Context as a restrictive factor

Abstract

The study of the examples of gezerah shawah's and binyan ’ab's rules in the midrash Bereshit Rabbah, offers a new approach to the comparative method. This method needs not only a similar word to connect verses but also a common context. The requirement of the context, not studied until now, has a restrictive function in the rule of gezerah shawah. Indeed, only the verse with the appropiate context can be adduced, the other verses where the similar word appears can not be adduced.