Deuteronomy 5:12
in Deuteronomy 5Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Observe the sabbath day, to keep it holy, as Jehovah thy God commanded thee.
KJV
Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 5
Commentary
4 notes on this verseKeep the sabbath day to sanctify it,.... Or observe it, by setting it apart as a time of natural rest, and for the performance of holy and religious exercises; see Exo 20:8, where the phrase is a little varied, "remember the sabbath day to keep it holy"; it having been instituted before: as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee; not at Sinai only, for the same might then have been observed of all the rest of the commands, but before the giving of the law, at the first of the manna; see Exo 16:23.
This site's exposition
Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy
on Deuteronomy 5:12-14
Exodus 20:8 has "Remember the Sabbath day," while this account has "Observe" and adds "as the LORD your God has commanded you," a clause verse 16 repeats and Exodus lacks both times. John Gill reads it as recalling a duty Israel already knew, citing the manna at Exodus 16:23. Verse 14 closes with a clause Exodus lacks, "so that your manservant and maidservant may rest as you do."
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Art thou peculiarly careful on this day, to avoid all conversation, which does not tend to the knowledge and love of God? Dost thou watch narrowly over all that are within thy gates, that they too may keep it holy? And dost thou try every possible means, to bring all men, wherever you are, to do the same?
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee--that is, keep it in mind as a sacred institution of former enactment and perpetual obligation. [See on Ex 20:8].
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שָׁמ֣֛וֹר | shamor | keep | H8104 → | 468 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| י֥וֹם֩ | yom | [the] day of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַשַּׁבָּ֖֨ת | hashabat | the sabbath | H7676 → | 110 times |
| לְקַדְּשׁ֑֜וֹ | lekadesho | to set apart as holy it | H6942 → | 171 times |
| כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר | kaasher | just as | H834 → | 5497 times |
| צִוְּךָ֖֣׀ | tzivekha | he commanded you | H6680 → | 494 times |
| יְהוָ֥֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֶֽ֗יךָ׃ | ʾeloheikha | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
שָׁמ֣֛וֹרkeep
shamorH8104 →468 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
י֥וֹם֩[the] day of
yomH3117 →2304 times
הַשַּׁבָּ֖֨תthe sabbath
hashabatH7676 →110 times
לְקַדְּשׁ֑֜וֹto set apart as holy it
lekadeshoH6942 →171 times
כַּאֲשֶׁ֥רjust as
kaasherH834 →5497 times
צִוְּךָ֖֣׀he commanded you
tzivekhaH6680 →494 times
יְהוָ֥֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֶֽ֗יךָ׃God your
ʾeloheikhaH430 →2601 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 58:13If you turn your foot from breaking the Sabbath, from doing as you please on My holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight, and the LORD’s holy day honorable, if you honor…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 17:21–27
This is what the LORD says: Take heed for yourselves; do not carry a load or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day.
- Psalms 92:1–2
It is good to praise the LORD, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High,
- Isaiah 56:2–6
Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without profaning it and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”
- Nehemiah 13:15–22
In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys, along with wine, grapes, and figs. All kinds of goods were being…
- Revelation 1:10
On the Lord’s day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet,
- Jeremiah 17:21–27
Through
Isaiah 56:6And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD to minister to Him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be His servants—all who keep the Sabbath without profaning it and who…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 50:5
They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it. They will come and join themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.
- Isaiah 56:2–4
Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without profaning it and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”
- Isaiah 58:13
If you turn your foot from breaking the Sabbath, from doing as you please on My holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight, and the LORD’s holy day honorable, if you honor…
- Jeremiah 50:5
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.