The difference between “because of poverty” and “for fear of poverty?”
Question

                What is the difference between the two verses: 

“kill not your children because of poverty[min imlaaqin] — We provide sustenance for you and for them”

[al-An’aam 6:151] 

and  

“And kill not your children for fear of poverty [khashyata imlaaqin]. We shall provide for them as well as for you. Surely, the killing of them is a great sin”

[al-Isra’ 17:31]?.
Praise be to Allah.Imlaaq means 
    poverty. It was the custom of the people of the Jaahiliyyah to bury their 
    daughters alive, either because of poverty, or for fear that they may fall 
    into poverty in the future. Allaah forbade it in either case. The first 
    verse (interpretation of the meaning): 
“kill not 
    your children because of poverty”

    [al-An’aam 6:151]
refers to 
    the first reason, i.e., do not kill your children because you are poor, 
    because Allaah has guaranteed to provide for you and for them. 
And the 
    second verse (interpretation of the meaning): 
“And kill 
    not your children for fear of poverty. We shall provide for them as well as 
    for you”
[al-Isra’ 
    17:31]
refers to 
    the second reason, i.e., do not kill your children for fear that you may 
    become poor or that they may become poor after you are gone, for Allaah will 
    provide for them and for you. 
Ibn Katheer 
    (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: With regard to the phrase “because 
    of poverty [min imlaaqin]”, Ibn ‘Abbaas said: this means poverty, i.e., 
    do not kill them because you are poor. It says in Soorat al-Isra’: “And 
    kill not your children for fear of poverty”, i.e., do not kill them for 
    fear of poverty in the future. Hence Allaah says here, “We shall provide 
    for them as well as for you”. Here Allaah mentions their provision 
    first, because of the concern for them, i.e., do not fear becoming poor 
    because of providing for them, for that is what Allaah will do. But in the 
    first verse, because poverty is already a factor, Allaah says, “We 
    provide sustenance for you and for them”, because that is more important 
    in that case. 
And Allaah 
    knows best. 
End quote. 
And Allaah 
    knows best.