A comparative analysis of context functions in the commentaries of al-Mizan and Namoonah

The context rule is one of the most widely used interpretive rules that plays an important role in Qurchr('39')anic research. Some commentators such as Allamah Tabatabai and Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi have used it to a great extent. This article, after explaining the concept of context, its validity and its conditions of realization, deals with its position, frequency and twelve functions in the interpretations of Al-Mizan and Namoonah. The results of this study show that this rule has been used 394 times in the interpretation of Namoonah and more than five times it has been used in the interpretation of Al-Mizan. This ratio is almost preserved in the function of explaining the meaning of the verses, which is also the most frequent function of context in both commentaries. The other functions of context that have taken place in both the commentaries are as: evaluating the opinions of the commentators, determining the meaning of the word, explaining the literary rules, evaluating the narrations, the history of the Qurchr('39')an, identifying the pronoun reference, recognizing the addressee, explaining the ambiguities, evaluating the readings and delimitation of the absolutes. The only application that, contrary to the course of other applications, has more abundance in the commentary of Namoonah, is the extraction of jurisprudential rulings, which clearly shows the ability, interest and purpose of the interpreter on his use of the rule of context.