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 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 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 

Exodus 31:15

31:15 Six days ⁶  work may be done, ⁷  but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, ⁸  holy to the Lord; anyone who does work on the Sabbath day must surely be put to death.

Exodus 31:17

31:17 It is a sign between me and the Israelites forever; for in six days ⁹  the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’” ¹⁰ 

Exodus 35:2

35:2 In six days ¹¹  work may be done, but on the seventh day there must be a holy day ¹²  for you, a Sabbath of complete rest to the Lord. ¹³  Anyone who does work on it will be put to death.

[16:29]  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).

[16:29]  ² tn Heb “remain, a man where he is.”

[16:29]  ³ tn Or “Let not anyone go” (see GKC 445 §138.d).

[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.”

[31:15]  ¹ tn This is an adverbial accusative of time, indicating that work may be done for six days out of the week.

[31:15]  ² tn The form is a Niphal imperfect; it has the nuance of permission in this sentence, for the sentence is simply saying that the six days are work days – that is when work may be done.

[31:15]  ³ tn The expression is שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן (shabbat shabbaton), “a Sabbath of entire rest,” or better, “a sabbath of complete desisting” (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 404). The second noun, the modifying genitive, is an abstract noun. The repetition provides the superlative idea that complete rest is the order of the day.

[31:17]  ¹ tn The expression again forms an adverbial accusative of time.

[31:17]  ² sn The word “rest” essentially means “to cease, stop.” So describing God as “resting” on the seventh day does not indicate that he was tired – he simply finished creation and then ceased or stopped. But in this verse is a very bold anthropomorphism in the form of the verb וַיִּנָּפַשׁ (vayyinnafash), a Niphal preterite from the root נָפַשׁ (nafash), the word that is related to “life, soul” or more specifically “breath, throat.” The verb is usually translated here as “he was refreshed,” offering a very human picture. It could also be rendered “he took breath” (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 345). Elsewhere the verb is used of people and animals. The anthropomorphism is clearly intended to teach people to stop and refresh themselves physically, spiritually, and emotionally on this day of rest.

[35:2]  ¹ tn This is an adverbial accusative of time.

[35:2]  ² 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]  ³ 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.