Exodus 31:14
in Exodus 31Keep the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Anyone who profanes it must surely be put to death. Whoever does any work on that day must be cut off from among his people.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that profaneth it shall surely be put to death; for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
KJV
Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
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This verse in Exodus 31
Commentary
9 notes on this verseEvery one that defileth it - By any kind of idolatrous or profane worship. Shall surely be put to death - The magistrates shall examine into the business, and if the accused be found guilty, he shall be stoned to death. Shall be cut off - Because that person who could so far contemn the Sabbath, which was a sign to them of the rest which remained for the people of God, was of course an infidel, and should be cut off from all the privileges and expectations of an Israelite.
This site's exposition
Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore
on Exodus 31:14-15
The sabbath command carries a death penalty here, and it is given at the moment the people are about to begin building. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the placement as a guard against the natural thought that sacred work would earn an exemption, so the making of the sanctuary does not override the seventh day. The word sabbath first occurs at 16:23 in the manna chapter, four chapters before the fourth commandment, and by this point it has been kept, commanded and now fenced.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening5 voices
12 ); and here it is added to the first part of the ceremonial law, because the observance of the sabbath is indeed the hem and hedge of the whole law; where no conscience is made of that, farewell both godliness and honesty; for, in the moral law, it stands in the midst between the two tables.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
), that is, "It is designed for your benefit as well as for God's honour;" the sabbath was made for man. Or, "It shall be accounted holy by you, and shall so be observed, and you shall look upon it a sacrilege to profane it." (3.) It is the sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
In the hearts of all that are wise-hearted I have put wisdom. Skill in common employments is the gift of God; It is he that puts even this wisdom into the inward parts, Job xxxviii, 36.
Aholiab of the tribe of Dan. is appointed next to Bezaleel, and partner with him. Hiram, who was the head-workman in the building of Solomon's temple, was also of the tribe of Daniel, 2 Chron. ii,
Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The Gentiles had anniversary-feasts, to the honour of their gods; but it was peculiar to the Jews to have a weekly festival; this therefore they must carefully observe. The reason of the sabbath; for God's laws are not only backed with the highest authority, but supported with the best reason. God's own example is the great reason,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
They might suppose that the erection of the tabernacle was a sacred work, and that it would be a high merit, an acceptable tribute, to prosecute the undertaking without the interruption of a day's repose; and therefore the caution here given, at the commencement of the undertaking, was a seasonable admonition.
How the passage was read
On Exodus 31:12-17On Exodus 31:12-17
Why the Sabbath became the identity marker
This is the passage that makes the Sabbath, the seventh day of rest, a covenant sign: “a sign between me and you throughout your generations,” with the death penalty attached. A sign carrying that weight had to be guarded, and over the centuries a detailed fence of rules grew around the short written command. The tradition itself noticed how thin the written base is for so large a structure: the Mishnah, the first great code of Jewish oral law (about AD 200), says the laws of the Sabbath are “like mountains suspended by a hair,” much law hanging on little Scripture (Chagigah 1:8).
Two more facts frame every Sabbath argument in the Gospels. First, the sign was worth dying for: under the persecution of Antiochus (167 BC), pious Jews let themselves be killed rather than fight on the Sabbath, until the Maccabees ruled that self-defense overrides the day (this site's 1 Maccabees study tells that story). Second, the later tradition taught, from this very passage, that the day serves the people and not the reverse: “Shabbat is given into your hands, and you are not given to it” (Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 85b, in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Menasya's circle), and that one Sabbath may be desecrated to save a life so that many Sabbaths may be kept. Every collision Jesus has over this day happens inside that live discussion.
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
“Even though you may be anxious. Our Rashi adds: “and alert.” to do the work promptly, do not set aside the Sabbath on its account.
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.
Sources: Mishnah Chagigah 1:8 (“mountains suspended by a hair”) · Yoma 85b (Babylonian Talmud: the Sabbath given into your hands) · 1 Maccabees (this site's study; the Sabbath martyrs)
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
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם֙ | ushemartem | and you will observe | H8104 → | 468 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַשַּׁבָּ֔ת | hashabat | the sabbath | H7676 → | 110 times |
| כִּ֛י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| קֹ֥דֶשׁ | kodesh | [is] a holy thing | H6944 → | 469 times |
| הִ֖וא | hi' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| לָכֶ֑ם | lakhem | to you | ||
| מְחַֽלְלֶ֙יהָ֙ | mechaleiha | [those who] profane it | H2490 → | |
| מ֣וֹת | mot | certainly <to die> | H4191 → | 839 times |
| יוּמָ֔ת | yumat | he will be put to death | H4191 → | 839 times |
| כִּ֗י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָעֹשֶׂ֥ה | haoseh | <the> [one who] does | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| בָהּ֙ | vah | on it | ||
| מְלָאכָ֔ה | melakhah | work | H4399 → | 167 times |
| וְנִכְרְתָ֛ה | venikhretah | and it will be cut off | H3772 → | 288 times |
| הַנֶּ֥פֶשׁ | hanefesh | the person | H5315 → | 754 times |
| הַהִ֖וא | hahiv' | <the> that | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| מִקֶּ֥רֶב | mikerev | from [the] midst of | H7130 → | 227 times |
| עַמֶּֽיהָ׃ | ʾameiha | kinspeople<s> its | H5971 → | 1873 times |
וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם֙and you will observe
ushemartemH8104 →468 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַשַּׁבָּ֔תthe sabbath
hashabatH7676 →110 times
כִּ֛יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
קֹ֥דֶשׁ[is] a holy thing
kodeshH6944 →469 times
הִ֖ואit
hi'H1931 →1879 times
לָכֶ֑םto you
lakhem
מְחַֽלְלֶ֙יהָ֙[those who] profane it
mechaleihaH2490 →
מ֣וֹתcertainly <to die>
motH4191 →839 times
יוּמָ֔תhe will be put to death
yumatH4191 →839 times
כִּ֗יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
כָּל־every
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הָעֹשֶׂ֥ה<the> [one who] does
haosehH6213 →2628 times
בָהּ֙on it
vah
מְלָאכָ֔הwork
melakhahH4399 →167 times
וְנִכְרְתָ֛הand it will be cut off
venikhretahH3772 →288 times
הַנֶּ֥פֶשׁthe person
hanefeshH5315 →754 times
הַהִ֖וא<the> that
hahiv'H1931 →1879 times
מִקֶּ֥רֶבfrom [the] midst of
mikerevH7130 →227 times
עַמֶּֽיהָ׃kinspeople<s> its
ʾameihaH5971 →1873 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
Ezekiel 20:24For they did not practice My ordinances, but they rejected My statutes and profaned My Sabbaths, fixing their eyes on the idols of their fathers.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 20:16
because they kept rejecting My ordinances, refusing to walk in My statutes, and profaning My Sabbaths; for their hearts continually went after their idols.
- Ezekiel 6:9
Then in the nations to which they have been carried captive, your survivors will remember Me—how I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts that turned away from Me, and by their eyes that…
- Ezekiel 20:13
Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not follow My statutes and they rejected My ordinances—though the man who does these things will live by them—and they utterly…
- Amos 2:4
This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Judah, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they reject the Law of the LORD and fail to keep His statutes; they…
- Ezekiel 20:16
Through
Ezekiel 20:16because they kept rejecting My ordinances, refusing to walk in My statutes, and profaning My Sabbaths; for their hearts continually went after their idols.
it leads to
- Numbers 15:39
These will serve as tassels for you to look at, so that you may remember all the commandments of the LORD, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by following your own…
- Ezekiel 14:3–4
“Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I consult with them in any way?
- Ezekiel 20:8
But they rebelled against Me and refused to listen. None of them cast away the abominations before their eyes, and they did not forsake the idols of Egypt. So I resolved to pour out…
- Numbers 25:2
who also invited them to the sacrifices for their gods. And the people ate and bowed down to these gods.
- Numbers 15:39
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.