Narrated `Aisha:Regarding the Verse:--"If a woman fears cruelty or desertion on her husband's part." (4.128) It is about a man who has a woman (wife) and he does not like her and wants to divorce her but she says to him, "I make you free as regards myself." So this Verse was revealed in this connection.
حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ مُقَاتِلٍ، أَخْبَرَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ، أَخْبَرَنَا هِشَامُ بْنُ عُرْوَةَ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ عَائِشَةَ ـ رضى الله عنها ـ {وَإِنِ امْرَأَةٌ خَافَتْ مِنْ بَعْلِهَا نُشُوزًا أَوْ إِعْرَاضًا}. قَالَتِ الرَّجُلُ تَكُونُ عِنْدَهُ الْمَرْأَةُ لَيْسَ بِمُسْتَكْثِرٍ مِنْهَا يُرِيدُ أَنْ يُفَارِقَهَا فَتَقُولُ أَجْعَلُكَ مِنْ شَأْنِي فِي حِلٍّ. فَنَزَلَتْ هَذِهِ الآيَةُ فِي ذَلِكَ.
Bukhari
Prophetic Commentary on the Qur'an (Tafseer of the Prophet (pbuh)) • Hadith 123