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Sabbath in Bible Times
The Encyclopedia of Judaism explains;
The Bible does not mention that the Patriarchs
observed the Sabbath (although rabbinical sources
do). During their wanderings in the Wilderness
of Zin and with the introduction of manna, the
Israelites were first commanded to observe the
Sabbath; they were told that five days of the
week they were to collect a single portion of
manna, but on the sixth they should collect a
double portion, for “…Tomorrow is the
rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD…”
(Ex. 16:23). When some searched on the seventh
day for manna and found none, “And the LORD
said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my
commandments and my laws? See, for that the LORD
hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth
you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide
ye every man in his place, let no man go out of
his place on the seventh day” (Ex. 16:28-29).
Three weeks later, the Israelites received the
Ten Commandments, the fourth of which is devoted
to the Sabbath.
Little information is available about Sabbath
observance during the First
Temple period, although something may be gleaned
from statements in Amos and Hosea. There is no
prohibition against trading on that day in the
Pentateuch, but Amos (8:5) implies that it existed
in his time. Hosea (2:13) includes the Sabbath
in the happy times which will cease. Isaiah (1:13)
bears witness to the Sabbath being a national
institution. Jeremiah (17:21-22) exhorts the people
to observe the Sabbath as it was commanded, for
the future of Jerusalem depended on it. Nehemiah
(chap. 10) tells of the covenant he made with
the returned exiles, one point of which was not
to buy items on the Sabbath. However, upon his
return from Persia he saw that the covenant had
not been adhered to and introduced changes to
insure Sabbath observance (Neh. 13:15-22). Ezra
and his disciples began to systemize rules and
interpretation of the Bible and tradition to preserve
and encourage Sabbath observance.
The residents of Jerusalem would not defend themselves
on the Sabbath when besieged by Ptolemy I. Some
150 years later, however, during the Maccabean
wars, Mattathias the Hasmonean ruled that the
laws of the Sabbath may be transgressed to save
lives, therefore the Jews could defend themselves
on the Sabbath (1 Macc. 2:40-41). After the Sanhedrin
began to function, Sabbath laws became more formalized
in the Halakhah, and the rabbinical laws became
the touchstone for all further development of
these rules until modern times. Work is prohibited
on the Sabbath. The basic feature of the Sabbath
is to refrain from “work,” following
the injunction in Exodus 20:10, “But the
seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God:
in it thou shalt not do any work.”
More About Sabbath
| Sabbath
in Bible Times | Messiah
in Sabbath | Jewish
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