39:11 One day 4 he went into the house to do his work when none of the household servants 5 were there in the house.
1 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 tn Heb “God.” The pronoun (“he”) has been employed in the translation for stylistic reasons.
3 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.”
4 tn Heb “and it was about this day.”
5 tn Heb “the men of the house.”