Exodus 20:10
in Exodus 20but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on which you must not do any work—neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant or livestock, nor the foreigner within your gates.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
but the seventh day is a sabbath unto Jehovah thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
KJV
But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
⋯
This verse in Exodus 20
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
But the seventh day is the sabbath
on Exodus 20:10-11
The rest reaches down the whole household to the son, the daughter, the servants, the cattle and the stranger inside the gates, so the one day covers people who own nothing. The ground given here is the creation, that in six days the LORD made heaven and earth and rested the seventh. Deuteronomy 5:15 repeats the commandment and gives a different ground, that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and both stand in the canon side by side.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
A commentator
John ChrysostomHOMILIES CONCERNING THE STATUES 12.9 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
Wherefore when He speaks to us of another commandment, not known to us by the dictate of conscience, He not only prohibits, but adds the reason. When, for instance, He gave commandment respecting the Sabbath; "On the seventh day thou shalt do no work;" He subjoined also the reason for this cessation. What was this? "Because on the seventh day God rested from all His works which He had begun to make." And again; "Because thou wert a servant in the land of Egypt." For what purpose then I ask did He add a reason respecting the Sabbath, but did no such thing in regard to murder? Because this commandment was not one of the leading ones. It was not one of those which were accurately defined of our conscience, but a kind of partial and temporary one; and for this reason it was abolished afterwards.
The Medieval Church3 voices
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 4 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
There is in the precept something figurative, such as the signification of the seventh day. For the seventh day signifies the rest of souls and the rest of the Lord in the tomb and the cessation from all servile work with leisure and contemplation of …
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 4 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
It does not suffice to do the work of virtue unless man guards himself from vicious work; and this is touched upon when it says: You shall do no work in it, that is, no sin. Now man can commit sin in five ways: first, …
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 4 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
There is contained in the precept something that is partly moral and partly ceremonial, such as the cessation from works. And here certain things are to be understood generally, and certain things specifically. If we understand it generally, as the Jews do, who say that …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
It is sacrilege to alienate it; the sanctification of it is a debt. [3.] It is designed for a memorial of the creation of the world, and therefore to be observed to the glory of the Creator, as an engagement upon ourselves to serve him and an encouragement to us to trust in him who made heaven and earth.
It is sacrilege to alienate it; the sanctification of it is a debt. [3.] It is designed for a memorial of the creation of the world, and therefore to be observed to the glory of the Creator, as an engagement upon ourselves to serve him and an encouragement to us to trust in him who made heaven and earth.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
In line with the plain meaning of Scripture, “the stranger of the gate” is always the geir toshav, 460 Literally: “resident alien,” so called because he was permitted to dwell within the Land of Israel.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
The verse is stating that the Sabbath-day will be blessed and hallowed because He has commanded to bless it and glorify it by remembering it.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְי֙וֹם֙ | veyom | and [the] day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔֜י | hashevii | <the> seventh | H7637 → | 98 times |
| שַׁבָּ֖֣ת׀ | shabat | [is] a sabbath | H7676 → | 110 times |
| לַיהוָ֣ה | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֶ֑֗יךָ | ʾeloheikha | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| לֹֽ֣א־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תַעֲשֶׂ֣֨ה | taaseh | you must do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| כָל־ | khol- | any | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| מְלָאכָ֡֜ה | melakhah | work | H4399 → | 167 times |
| אַתָּ֣ה׀ | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| וּבִנְךָֽ֣־ | uvinkha- | and son your | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| וּ֠בִתֶּ֗ךָ | uvitekha | and daughter your | H1323 → | 588 times |
| עַבְדְּךָ֤֨ | ʾavdekha | [male] servant your | H5650 → | 799 times |
| וַאֲמָֽתְךָ֜֙ | vaamatekha | and female servant your | H519 → | 56 times |
| וּבְהֶמְתֶּ֔֗ךָ | uvehemtekha | and livestock your | H929 → | 190 times |
| וְגֵרְךָ֖֙ | vegerekha | and sojourner your | H1616 → | 92 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥֣ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בִּשְׁעָרֶֽ֔יךָ׃ | bishareikha | [is] in gates your | H8179 → | 374 times |
וְי֙וֹם֙and [the] day
veyomH3117 →2304 times
הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔֜י<the> seventh
hasheviiH7637 →98 times
שַׁבָּ֖֣ת׀[is] a sabbath
shabatH7676 →110 times
לַיהוָ֣הto Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֶ֑֗יךָGod your
ʾeloheikhaH430 →2601 times
לֹֽ֣א־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תַעֲשֶׂ֣֨הyou must do
taasehH6213 →2628 times
כָל־any
khol-H3605 →5413 times
מְלָאכָ֡֜הwork
melakhahH4399 →167 times
אַתָּ֣ה׀you
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
וּבִנְךָֽ֣־and son your
uvinkha-H1121 →4930 times
וּ֠בִתֶּ֗ךָand daughter your
uvitekhaH1323 →588 times
עַבְדְּךָ֤֨[male] servant your
ʾavdekhaH5650 →799 times
וַאֲמָֽתְךָ֜֙and female servant your
vaamatekhaH519 →56 times
וּבְהֶמְתֶּ֔֗ךָand livestock your
uvehemtekhaH929 →190 times
וְגֵרְךָ֖֙and sojourner your
vegerekhaH1616 →92 times
אֲשֶׁ֥֣רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
בִּשְׁעָרֶֽ֔יךָ׃[is] in gates your
bishareikhaH8179 →374 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
Exodus 31:13“Tell the Israelites, ‘Surely you must keep My Sabbaths, for this will be a sign between Me and you for the generations to come, so that you may know that I am the LORD…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 20:20
Keep My Sabbaths holy, that they may be a sign between us, so that you may know that I am the LORD your God.’
- Ezekiel 20:12
I also gave them My Sabbaths as a sign between us, so that they would know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them.
- Leviticus 19:30
You must keep My Sabbaths and have reverence for My sanctuary. I am the LORD.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:23
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your entire spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Exodus 31:17
It is a sign between Me and the Israelites forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, but on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’”
- Ezekiel 20:20
Through
Exodus 34:21Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even in the seasons of plowing and harvesting, you must rest.
it leads to
- Exodus 23:12
For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you must cease, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the son of your maidservant may be…
- Luke 13:14
But the synagogue leader was indignant that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. “There are six days for work,” he told the crowd. “So come and be healed on those days and not on…
- Exodus 35:2
For six days work may be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a Sabbath of complete rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on that day must be put…
- Exodus 23:12
Where this verse is studied
About Exodus
This page draws on Bonaventure, Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 4; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES CONCERNING THE STATUES 12.9; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.