Tafsir of Al-Baqarah 2:122-123

(O Children of Israel, remember My favor which I have bestowed upon you and that I preferred you over the worlds. And fear a Day when no soul will suffice for another soul at all, nor will any compensation be accepted from it, nor will any intercession benefit it, nor will they be aided.)

This is a repetition for the sake of reminding the Children of Israel and a reiteration of their warning, intended to exaggerate the advice and to signal that this is the summary of the narrative and its intended purpose. The expression was varied: in the first instance, intercession was mentioned with the word "acceptance" preceding "compensation," while here it is mentioned with the word "benefit" following it. Perhaps, as has been said, this points to the negation of the essence of the thing and the negation of that which results from it; thus, it gave what is chronologically prior an existence by mentioning it first, and what is chronologically posterior an existence by mentioning it last.

It has also been said: what preceded was a command to fulfill the obligations of the previous favors, while what is here is a reminder of the favor by which He preferred them over the worlds, which is the favor of faith in the Prophet of their time and their submission to his rulings, so that they might seize the opportunity, believe, and be among the favored, not the subordinated. And that they might, by following him, protect themselves from the terrors and fears of the Resurrection, just as they protected themselves by following Moses, peace be upon him.