The Sabbath Day

Joshua Perez

10/6/24

The Sabbath Day was first introduced and instituted in the book of Genesis when God on the seventh day rested from his work after six days of creation:

"And so the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their heavenly lights. By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it He rested from all His work which God had created and made." (Genesis 2:1-3)

This sets the precedent for the sabbath as well as the days of the week, a recurring seven day cycle where we rest after each interval of six days. As Philo the 1st century AD Jewish historian wrote:

"..the nation of the Jews keeps every seventh day regularly, after each interval of six days, and there is an account of events recorded in the history of the creation of the world, comprising a sufficient relation of the cause of this ordinance; for the sacred historian says, that the world was created in six days, and that on the seventh day God desisted from his works, and began to contemplate what he had so beautifully created." (Philo Judaeus, The Decalogue, XX, p. 526)

Later on in the Torah, we read when God officially gave the Sabbath as a written commandment to the children of Israel within the 10 commandments:

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. For six days you shall labor and do all your work,  but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God; on it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male slave or your female slave, or your cattle, or your resident who stays with you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; for that reason the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." (Exodus 20:8-11)

Moreover, God explains that the sabbath is the eternal sign of the covenant between him and his people. And that regardless of who you are, Jew or Gentile, keeping the Sabbath is the symbol of having a relationship with the Almighty. 

"Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Now as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘You must keep My Sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, so that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. Therefore you are to keep the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it must be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord; whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death. So the sons of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to celebrate the Sabbath throughout their generations as a permanent covenant.’ It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed.” (Exodus 31:12-17)

“Also the foreigners(gentiles) who join themselves to the Lord, To attend to His service and to love the name of the Lord, To be His servants, every one who keeps the Sabbath so as not to profane it, And holds firmly to My covenant; Even those I will bring to My holy mountain, And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.” The Lord God, who gathers the dispersed of Israel, declares, “I will yet gather others to them, to those already gathered.” (Isaiah 56:6-8)

And, as the author of Hebrews says:

"Consequently, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Therefore let’s make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following the same example of disobedience." (Hebrews 4:9-12)

So, how do we keep the sabbath? In Orthodox Judaism, the prohibitions on the Sabbath are based on the 39 Melachot, which are categories of work derived from activities associated with the construction of the Tabernacle (Mishkan) in the wilderness. The 39 Melachot are found in Mishnah Shabbat 7:2, and are as follows:

• Sowing (planting seeds)

• Plowing (preparing the ground for planting)

• Reaping (harvesting or gathering plants)

• Binding Sheaves (bundling harvested produce)

• Threshing (separating grain from husks)

• Winnowing (removing chaff from grain)

• Selecting (sorting or separating mixed items)

• Grinding (grinding grain into flour)

• Sifting (separating finer flour from coarser matter)

• Kneading (mixing flour and water to make dough)

• Baking (or cooking)

• Shearing Wool (cutting wool off an animal)

• Scouring Wool (cleaning wool)

• Carding Wool (untangling wool fibers)

• Dyeing (coloring wool or fabric)

• Spinning (making thread from wool)

• Warping (arranging threads on a loom)

• Making Two Loops (preparing threads for weaving)

• Weaving (interlacing threads to make fabric)

• Separating Two Threads (undoing weaving or preparing threads)

• Tying (making a permanent knot)

• Untying (undoing a permanent knot)

• Sewing (joining two materials together)

• Tearing (tearing for the purpose of sewing)

• Trapping (catching animals)

• Slaughtering (killing animals)

• Flaying (skinning an animal)

• Salting (processing animal hides)

• Tanning (making leather)

• Scraping (smoothing hides)

• Cutting (cutting into a specific shape)

• Writing (writing two or more letters)

• Erasing (removing written letters for the purpose of rewriting)

• Building (constructing any structure)

• Demolishing (tearing down for constructive purposes)

• Extinguishing (putting out a fire)

• Kindling (lighting a fire)

• Striking the Final Hammer Blow (completing a product, also called Makeh B’Patish)

• Carrying (transporting an object beyond certain limits)

We believe everyone should strive to rest in the Lord as much as possible on the Sabbath day, and that keeping God's law is an ever-learning, and ever-growing process. We should not beat ourselves up when we make a mistake, or do not fufill the mitzva(commandment) perfectly. As there is grace, even an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ the righteous (1 John 2:1). The notion that the "day of rest" is meant to be the day to do deep Bible study, and spend the day only on things relating to God is a Christian concept in origin. Traditionally, the Sabbath is meant to be the day to relax and enjoy yourself with eating, drinking, reading, etc. 

These prohibitions were put in place by Hashem to allow us to fully enjoy the day and rest in Him, to spiritually identify with Him, and to share in how He rested from His work after six days of creation. The Sabbath is meant to be something we look forward to and delight in. Furthermore, the Master Yeshua explained that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath; thus, humanity (the son of man) is Lord over the Sabbath. He also taught that human life and need take precedence over Sabbath or Torah law, showing that it is lawful—and indeed expected—to do good on the Sabbath. 

"At that time Jesus passed through the grain fields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick and eat some heads of grain. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, ‘Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!’ He said to them, ‘Haven’t you read what David did when he and those who were with him were hungry—how he entered the house of God, and they ate the sacred bread, which is not lawful for him or for those with him to eat, but only for the priests? Or haven’t you read in the Law that on Sabbath days the priests in the temple violate the Sabbath and are innocent? But I tell you that something greater than the temple is here! If you had known what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.’ Departing from there, He went into their synagogue. And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned Jesus, asking, ‘Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?’—so that they might bring charges against Him. But He said to them, ‘What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable then is a person than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath’" (Matthew 12:8-12)

"And it happened that He was passing through the grain fields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while picking the heads of grain. The Pharisees were saying to Him, ‘Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?’ And He said to them, ‘Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions became hungry; how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the consecrated bread, which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests, and he also gave it to those who were with him?’ Jesus said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath’" (Mark 2:23-28)

In these passages, Yeshua references the story in 1 Samuel 21 concerning David and the showbread, as well as how the priests offer burnt offerings on the Sabbath, which involves kindling a fire. This serves to illustrate a principle fundamentally embedded within the law: that the preservation of human life supersedes Torah or Sabbath law.

In the narrative recorded in 1 Samuel 21, we learn that David, after three days of hiding, was severely hungry. When he encountered a priest, he asked for food. The priest, however, had no provisions except for the holy showbread, which is only lawful for priests to eat, as stated in Leviticus 24:5-9. Nevertheless, the priest indicated that he could give the showbread to David, given that David had abstained from women for three days. David met this requirement, and thus the priest permitted him to eat the showbread. Although this action technically violated the Torah, it was deemed permissible because the commandment was transgressed in the interest of preserving life.

Yeshua also highlighted that the priests perform daily continual burnt offerings, including on the Sabbath, which involves kindling a fire—a technical violation of the Torah. Yet, he stated, “there is something greater than the temple here,” asserting that human life and need will always take precedence over the letter of the law. Yeshua was actually teaching a rabbinic concept here called "Pikuakh Nefesh (saving a life)", which in rabbinic literature similarly explains that breaking a commandment for the sake of preserving life, so as to keep many commandments later on, is permissible.

"Rabbi Yonatan ben Yosef says: ‘You shall keep My statutes and My ordinances, which a person shall do and live by them’ (Leviticus 18:5), which means: And not that he should die by them. From here it is derived that the laws of the Torah were not given so that one would die as a result of fulfilling them, but that one should live by them. And it is taught: ‘Desecrate one Shabbat for his sake so that he may observe many Shabbatot." (Talmud Yoma 85b)

Now, the only question that remains is, when is the Sabbath today? First, we must lay down the foundation that Jewish days run evening to evening. 

"God called the light “day,” and He called the darkness “night.” Evening came and then morning: the first day." (Genesis 1:5)

"It will be a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you must practice self-denial. You are to observe your Sabbath from the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening. (speaking specifically of Yom Kippur)” (Leviticus 23:32)

"The time from sunset until the appearance of three middle-sized stars is universally referred to as beyn hash'mashot. There is a doubt whether this time is considered as part of the day or as part of the night. [Accordingly,] it is accepted to rule stringently concerning [this time] in all places. Therefore, one should not kindle [a lamp at this time]. A person who performs a [forbidden] labor beyn hash'mashot [both] on the Sabbath eve and on Saturday night is required to bring a sin offering. The stars mentioned are not large stars that can be seen during the day or small stars that are seen only at night, but of moderate size. When such three medium-sized stars are seen, it is surely night." (Mishneh Torah Shabbat 5:4)

Seeing as a Jewish day runs from evening to evening, we must now decipher when the Sabbath occurs on our calendar. To answer this question, we need only look back to the time of our sinless Messiah to determine when he and the Jews of his time observed it. The ancient Romans maintained a continuous eight-day week called the nundinal cycle. This Roman nundinal cycle consisted of eight days, marked A through H, as opposed to the named days of the week that we use today. In 45 BC, the Julian calendar was introduced and replaced the ancient Roman calendar. Unlike the nundinal system, the Julian calendar had a seven-day week, which became increasingly prevalent after its adoption. The days of the week on the Julian calendar, starting from the first day in Latin, were: Dies Solis (Day of the Sun), Dies Lunae (Day of the Moon), Dies Martis (Day of Mars), Dies Mercuri (Day of Mercury), Dies Jovis (Day of Jupiter), Dies Veneris (Day of Venus), and Dies Saturni (Day of Saturn). [1] By the time the Messiah began His ministry in 27 AD, the Julian calendar was the primary calendar used by the Romans. Frontinus, a Roman soldier who lived from 40 AD to 103 AD, wrote a book on military strategy called Strategematicon in 84 AD. In it, he wrote:

"The deified Augustus Vespasian attacked the Jews on the day of Saturn, a day on which it is sinful for them to do any business." (Frontinus Stratagem 2. 1.17) 

This source displays that the seven-day cycles of the Jews according to the ancient Jewish calendar, as well as the Romans according to the Julian calendar, were aligned in such a way that the Jew's sabbath day took place primarily on the Roman's Saturn’s day. The day on which the Romans purposely attacked them as it was unlawful for them to make war. Cassius Dio, a Roman historian of the 2nd century, wrote an extensive historical book on Roman History. He writes a story, the setting being General Pompey's attack on Jerusalem, where he says:

“Most of the city, to be sure, he took without any trouble, as he was received by the party of Hyrcanus; but the temple itself, which the other party had occupied, he captured only with difficulty. For it was on high ground and was fortified by a wall of its own, and if they had continued defending it on all days alike, he could not have got possession of it. As it was, they made an excavation of what are called the days of Saturn, and by doing no work at all on those days afforded the Romans an opportunity in this interval to batter down the wall.” (Cassius Dio Roman History 37.16.1-4)

"The Jews, indeed, had done much injury to the Romans, but they suffered far more themselves. The first of them to be captured were those who were fighting for the precinct of their god, and then the rest on the day even then called the day of Saturn.” (Cassius Dio Roman History 49.22.4-6)

"Thus was Jerusalem destroyed on the very day of Saturn, the day which even now the Jews reverence most.” (Cassius Dio Roman History 65.7.2)

Thus, it is clear that when the Jews rested on the Sabbath, the Romans observed their day of Saturn. The two seven-day cycles were linked, with both weeks ending on their respective seventh day: the Sabbath and the day of Saturn. Since days on the Julian calendar begin at midnight and Jewish days begin in the evening, and the Jews were observing the Sabbath day while the Romans were observing the day of Saturn. This means that the Jewish Sabbath began on the Day of Venus at sunset and ran until the Day of Saturn at sunset.

Now, let’s fast forward to October 1582, when the Gregorian calendar, introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, was created to reform the Julian calendar by addressing inaccuracies in the measurement of the solar year. The only essential changes made were the adjustment of leap year rules. To transition from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, ten days were skipped to realign the calendar with the solar year. Thus, Thursday, October 4, 1582, was directly followed by Friday, October 15, 1582. The transition from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar did not alter the seven-day week cycle; both calendars maintained a consistent seven-day week structure. The adjustments made during the switch primarily focused on realigning the calendar with the solar year by modifying the leap year rules and skipping a certain number of days. The names and order of the days of the week remained unchanged during this transition: Dies Solis became Sunday, Dies Lunae became Monday, Dies Martis became Tuesday, Dies Mercuri became Wednesday, Dies Jovis became Thursday, Dies Veneris became Friday, and Dies Saturni became Saturday. [2]

With this understanding of the history of the calendars, we can conclude that the Sabbath day kept by the Jews during the first century is still our seventh day on the Gregorian calendar—our modern day Friday evening to Saturday evening. The Sabbath that Orthodox Jews have kept and observed for thousands of years.

[1] Zerubavel, Eviatar (1989). The Seven Day Circle: the history and Meaning of the Week

[2] The Calender: The 5000 Year Struggle to Align the Clock and the Heavens and What Happened to the Missing Ten Days (David Ewing Duncan)