Exodus 23:12
in Exodus 23For 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 refreshed, as well as the foreign resident.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest; that thine ox and thine ass may have rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the sojourner, may be refreshed.
KJV
Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.
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This verse in Exodus 23
Commentary
5 notes on this verseSix days thou shalt do thy work - Though they were thus bound to keep the sabbatical year, yet they must not neglect the seventh day’s rest or weekly Sabbath; for that was of perpetual obligation, and was paramount to all others. That the sanctification of the Sabbath was of great consequence in the sight of God, we may learn from the various repetitions of this law; and we may observe that it has still for its object, not only the benefit of the soul, but the health and comfort of the body also. Doth God care for oxen?
This site's exposition
Six days thou shalt do thy work
The sabbath command is given a third ground here. Exodus 20:11 rests it on the six days of creation and Deuteronomy 5:15 rests it on the bondage in Egypt, while this verse rests it on the rest of the ox, the ass, the son of the handmaid and the stranger. The people listed are the ones who could never have claimed a day for themselves, and the word used of them is refreshed.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Six days thou shalt do thy work,....
Even in the year of rest they must not think that the sabbath day was laid in common with the other days, but, even that year, it must be religiously observed; yet thus some have endeavoured to take away the observance of the sabbath, by pretending that every day must be a sabbath day. All manner of respect to the gods of the heathen is here strictly forbidden,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest--This law is repeated [Ex 20:9] lest any might suppose there was a relaxation of its observance during the sabbatical year.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Because the word l’ma’an is like ba’avur (“in order that”), we must explain.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
BUT THE SEVENTH YEAR ‘TISHM’TENAH U’N'TASHTAH’ (THOU SHALT LET IT REST AND LIE FALLOW). “ Tishm’tenah — by not tilling it. U’n'tashtah by not eating of its produce after ‘the time of removal.’ 358 See Leviticus:6-7.
Rashi explained: “This verse is intended to bring every positive commandment also under the term of a prohibition, 367 So that if one fails to fulfill a positive commandment [as e.g.
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. 3 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
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שֵׁ֤שֶׁת | sheshet | six | H8337 → | 216 times |
| יָמִים֙ | yamim | days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| תַּעֲשֶׂ֣ה | taaseh | you will do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| מַעֲשֶׂ֔יךָ | maaseikha | work<s> your | H4639 → | 236 times |
| וּבַיּ֥וֹם | uvaiyom | and on the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַשְּׁבִיעִ֖י | hashevii | <the> seventh | H7637 → | 98 times |
| תִּשְׁבֹּ֑ת | tishbot | you will rest | H7673 → | 71 times |
| לְמַ֣עַן | lemaan | so that | H4616 → | 272 times |
| יָנ֗וּחַ | yanuach | it may rest | H5117 → | 142 times |
| שֽׁוֹרְךָ֙ | shorkha | ox your | H7794 → | 79 times |
| וַחֲמֹרֶ֔ךָ | vachamorekha | and donkey your | H2543 → | 96 times |
| וְיִנָּפֵ֥שׁ | veyinafesh | so he may refresh himself | H5314 → | |
| בֶּן־ | ben- | [the] child of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| אֲמָתְךָ֖ | ʾamatekha | female slave your | H519 → | 56 times |
| וְהַגֵּֽר׃ | vehager | and the sojourner | H1616 → | 92 times |
שֵׁ֤שֶׁתsix
sheshetH8337 →216 times
יָמִים֙days
yamimH3117 →2304 times
תַּעֲשֶׂ֣הyou will do
taasehH6213 →2628 times
מַעֲשֶׂ֔יךָwork<s> your
maaseikhaH4639 →236 times
וּבַיּ֥וֹםand on the day
uvaiyomH3117 →2304 times
הַשְּׁבִיעִ֖י<the> seventh
hasheviiH7637 →98 times
תִּשְׁבֹּ֑תyou will rest
tishbotH7673 →71 times
לְמַ֣עַןso that
lemaanH4616 →272 times
יָנ֗וּחַit may rest
yanuachH5117 →142 times
שֽׁוֹרְךָ֙ox your
shorkhaH7794 →79 times
וַחֲמֹרֶ֔ךָand donkey your
vachamorekhaH2543 →96 times
וְיִנָּפֵ֥שׁso he may refresh himself
veyinafeshH5314 →
בֶּן־[the] child of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
אֲמָתְךָ֖female slave your
ʾamatekhaH519 →56 times
וְהַגֵּֽר׃and the sojourner
vehagerH1616 →92 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
Luke 13:14But 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…
it leads to
- Exodus 20:9
Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
- Matthew 12:2
When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”
- John 9:14–16
Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened his eyes was a Sabbath.
- John 5:15–16
And the man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
- Exodus 20:9
Through
Exodus 35:3Do not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”
it leads to
- Exodus 16:23
He told them, “This is what the LORD has said: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake, and boil…
- Numbers 15:32–36
While the Israelites were in the wilderness, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day.
- Exodus 16:23
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
- Deuteronomy 21:4
bring the heifer to a valley with running water that has not been plowed or sown, and break its neck there by the stream.
- 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…
- Deuteronomy 21:4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Exodus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.