[...] a man who killed a prophet, or a man who commanded (1) evil and forbade good. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) read: "And they kill the prophets without right and they kill those who command justice among the people" up to His saying: "And for them there will be no helpers." Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "O Abu Ubaydah, the Children of Israel killed forty-three prophets at the beginning of the day in one hour. Then one hundred and seventy men from the Children of Israel stood up and commanded those who killed them to do good and forbade them from evil, so they were all killed by the end of that day. They are those whom Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, has mentioned."

His saying, the Exalted: "And they kill those who command justice among the people"

[The first interpretation]

3333 - My father narrated to us, Ahmad b. 'Abd al-Rahman al-Dashtaki reported to us, 'Abd Allah b. Abi Ja'far reported to us, from his father, he said: Qatadah said regarding His saying: "And they kill those who command justice among the people," he said: These are the People of the Scripture. The followers of the prophets used to forbid them and remind them of Allah, so they would kill them.

3334 - al-Hajjaj b. Hamzah narrated to us, Shababah reported to us, Warqa' reported to us, from Ibn Abi Najih, from Mujahid (2): Regarding His saying: "And they kill those who command justice among the people." He narrated to me from Ma'qil b. Abi Miskin, he said: A prophet from the Children of Israel would receive revelation and come to the Children of Israel to remind their people—and no scripture would have come to them—and they would be killed. Then men from those who followed them and believed them would stand up...

It is narrated from al-Hasan, he said: They are the disbelievers who used to worship idols; they used to kill the prophets who commanded justice among the people.

And there is another interpretation regarding it:

3335 - 'Ali b. al-Husayn narrated to us, Ishaq b. Ibrahim reported to us, he said: I heard Sufyan saying: "Those who command justice among the people," he said: They are the successors of the prophets.

His saying, the Exalted: "Then give them tidings of a painful punishment"

3336 - My father, Ahmad b. 'Amr b. Abi 'Asim al-Nabil, narrated to me; my father, 'Amr b. al-Dahhak, narrated to me; Shabib b. Bishr reported to us; 'Ikrimah informed us, from Ibn 'Abbas, regarding the saying of Allah: "A painful [alim] punishment," he said: "Alim" means everything that is painful.