Exodus 16:23-30

16:23 He said to them, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Tomorrow is a time of cessation from work, ¹  a holy Sabbath ²  to the Lord. Whatever you want to ³  bake, bake today; ⁴  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. ⁵  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 ⁶  to obey my commandments and my instructions? 16:29 See, because the Lord has given you the Sabbath, that is why ⁷  he is giving you food for two days on the sixth day. Each of you stay where you are; ⁸  let no one ⁹  go out of his place on the seventh day.” 16:30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

Exodus 31:13-14

31:13 “Tell the Israelites, ‘Surely you must keep my Sabbaths, ¹⁰  for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. ¹¹  31:14 So you must keep the Sabbath, for it is holy for you. Everyone who defiles it ¹²  must surely be put to death; indeed, ¹³  if anyone does ¹⁴  any ¹⁵  work on it, then that person will be cut off from among his ¹⁶  people.

Genesis 2:3

2:3 God blessed the seventh day and made it holy ¹⁷  because on it he ceased all the work that he ¹⁸  had been doing in creation. ¹⁹ 

Leviticus 19:3

19:3 Each of you must respect his mother and his father, ²⁰  and you must keep my Sabbaths. I am the Lord your God.

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, ²¹  a holy assembly. You must not do any work; it is a Sabbath to the Lord in all the places where you live.

Isaiah 56:4-6

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 ²²  my covenant,

56:5 I will set up within my temple and my walls a monument ²³ 

that will be better than sons and daughters.

I will set up a permanent monument ²⁴  for them that will remain.

56:6 As for foreigners who become followers of ²⁵  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 ²⁶  my covenant –

[16:23]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ tn The two verbs in these objective noun clauses are desiderative imperfects – “bake whatever you want to bake.”

[16:23]  ⁴ tn The word “today” is implied from the context.

[16:25]  ⁵ tn Heb “in the field” (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NCV, NRSV); NAB, NIV, NLT “on the ground.”

[16:28]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “remain, a man where he is.”

[16:29]  ⁹ tn Or “Let not anyone go” (see GKC 445 §138.d).

[31:13]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Or “your sanctifier.”

[31:14]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the one who does.”

[31:14]  ¹⁵ tn “any” has been supplied.

[31:14]  ¹⁶ tn Literally “her” (a feminine pronoun agreeing with “soul/life,” which is grammatically feminine).

[2:3]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “God.” The pronoun (“he”) has been employed in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[2:3]  ¹⁹ 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.”

[19:3]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ 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.”

[56:4]  ²² tn Heb “and take hold of” (so KJV); NASB “hold fast.”

[56:5]  ²³ tn Heb “a hand and a name.” For other examples where יָד (yad) refers to a monument, see HALOT 388 s.v.

[56:5]  ²⁴ tn Heb “name” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).

[56:6]  ²⁵ tn Heb “who attach themselves to.”

[56:6]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and take hold of”; NAB “hold to”; NIV, NRSV “hold fast.”