Regarding the timing and contextual background of the believed revelation ("asbāb al-nuzūl"), the chapter is believed to have been either the second or third of the Medinan surahs, as it references both the events of Badr and the Uhud. Almost all of it also belongs to the third year of the Hijra, though a minority of its verses might have been revealed during the visit of the Najrān Christian deputation at the Mubahala, which occurred around the 10th year of the Hijrah. This chapter primarily focuses on the departure of prophethood from the Mosaic dispensation.