4.82 – If it were from any other than God, they would indeed have found in it much contradiction
This verse seems to show a confidence that the reader/hearer would not find much discrepancy or “contradiction” (ikhtilāf) in the recitations of the messenger. The Quran seems to advance this as if it is a proof of divine origin. If so, such a claim is at least open to discussion.
A number of legitimate questions arise from even the near contexts of this verse. First is the question of whether the Quran confirms the pre-Islamic scriptures, as it claims (v. 47). Second, do the characteristics of the messenger (e.g., vv. 64, 80) match his traits in other parts of the Quran, not to mention the original accounts of prophets in the Bible? Third, why is obedience to the messenger obligatory in Sūra 4 and a few other sūras but not even mentioned in the vast majority of them? Fourth, how do the commands to fight (vv. 76, 84) and kill (vv. 89, 91), which are said to be from Allah and the messenger (v. 59), compare with the message of the storytelling “warner” in so many other sūras?