة رجل واحد، كما قال عليه الصلاة والسلام: «إنما المؤمنون في تراحمهم وتعاطفهم بينهم بمنزلة الجسد الواحد إذا اشتكى بعضه تداعى له سائر الجسد بالحمى والسهر»

According to Râzî, this verse narrates another blessing given to the Children of Israel: Allah held them responsible for certain obligations, they accepted the correctness of this covenant, but then they violated it. The text especially discusses the logical problem in the command 'do not kill yourselves' (since a person naturally refrains from killing himself by his very nature, what purpose does the prohibition serve) and offers various answers to this; furthermore, multiple interpretative possibilities regarding the expressions 'acknowledgment' and 'testimony' are listed.

والجواب عنه من أوجه ، أحدها : أن هذا الإلجاء قد يتغير كما ثبت في أهل الهند أنهم يقدرون في قتل النفس التخلص من عالم الفساد واللحوق بعالم النور والصلاح

According to Kurtubî, the address in the verse is directed to the Children of Israel; the expressions 'do not shed your blood' and 'do not expel one another from your homes' mean that because they are considered one nation and one community, what they do to one another is considered as if it were done to themselves. Furthermore, he notes that some exegetes interpreted this in the context of retaliation, but that this interpretation is forced (ba'îd), and that the correct meaning is that Allah took a covenant with the Children of Israel in the Torah regarding not killing, not expelling, and not enslaving one another. According to Ibn Huveyz Mendad's view, the literal meaning of the verse is also possible: that a person should not kill himself or abandon his house recklessly, indeed the Prophet's intervention against Osman b. Maz'un and his companions' decision to withdraw from the world is mentioned in this context.

لما كانت ملتهم واحدة وأمرهم واحد وكانوا في الأمم كالشخص الواحد جعل قتل بعضهم بعضا وإخراج بعضهم بعضا قتلا لأنفسهم ونفيا لها

According to Ibn Kesîr, this expression indicates that they themselves accepted and acknowledged the knowledge and correctness of this covenant taken from them, and moreover, they knowingly testified to it.

أي ثم أقررتم بمعرفة هذا الميثاق وصحته وأنتم تشهدون به

According to Beydâvî, the expression in the verse 'do not shed your blood and do not expel one another from your homes' expresses that killing another person is considered as if one has killed himself because of lineal descent, religious bond, or retaliation. Furthermore, it has been said that this expression means avoiding deeds that would make bloodshed and expulsion permissible; or metaphorically it means the real 'killing' that deprives of eternal life and the real 'expulsion' that deprives of paradise. Finally, the expression 'you acknowledged while testifying' is either interpreted as an expression for emphasis, or as the current generations bearing witness to their ancestors' acknowledgment, and thus the acknowledgment being metaphorically attributed to them.

وإنما جعل قتل الرجل غيره قتل نفسه، لاتصاله به نسبا. أو دينا، أو لأنه يوجبه قصاصا. وقيل معناه لا ترتكبوا ما يبيح سفك دمائكم وإخراجكم من دياركم