Dr. Mustafa Zayd, in his book النسخ في القرآن الكريم, volume 2, pages 182-184 (items 975-980) discusses this claim but says it targets
He rejects the claim on the basis of no contradiction. He says that only Abdul-Qaahir (Al-Baghdaadi?) explicitly said that 2:220 abrogated 4:2 and that there is an agreement about that!
Dr. Zayd seems to mix this claim with the claim that it was 4:10 that was abrogated. He asks the following logical question, which should always be asked when a claim of abrogation is made: Is it now OK to eat from the property of an orphan unjustly? While 4:2 does not talk about misappropriation of an orphans property, 4:10 does. 4:2 only talks about mixing property. Thus, there is cause to claim abrogation of 4:2, but none for 4:10. Dr. Zayd seems to bundle the two together.
He quotes An-Nahhaas making this very important statement about the abrogation claim of 4:10,
قال سعيد بن جبير: لما نزلت: (إن الذين يأكلون أموال اليتامى ظلما) اشتد على الناس وامتنعوا عن مخالطة اليتامى، حتى نزلت: (ويسألونك عن اليتامى قل إصلاح لهم خير) الآية، والمعنى على هذا القول: أنه لما وقع بقلوبهم أنه لا ينبغي أن تخالطوا اليتامى في شيئ لئلا تحرجوا بذلك، نسخ الله ما وقع بقلوبهم، أي أزاله، بأن أباح لهم مخالطة اليتامى؛
Translation:
Sa`eed ibn Jabeer said, "When 4:2 was revealed, it was hard on people and they stopped mixing with the orphans, until 2:220 was revealed. The meaning is: When they felt that they should not mix with orphans lest they should sin,
God abrogated what they felt, that is removed it, by allowing them to mix with orphans.
Clearly, what was abrogated was
the wrong understanding of 4:10, not 4:10 itself. Quite often, that is exactly what the abrogation discussion has been about: God correcting what people thought a verse meant. In this case, people reacted that way because of their ultra sense of piety, may God have been pleased with them. They forbade any mixing of property whatsoever, even reasonable, customary mixing.
So, why didn't God reveal the clarifying verse together with the misunderstood verse? IMHO, so that people go through this exercise! It is important for the people who will be conveying the Message of God to the world to correctly understand it themselves first.