Exodus 20:9

20:9 For six days ¹  you may labor ²  and do all your work, ³ 

Exodus 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 ⁴  may refresh themselves. ⁵ 

Leviticus 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, ⁶  a holy assembly. You must not do any work; it is a Sabbath to the Lord in all the places where you live.

Ezekiel 20:12

20:12 I also gave them my Sabbaths ⁷  as a reminder of our relationship, ⁸  so that they would know that I, the Lord, sanctify them. ⁹ 

[20:9]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ tn This is the occupation, or business of the work week.

[23:12]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn The verb is וְיִּנָּפֵשׁ (vÿyyinnafesh); it is related to the word usually translated “soul” or “life.”

[23:3]  ⁶ 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.”

[20:12]  ⁷ sn Ezekiel’s contemporary, Jeremiah, also stressed the importance of obedience to the Sabbath law (Jer 17).

[20:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “to become a sign between me and them.”

[20:12]  ⁹ tn Or “set them apart.” The last phrase of verse 12 appears to be a citation of Exod 31:13.