Leviticus 23:3
in Leviticus 23For six days work may be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, a day of sacred assembly. You must not do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Six days shall work be done: but on the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation; ye shall do no manner of work: it is a sabbath unto Jehovah in all your dwellings.
KJV
Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.
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This verse in Leviticus 23
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The seventh day had been consecrated as the Sabbath of Yahweh, figuring His own rest; it was the acknowledged sign of the covenant between God and His people. See the Exo 20:1-11 notes. As such it properly held its place at the head of the days of holy convocation.
This site's exposition
And the LORD spake unto Moses
on Leviticus 23:1-3
The calendar is announced as God's own before it is Israel's, since verse 2 calls them my feasts and leaves the people only the proclaiming of them. Holy convocation occurs eleven times in Leviticus and every one of those eleven falls in this chapter. The weekly sabbath is set at the head of a list of annual dates, so the first appointed time named is the one that comes round every seventh day.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
In all your dwellings - Other feasts, were to be kept before the Lord in Jerusalem only, whither all the males were to come for that end; but the sabbath was to be kept in all places, both in synagogues, and in their private houses.
Six days shall work be done,....
That on that day they must withdraw themselves from all the affairs and business of the world. It is a sabbath of rest, typifying our spiritual rest from sin, and in God: You shall do no work therein.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest--(See on Ex 20:8). The Sabbath has the precedence given to it, and it was to be "a holy convocation," observed by families "in their dwellings"; where practicable, by the people repairing to the door of the tabernacle; at later periods, by meeting in the schools of the prophets, and in synagogues.
The seventh day is the Sabbath - This, because the first and greatest solemnity, is first mentioned. He who kept not this, in the most religious manner, was not capable of keeping any of the others. The religious observance of the Sabbath stands at the very threshold of all religion. See Clarke’s note on Gen 2:3.
How the passage was read
On Leviticus 23:1-44On Leviticus 23:1-44
The year Israel keeps
This chapter is the calendar of the whole Jewish year, and every feast in it is still on the calendar today. In order: the weekly Sabbath; Passover and Unleavened Bread in spring (now kept as the seder meal and a week without leavened bread); Firstfruits (the first sheaf of barley waved before God); Weeks, in Hebrew Shavuot, fifty days later (Christians know the Greek name: Pentecost); then in autumn the Day of Trumpets (now Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, announced by the ram's-horn trumpet called a shofar), the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur, the great fast), and Tabernacles, in Hebrew Sukkot, when families still build and eat in leafy backyard booths for a week, remembering the wilderness.
So when the New Testament says Jesus or Paul went up for “the feast,” it means one of these appointments: the same calendar, kept for over three thousand years.
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: The Feasts of the LORD (this site's study of all seven) · Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 1:1 (the four new years)
The words behind it
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שֵׁ֣שֶׁת | sheshet | six | H8337 → | 216 times |
| יָמִים֮ | yamim | days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| תֵּעָשֶׂ֣ה | teaseh | it will be done | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| מְלָאכָה֒ | melakhah | work | H4399 → | 167 times |
| וּבַיּ֣וֹם | uvaiyom | and [is] on the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַשְּׁבִיעִ֗י | hashevii | <the> seventh | H7637 → | 98 times |
| שַׁבַּ֤ת | shabat | a sabbath of | H7676 → | 110 times |
| שַׁבָּתוֹן֙ | shabaton | sabbath observance | H7677 → | 11 times |
| מִקְרָא־ | mikra'- | a convocation of | H4744 → | 23 times |
| קֹ֔דֶשׁ | kodesh | holiness | H6944 → | 469 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | any | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| מְלָאכָ֖ה | melakhah | work | H4399 → | 167 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תַעֲשׂ֑וּ | taasu | you will do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| שַׁבָּ֥ת | shabat | [is] a sabbath | H7676 → | 110 times |
| הִוא֙ | hi' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| לַֽיהוָ֔ה | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| בְּכֹ֖ל | bekhol | in all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| מֽוֹשְׁבֹתֵיכֶֽם׃ פ | mooshevoteikhem | dwelling places your | H4186 → | 44 times |
שֵׁ֣שֶׁתsix
sheshetH8337 →216 times
יָמִים֮days
yamimH3117 →2304 times
תֵּעָשֶׂ֣הit will be done
teasehH6213 →2628 times
מְלָאכָה֒work
melakhahH4399 →167 times
וּבַיּ֣וֹםand [is] on the day
uvaiyomH3117 →2304 times
הַשְּׁבִיעִ֗י<the> seventh
hasheviiH7637 →98 times
שַׁבַּ֤תa sabbath of
shabatH7676 →110 times
שַׁבָּתוֹן֙sabbath observance
shabatonH7677 →11 times
מִקְרָא־a convocation of
mikra'-H4744 →23 times
קֹ֔דֶשׁholiness
kodeshH6944 →469 times
כָּל־any
kol-H3605 →5413 times
מְלָאכָ֖הwork
melakhahH4399 →167 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תַעֲשׂ֑וּyou will do
taasuH6213 →2628 times
שַׁבָּ֥ת[is] a sabbath
shabatH7676 →110 times
הִוא֙it
hi'H1931 →1879 times
לַֽיהוָ֔הto Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
בְּכֹ֖לin all
bekholH3605 →5413 times
מֽוֹשְׁבֹתֵיכֶֽם׃ פdwelling places your
mooshevoteikhemH4186 →44 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
Leviticus 19:3Each of you must respect his mother and father, and you must keep My Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God.
it leads to
- Exodus 20:12
Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
- Exodus 20:8
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
- Hebrews 12:9
Furthermore, we have all had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them. Should we not much more submit to the Father of our spirits and live?
- Ephesians 6:1–3
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
- Ezekiel 22:7–8
Father and mother are treated with contempt. Within your walls the foreign resident is exploited, the fatherless and the widow are oppressed.
- Exodus 20:12
Through
Exodus 23:12For 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…
it leads to
- 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…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Luke 13:14
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…
- 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 Leviticus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.