2/55-56 — "Let us see God plainly"
"You said, 'Moses, we will not believe you until we see God plainly', and the thunderbolt struck you."
This verse stands in exact opposition to the third verse of the sūra, and the opposition looks deliberate.
| al-Baqara 2/3 | Those who guard themselves believe in the unseen — they trust what is not visible |
| al-Baqara 2/55 | "We will not believe until we see God plainly" |
In describing the person who would benefit from the book, the sūra had counted trust in the unseen as the first attribute. Here its exact contrary is staged: what is demanded ceases to be faith and becomes a report of observation.
The inconsistency inside the demand is plain too. These people had seen the sea parted. The issue, that is, is not a lack of proof; it is that after every proof another is asked for. The demand to see is not a demand that can be satisfied — because it does not wish to be satisfied.