2/243 — "Those who went out in fear of death"
"Have you not seen those who went out from their homes in fear of death, though they were thousands? God said to them, 'die', then He brought them to life."
The story is given without detail: who they were, where it happened, when — none of it is said. Various reports are transmitted in the classical commentaries; I transmit none of them as certain knowledge.
Its function in the arrangement is plain: the next verse will call to fighting (wa qātilū fī sabīli'llāh). This verse is placed as an introduction showing that fleeing from death does not prevent death.
حَذَرَ ٱلْمَوْتِ — "in fear of death". And their number is given: wa hum ulūf — thousands. Multitude gives no protection. This clause will be repeated in reverse a few verses later: a small company may overcome a large one (2/249).