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 ¹  may refresh themselves. ² 

Exodus 35:2-3

35:2 In six days ³  work may be done, but on the seventh day there must be a holy day ⁴  for you, a Sabbath of complete rest to the Lord. ⁵  Anyone who does work on it will be put to death. 35:3 You must not kindle a fire ⁶  in any of your homes ⁷  on the Sabbath day.” ⁸ 

Ezekiel 20:12

20:12 I also gave them my Sabbaths ⁹  as a reminder of our relationship, ¹⁰  so that they would know that I, the Lord, sanctify them. ¹¹ 

Luke 13:14-16

13:14 But the president of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, “There are six days on which work ¹²  should be done! ¹³  So come ¹⁴  and be healed on those days, and not on the Sabbath day.” 13:15 Then the Lord answered him, ¹⁵  “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from its stall, ¹⁶  and lead it to water? ¹⁷  13:16 Then ¹⁸  shouldn’t ¹⁹  this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan ²⁰  bound for eighteen long ²¹  years, be released from this imprisonment ²²  on the Sabbath day?”

Luke 23:56

23:56 Then ²³  they returned and prepared aromatic spices ²⁴  and perfumes. ²⁵ 

On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment. ²⁶ 

[23:12]  ¹ 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]  ² tn The verb is וְיִּנָּפֵשׁ (vÿyyinnafesh); it is related to the word usually translated “soul” or “life.”

[35:2]  ³ tn This is an adverbial accusative of time.

[35:2]  ⁴ tn The word is קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh, “holiness”). S. R. Driver suggests that the word was transposed, and the line should read: “a sabbath of entire rest, holy to Jehovah” (Exodus, 379). But the word may simply be taken as a substitution for “holy day.”

[35:2]  ⁵ sn See on this H. Routtenberg, “The Laws of the Sabbath: Biblical Sources,” Dor le Dor 6 (1977): 41-43, 99-101, 153-55, 204-6; G. Robinson, “The Idea of Rest in the Old Testament and the Search for the Basic Character of Sabbath,” ZAW 92 (1980): 32-43.

[35:3]  ⁶ sn Kindling a fire receives special attention here because the people thought that kindling a fire was not work, but only a preparation for some kind of work. The Law makes sure that this too was not done. But see also G. Robinson, “The Prohibition of Strange Fire in Ancient Israel: A Look at the Case of Gathering Wood and Kindling Fire on the Sabbath,” VT 28 (1978): 301-17.

[35:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “dwelling places”; KJV, ASV “habitations.”

[35:3]  ⁸ sn The presence of these three verses in this place has raised all kinds of questions. It may be that after the renewal of the covenant the people needed a reminder to obey God, and obeying the sign of the covenant was the starting point. But there is more to it than this; it is part of the narrative design of the book. It is the artistic design that puts the filling of the Spirit section (31:1-11) prior to the Sabbath laws (31:12-18) before the idolatry section, and then after the renewal there is the Sabbath reminder (35:1-3) before the filling of the Spirit material (35:4-36:7).

[20:12]  ⁹ sn Ezekiel’s contemporary, Jeremiah, also stressed the importance of obedience to the Sabbath law (Jer 17).

[20:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to become a sign between me and them.”

[20:12]  ¹¹ tn Or “set them apart.” The last phrase of verse 12 appears to be a citation of Exod 31:13.

[13:14]  ¹² sn The irony is that Jesus’ “work” consisted of merely touching the woman. There is no sense of joy that eighteen years of suffering was reversed with his touch.

[13:14]  ¹³ tn Grk “on which it is necessary to work.” This has been simplified in the translation.

[13:14]  ¹⁴ tn The participle ἐρχόμενοι (ercomenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[13:15]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “answered him and said.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been shortened to “answered him.”

[13:15]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “from the manger [feeding trough],” but by metonymy of part for whole this can be rendered “stall.”

[13:15]  ¹⁷ sn The charge here is hypocrisy, but it is only part one of the response. Various ancient laws detail what was allowed with cattle; see Mishnah, m. Shabbat 5; CD 11:5-6.

[13:16]  ¹⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to show the connection with Jesus’ previous statement.

[13:16]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “is it not necessary that.” Jesus argues that no other day is more appropriate to heal a descendant of Abraham than the Sabbath, the exact opposite view of the synagogue leader.

[13:16]  ²⁰ sn Note that this is again a battle between Satan and God; see 11:18-23.

[13:16]  ²¹ tn The word “long” reflects the emphasis added in the Greek text by ἰδού (idou). See BDAG 468 s.v. 1.

[13:16]  ²² tn Or “bondage”; Grk “bond.”

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

[23:56]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ tn Or “ointments.” This was another type of perfumed oil.

[23:56]  ²⁶ sn According to the commandment. These women are portrayed as pious, faithful to the law in observing the Sabbath.