Exodus 16:29

16:29 See, because the Lord has given you the Sabbath, that is why ¹  he is giving you food for two days on the sixth day. Each of you stay where you are; ²  let no one ³  go out of his place on the seventh day.”

Exodus 20:11

20:11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

Exodus 31:14

31:14 So you must keep the Sabbath, for it is holy for you. Everyone who defiles it ⁴  must surely be put to death; indeed, ⁵  if anyone does ⁶  any ⁷  work on it, then that person will be cut off from among his ⁸  people.

¹ 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).

² tn Heb “remain, a man where he is.”

³ tn Or “Let not anyone go” (see GKC 445 §138.d).

⁴ 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.

⁵ 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).

⁶ tn Heb “the one who does.”

⁷ tn “any” has been supplied.

⁸ tn Literally “her” (a feminine pronoun agreeing with “soul/life,” which is grammatically feminine).