Kejadian 2:2-3

2:2 By ¹  the seventh day God finished the work that he had been doing, ²  and he ceased ³  on the seventh day all the work that he had been doing. 2:3 God blessed the seventh day and made it holy ⁴  because on it he ceased all the work that he ⁵  had been doing in creation. ⁶ 

Keluaran 16:23-29

16:23 He said to them, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Tomorrow is a time of cessation from work, ⁷  a holy Sabbath ⁸  to the Lord. Whatever you want to ⁹  bake, bake today; ¹⁰  whatever you want to boil, boil today; whatever is left put aside for yourselves to be kept until morning.’”

16:24 So they put it aside until the morning, just as Moses had commanded, and it did not stink, nor were there any worms in it. 16:25 Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the area. ¹¹  16:26 Six days you will gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any.”

16:27 On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather it, but they found nothing. 16:28 So the Lord said to Moses, “How long do you refuse ¹²  to obey my commandments and my instructions? 16:29 See, because the Lord has given you the Sabbath, that is why ¹³  he is giving you food for two days on the sixth day. Each of you stay where you are; ¹⁴  let no one ¹⁵  go out of his place on the seventh day.”

Keluaran 20:8-10

20:8 “Remember ¹⁶  the Sabbath ¹⁷  day to set it apart as holy. ¹⁸  20:9 For six days ¹⁹  you may labor ²⁰  and do all your work, ²¹  20:10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; on it ²²  you shall not do any work, you, ²³  or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or the resident foreigner who is in your gates. ²⁴ 

Keluaran 23:12

23:12 For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you must cease, in order that your ox and your donkey may rest and that your female servant’s son and any hired help ²⁵  may refresh themselves. ²⁶ 

Keluaran 31:13-17

31:13 “Tell the Israelites, ‘Surely you must keep my Sabbaths, ²⁷  for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. ²⁸  31:14 So you must keep the Sabbath, for it is holy for you. Everyone who defiles it ²⁹  must surely be put to death; indeed, ³⁰  if anyone does ³¹  any ³²  work on it, then that person will be cut off from among his ³³  people. 31:15 Six days ³⁴  work may be done, ³⁵  but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, ³⁶  holy to the Lord; anyone who does work on the Sabbath day must surely be put to death. 31:16 The Israelites must keep the Sabbath by observing the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. 31:17 It is a sign between me and the Israelites forever; for in six days ³⁷  the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’” ³⁸ 

Imamat 19:3

19:3 Each of you must respect his mother and his father, ³⁹  and you must keep my Sabbaths. I am the Lord your God.

Imamat 23:3

The Weekly Sabbath

23:3 “‘Six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there must be a Sabbath of complete rest, ⁴⁰  a holy assembly. You must not do any work; it is a Sabbath to the Lord in all the places where you live.

Ulangan 5:12-15

5:12 Be careful to observe ⁴¹  the Sabbath day just as the Lord your God has commanded you. 5:13 You are to work and do all your tasks in six days, 5:14 but the seventh day is the Sabbath ⁴²  of the Lord your God. On that day you must not do any work, you, your son, your daughter, your male slave, your female slave, your ox, your donkey, any other animal, or the foreigner who lives with you, ⁴³  so that your male and female slaves, like yourself, may have rest. 5:15 Recall that you were slaves in the land of Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there by strength and power. ⁴⁴  That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to observe ⁴⁵  the Sabbath day.

Yesaya 56:2-6

56:2 The people who do this will be blessed, ⁴⁶ 

the people who commit themselves to obedience, ⁴⁷ 

who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it,

who refrain from doing anything that is wrong. ⁴⁸ 

56:3 No foreigner who becomes a follower of ⁴⁹  the Lord should say,

‘The Lord will certainly ⁵⁰  exclude me from his people.’

The eunuch should not say,

‘Look, I am like a dried-up tree.’”

56:4 For this is what the Lord says:

“For the eunuchs who observe my Sabbaths

and choose what pleases me

and are faithful to ⁵¹  my covenant,

56:5 I will set up within my temple and my walls a monument ⁵² 

that will be better than sons and daughters.

I will set up a permanent monument ⁵³  for them that will remain.

56:6 As for foreigners who become followers of ⁵⁴  the Lord and serve him,

who love the name of the Lord and want to be his servants –

all who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it,

and who are faithful to ⁵⁵  my covenant –

Yesaya 58:13

58:13 You must ⁵⁶  observe the Sabbath ⁵⁷ 

rather than doing anything you please on my holy day. ⁵⁸ 

You must look forward to the Sabbath ⁵⁹ 

and treat the Lord’s holy day with respect. ⁶⁰ 

You must treat it with respect by refraining from your normal activities,

and by refraining from your selfish pursuits and from making business deals. ⁶¹ 

Yehezkiel 20:12

20:12 I also gave them my Sabbaths ⁶²  as a reminder of our relationship, ⁶³  so that they would know that I, the Lord, sanctify them. ⁶⁴ 

Yehezkiel 20:20-21

20:20 Treat my Sabbaths as holy ⁶⁵  and they will be a reminder of our relationship, ⁶⁶  and then you will know that I am the Lord your God.” 20:21 “‘But the children ⁶⁷  rebelled against me, did not follow my statutes, did not observe my regulations by carrying them out (the one who obeys ⁶⁸  them will live by them), and desecrated my Sabbaths. I decided to pour out ⁶⁹  my rage on them and fully vent my anger against them in the wilderness.

Yehezkiel 22:8

22:8 You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths!

Lukas 6:5

6:5 Then ⁷⁰  he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord ⁷¹  of the Sabbath.”

Lukas 23:56

23:56 Then ⁷²  they returned and prepared aromatic spices ⁷³  and perfumes. ⁷⁴ 

On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment. ⁷⁵ 

Wahyu 1:10

1:10 I was in the Spirit ⁷⁶  on the Lord’s Day ⁷⁷  when ⁷⁸  I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet,

[2:2]  ¹ tn Heb “on/in the seventh day.”

[2:2]  ² tn Heb “his work which he did [or “made”].”

[2:2]  ³ tn The Hebrew term שָׁבַּת (shabbat) can be translated “to rest” (“and he rested”) but it basically means “to cease.” This is not a rest from exhaustion; it is the cessation of the work of creation.

[2:3]  ⁴ tn The verb is usually translated “and sanctified it.” The Piel verb קִדֵּשׁ (qiddesh) means “to make something holy; to set something apart; to distinguish it.” On the literal level the phrase means essentially that God made this day different. But within the context of the Law, it means that the day belonged to God; it was for rest from ordinary labor, worship, and spiritual service. The day belonged to God.

[2:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “God.” The pronoun (“he”) has been employed in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[2:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “for on it he ceased from all his work which God created to make.” The last infinitive construct and the verb before it form a verbal hendiadys, the infinitive becoming the modifier – “which God creatively made,” or “which God made in his creating.”

[16:23]  ⁷ tn The noun שַׁבָּתוֹן (shabbaton) has the abstract ending on it: “resting, ceasing.” The root word means “cease” from something, more than “to rest.” The Law would make it clear that they were to cease from their normal occupations and do no common work.

[16:23]  ⁸ tn The technical expression is now used: שַׁבַּת־קֹדֶשׁ (shabbat-qodesh, “a holy Sabbath”) meaning a “cessation of/for holiness” for Yahweh. The rest was to be characterized by holiness.

[16:23]  ⁹ tn The two verbs in these objective noun clauses are desiderative imperfects – “bake whatever you want to bake.”

[16:23]  ¹⁰ tn The word “today” is implied from the context.

[16:25]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in the field” (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NCV, NRSV); NAB, NIV, NLT “on the ground.”

[16:28]  ¹² tn The verb is plural, and so it is addressed to the nation and not to Moses. The perfect tense in this sentence is the characteristic perfect, denoting action characteristic, or typical, of the past and the present.

[16:29]  ¹³ sn Noting the rabbinic teaching that the giving of the Sabbath was a sign of God’s love – it was accomplished through the double portion on the sixth day – B. Jacob says, “God made no request unless He provided the means for its execution” (Exodus, 461).

[16:29]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “remain, a man where he is.”

[16:29]  ¹⁵ tn Or “Let not anyone go” (see GKC 445 §138.d).

[20:8]  ¹⁶ tn The text uses the infinitive absolute זָכוֹר (zakhor) for the commandment for the Sabbath day, which is the sign of the Sinaitic Covenant. The infinitive absolute functions in place of the emphatic imperative here (see GKC 346 §113.bb); the absolute stresses the basic verbal idea of the root – remembering. The verb includes the mental activity of recalling and pondering as well as the consequent actions for such remembering.

[20:8]  ¹⁷ tn The word “Sabbath” is clearly connected to the verb שָׁבַת (shavat, “to cease, desist, rest”). There are all kinds of theories as to the origin of the day, most notably in the Babylonian world, but the differences are striking in so far as the pagan world had these days filled with magic. Nevertheless, the pagan world does bear witness to a tradition of a regular day set aside for special sacrifices. See, for example, H. W. Wolff, “The Day of Rest in the Old Testament,” LTQ 7 (1972): 65-76; H. Routtenberg, “The Laws of Sabbath: Biblical Sources,” Dor le Dor 6 (1977): 41-43, 99-101, 153-55, 204-6; G. Robinson, “The Idea of Rest in the OT and the Search for the Basic Character of Sabbath,” ZAW 92 (1980): 32-42; and M. Tsevat, “The Basic Meaning of the Biblical Sabbath,” ZAW 84 (1972): 447-59.

[20:8]  ¹⁸ tn The Piel infinitive construct provides the purpose of remembering the Sabbath day – to set it apart, to make it distinct from the other days. Verses 9 and 10 explain in part how this was to be done. To set this day apart as holy taught Israel the difference between the holy and the profane, that there was something higher than daily life. If an Israelite bent down to the ground laboring all week, the Sabbath called his attention to the heavens, to pattern life after the Creator (B. Jacob, Exodus, 569-70).

[20:9]  ¹⁹ tn The text has simply “six days,” but this is an adverbial accusative of time, answering how long they were to work (GKC 374 §118.k).

[20:9]  ²⁰ tn The imperfect tense has traditionally been rendered as a commandment, “you will labor.” But the point of this commandment is the prohibition of work on the seventh day. The permission nuance of the imperfect works well here.

[20:9]  ²¹ tn This is the occupation, or business of the work week.

[20:10]  ²² tn The phrase “on it” has been supplied for clarity.

[20:10]  ²³ sn The wife is omitted in the list, not that she was considered unimportant, nor that she was excluded from the rest, but rather in reflecting her high status. She was not man’s servant, not lesser than the man, but included with the man as an equal before God. The “you” of the commandments is addressed to the Israelites individually, male and female, just as God in the Garden of Eden held both the man and the woman responsible for their individual sins (see B. Jacob, Exodus, 567-68).

[20:10]  ²⁴ sn The Sabbath day was the sign of the Sinaitic Covenant. It required Israel to cease from ordinary labors and devote the day to God. It required Israel to enter into the life of God, to share his Sabbath. It gave them a chance to recall the work of the Creator. But in the NT the apostolic teaching for the Church does not make one day holier than another, but calls for the entire life to be sanctified to God. This teaching is an application of the meaning of entering into the Sabbath of God. The book of Hebrews declares that those who believe in Christ cease from their works and enter into his Sabbath rest. For a Christian keeping Saturday holy is not a requirement from the NT; it may be a good and valuable thing to have a day of rest and refreshment, but it is not a binding law for the Church. The principle of setting aside time to worship and serve the Lord has been carried forward, but the strict regulations have not.

[23:12]  ²⁵ tn Heb “alien,” or “resident foreigner.” Such an individual would have traveled out of need and depended on the goodwill of the people around him. The rendering “hired help” assumes that the foreigner is mentioned in this context because he is working for an Israelite and will benefit from the Sabbath rest, along with his employer.

[23:12]  ²⁶ tn The verb is וְיִּנָּפֵשׁ (vÿyyinnafesh); it is related to the word usually translated “soul” or “life.”

[31:13]  ²⁷ sn The instruction for the Sabbath at this point seems rather abrupt, but it follows logically the extended plans of building the sanctuary. B. Jacob, following some of the earlier treatments, suggests that these are specific rules given for the duration of the building of the sanctuary (Exodus, 844). The Sabbath day is a day of complete cessation; no labor or work could be done. The point here is that God’s covenant people must faithfully keep the sign of the covenant as a living commemoration of the finished work of Yahweh, and as an active part in their sanctification. See also H. Routtenberg, “The Laws of Sabbath: Biblical Sources,” Dor le Dor 6 (1977): 41-43, 99-101, 153-55, 204-6; G. Robinson, “The Idea of Rest in the OT and the Search for the Basic Character of Sabbath,” ZAW 92 (1980): 32-42; M. Tsevat, “The Basic Meaning of the Biblical Sabbath, ZAW 84 (1972): 447-59; M. T. Willshaw, “A Joyous Sign,” ExpTim 89 (1978): 179-80.

[31:13]  ²⁸ tn Or “your sanctifier.”

[31:14]  ²⁹ tn This clause is all from one word, a Piel plural participle with a third, feminine suffix: מְחַלְלֶיהָ (mÿkhalleha, “defilers of it”). This form serves as the subject of the sentence. The word חָלַל (khalal) is the antonym of קָדַשׁ (qadash, “to be holy”). It means “common, profane,” and in the Piel stem “make common, profane” or “defile.” Treating the Sabbath like an ordinary day would profane it, make it common.

[31:14]  ³⁰ tn This is the asseverative use of כִּי (ki) meaning “surely, indeed,” for it restates the point just made (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 73, §449).

[31:14]  ³¹ tn Heb “the one who does.”

[31:14]  ³² tn “any” has been supplied.

[31:14]  ³³ tn Literally “her” (a feminine pronoun agreeing with “soul/life,” which is grammatically feminine).

[31:15]  ³⁴ tn This is an adverbial accusative of time, indicating that work may be done for six days out of the week.

[31:15]  ³⁵ tn The form is a Niphal imperfect; it has the nuance of permission in this sentence, for the sentence is simply saying that the six days are work days – that is when work may be done.

[31:15]  ³⁶ tn The expression is שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן (shabbat shabbaton), “a Sabbath of entire rest,” or better, “a sabbath of complete desisting” (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 404). The second noun, the modifying genitive, is an abstract noun. The repetition provides the superlative idea that complete rest is the order of the day.

[31:17]  ³⁷ tn The expression again forms an adverbial accusative of time.

[31:17]  ³⁸ sn The word “rest” essentially means “to cease, stop.” So describing God as “resting” on the seventh day does not indicate that he was tired – he simply finished creation and then ceased or stopped. But in this verse is a very bold anthropomorphism in the form of the verb וַיִּנָּפַשׁ (vayyinnafash), a Niphal preterite from the root נָפַשׁ (nafash), the word that is related to “life, soul” or more specifically “breath, throat.” The verb is usually translated here as “he was refreshed,” offering a very human picture. It could also be rendered “he took breath” (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 345). Elsewhere the verb is used of people and animals. The anthropomorphism is clearly intended to teach people to stop and refresh themselves physically, spiritually, and emotionally on this day of rest.

[19:3]  ³⁹ tn Heb “A man his mother and his father you [plural] shall fear.” The LXX, Syriac, Vulgate, and certain Targum mss reverse the order, “his father and his mother.” The term “fear” is subject to misunderstanding by the modern reader, so “respect” has been used in the translation. Cf. NAB, NRSV “revere”; NASB “reverence.”

[23:3]  ⁴⁰ tn This is a superlative expression, emphasizing the full and all inclusive rest of the Sabbath and certain festival times throughout the chapter (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 155). Cf. ASV “a sabbath of solemn rest.”

[5:12]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “to make holy,” that is, to put to special use, in this case, to sacred purposes (cf. vv. 13-15).

[5:14]  ⁴² tn There is some degree of paronomasia (wordplay) here: “the seventh (הַשְּׁבִיעִי, hashÿvi’i) day is the Sabbath (שַׁבָּת, shabbat).” Otherwise, the words have nothing in common, since “Sabbath” is derived from the verb שָׁבַת (shavat, “to cease”).

[5:14]  ⁴³ tn Heb “in your gates”; NRSV, CEV “in your towns”; TEV “in your country.”

[5:15]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “by a strong hand and an outstretched arm,” the hand and arm symbolizing divine activity and strength. Cf. NLT “with amazing power and mighty deeds.”

[5:15]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “keep” (so KJV, NRSV).

[56:2]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “blessed is the man who does this.”

[56:2]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “the son of mankind who takes hold of it.”

[56:2]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb and who keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

[56:3]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “who attaches himself to.”

[56:3]  ⁵⁰ tn The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.

[56:4]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “and take hold of” (so KJV); NASB “hold fast.”

[56:5]  ⁵² tn Heb “a hand and a name.” For other examples where יָד (yad) refers to a monument, see HALOT 388 s.v.

[56:5]  ⁵³ tn Heb “name” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).

[56:6]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “who attach themselves to.”

[56:6]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “and take hold of”; NAB “hold to”; NIV, NRSV “hold fast.”

[58:13]  ⁵⁶ tn Lit., “if you.” In the Hebrew text vv. 13-14 are one long conditional sentence. The protasis (“if” clauses appear in v. 13), with the apodosis (“then” clause) appearing in v. 14.

[58:13]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “if you turn from the Sabbath your feet.”

[58:13]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “[from] doing your desires on my holy day.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a supplies the preposition מִן (min) on “doing.”

[58:13]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “and call the Sabbath a pleasure”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “a delight.”

[58:13]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “and [call] the holy [day] of the Lord honored.” On קָדוֹשׁ (qadosh, “holy”) as indicating a time period, see BDB 872 s.v. 2.e (cf. also Neh 8:9-11).

[58:13]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “and you honor it [by refraining] from accomplishing your ways, from finding your desire and speaking a word.” It is unlikely that the last phrase (“speaking a word”) is a prohibition against talking on the Sabbath; instead it probably refers to making transactions or plans (see Hos 10:4). Some see here a reference to idle talk (cf. 2 Sam 19:30).

[20:12]  ⁶² sn Ezekiel’s contemporary, Jeremiah, also stressed the importance of obedience to the Sabbath law (Jer 17).

[20:12]  ⁶³ tn Heb “to become a sign between me and them.”

[20:12]  ⁶⁴ tn Or “set them apart.” The last phrase of verse 12 appears to be a citation of Exod 31:13.

[20:20]  ⁶⁵ tn Or “set apart my Sabbaths.”

[20:20]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “and they will become a sign between me and you.”

[20:21]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “sons.”

[20:21]  ⁶⁸ tn Or “carries them out.”

[20:21]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “and I said/thought to pour out.”

[6:5]  ⁷⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[6:5]  ⁷¹ tn The term “lord” is in emphatic position in the Greek text. To make this point even clearer a few mss add “also” before the reference to the Son of Man, while a few others add it before the reference to the Sabbath.

[6:5]  sn A second point in Jesus’ defense of his disciples’ actions was that his authority as Son of Man also allowed it, since as Son of Man he was lord of the Sabbath.

[23:56]  ⁷² tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[23:56]  ⁷³ tn On this term see BDAG 140-41 s.v. ἄρωμα. The Jews did not practice embalming, so these preparations were used to cover the stench of decay and slow decomposition. The women planned to return and anoint the body. But that would have to wait until after the Sabbath.

[23:56]  ⁷⁴ tn Or “ointments.” This was another type of perfumed oil.

[23:56]  ⁷⁵ sn According to the commandment. These women are portrayed as pious, faithful to the law in observing the Sabbath.

[1:10]  ⁷⁶ tn Or “in the spirit.” “Spirit” could refer either to the Holy Spirit or the human spirit, but in either case John was in “a state of spiritual exaltation best described as a trance” (R. H. Mounce, Revelation [NICNT], 75).

[1:10]  ⁷⁷ tn Concerning the phrase κυριακῇ ἡμέρᾳ (kuriakh Jhmera) BDAG 576 s.v. κυριακός states: “pert. to belonging to the Lord, the Lord’s…κ. ἡμέρᾳ the Lord’s day (Kephal. I 192, 1; 193, 31…) i.e. certainly Sunday (so in Mod. Gk….) Rv 1:10 (WStott, NTS 12, ’65, 70-75).”

[1:10]  ⁷⁸ tn The conjunction καί (kai) is not introducing a coordinate thought, but one that is logically subordinate to the main verb ἐγενόμην (egenomhn).