Exodus 31:17
in Exodus 31It 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.’”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.
KJV
It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.
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This verse in Exodus 31
Commentary
8 notes on this verseRested, and was refreshed - God, in condescension to human weakness, applies to himself here what belongs to man. If a man religiously rests on the Sabbath, both his body and soul shall be refreshed; he shall acquire new light and life.
This site's exposition
the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath
on Exodus 31:16-17
The sabbath is called a perpetual covenant and a sign for ever, which puts it in the same class as circumcision at Genesis 17:13. The ground given for it is the creation rather than the deliverance, that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth and on the seventh day he rested. Deuteronomy 5:15 gives the other ground, the bondage in Egypt and the hand that brought them out, so the same commandment is stated twice on two different reasons.
This site's exposition
He rested and was refreshed
Adam Clarke reads was refreshed as God describing Himself in human terms, a condescension to human weakness. The seventh day's rest is that of Genesis 2:2. Matthew Henry sees the weekly rest as a copy of God's own and a foretaste of the hope of resting with Him from every labour.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 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
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,
It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever,....
As the work of creation is worthy to be thus commemorated, so the great Creator is worthy to be thus imitated, by a holy rest, the seventh day, after six days' labour, especially since we hope, in further conformity to the same example, shortly to rest with him from all our labours.
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.
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)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בֵּינִ֗י | beini | between me | H996 → | 407 times |
| וּבֵין֙ | uvein | and between | H996 → | 407 times |
| בְּנֵ֣י | benei | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| א֥וֹת | ʾot | [is] a sign | H226 → | 80 times |
| הִ֖וא | hi' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| לְעֹלָ֑ם | leolam | for ever | H5769 → | 438 times |
| כִּי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| שֵׁ֣שֶׁת | sheshet | six | H8337 → | 216 times |
| יָמִ֗ים | yamim | days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| עָשָׂ֤ה | ʾasah | he made | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַשָּׁמַ֣יִם | hashamayim | the heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָאָ֔רֶץ | haaretz | the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וּבַיּוֹם֙ | uvaiyom | and on the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י | hashevii | <the> seventh | H7637 → | 98 times |
| שָׁבַ֖ת | shavat | he rested | H7673 → | 71 times |
| וַיִּנָּפַֽשׁ׃ ס | vaiyinafash | and he refreshed himself | H5314 → |
בֵּינִ֗יbetween me
beiniH996 →407 times
וּבֵין֙and between
uveinH996 →407 times
בְּנֵ֣י[the] people of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
א֥וֹת[is] a sign
ʾotH226 →80 times
הִ֖ואit
hi'H1931 →1879 times
לְעֹלָ֑םfor ever
leolamH5769 →438 times
כִּי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
שֵׁ֣שֶׁתsix
sheshetH8337 →216 times
יָמִ֗יםdays
yamimH3117 →2304 times
עָשָׂ֤הhe made
ʾasahH6213 →2628 times
יְהוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַשָּׁמַ֣יִםthe heavens
hashamayimH8064 →421 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
הָאָ֔רֶץthe earth
haaretzH776 →2504 times
וּבַיּוֹם֙and on the day
uvaiyomH3117 →2304 times
הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י<the> seventh
hasheviiH7637 →98 times
שָׁבַ֖תhe rested
shavatH7673 →71 times
וַיִּנָּפַֽשׁ׃ סand he refreshed himself
vaiyinafashH5314 →
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
Genesis 1:31And God looked upon all that He had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
it leads to
- 1 Timothy 4:4
For every creation of God is good, and nothing that is received with thanksgiving should be rejected,
- Psalms 104:24
How many are Your works, O LORD! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures.
- Psalms 19:1–2
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.
- 1 Timothy 4:4
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.’
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 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.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 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.
- Ezekiel 20:20
Through
Hebrews 4:10For whoever enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from His.
it leads to
- Revelation 14:13
And I heard a voice from heaven telling me to write, “Blessed are the dead—those who die in the Lord from this moment on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labors,…
- Hebrews 4:3–4
Now we who have believed enter that rest. As for the others, it is just as God has said: “So I swore on oath in My anger, ‘They shall never enter My rest.’” And…
- Revelation 14:13
Where this verse is studied
By subject
Covenant34 verses
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
On this chapter
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; 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.