Sabbath

Sabbath (/ˈsæbəθ/) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to Exodus 20:8 the Sabbath is commanded by God to be kept as a holy day of rest, as God rested from creation. It is observed differently among the Abrahamic religions and informs a similar occasion in several other practices. Although many viewpoints and definitions have arisen over the millennia, most originate in the same textual tradition of: "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy".

In Judaism, Sabbath is the seventh day of the Hebrew calendar week, which in English is known as Saturday. The term has been used to describe a similar weekly observance in any of several other traditions; the first crescent or new moon; any of seven annual festivals in Judaism and some Christian traditions; any of eight annual pagan festivals (usually "sabbat"); an annual secular holiday; and a year of rest in religious or secular usage, the sabbath year, originally every seventh year.

Sabbath (as the verb Shavath) is first mentioned in the Genesis creation narrative, where the seventh day is set aside as a day of rest and made holy by God (). Observation and remembrance of Sabbath is one of the Ten Commandments (the fourth in the original Jewish, the Eastern Orthodox, and most Protestant traditions, the third in Roman Catholic and Lutheran traditions). Most people who observe the Sabbath regard it as having been instituted as a perpetual covenant for the Israelites (), as a sign respecting two events: the day during which God rested after having completed Creation in six days (), and the Israelites' deliverance from Egypt (). The different Sabbaths were to be revered as a shadow of the Christ who was to come (Colossians 2:16-17) who would give mankind rest from their labors in trying to make themselves acceptable before God. For if we rest in the work of Christ on the cross, then we can cease from our own works or self efforts in trying to make ourselves acceptable before God (Hebrews: 4: 9-11), however the weekly Sabbath was still to be kept even after Jesus' ascension (Matthew 24:20).Originally, Sabbath-breakers were officially to be cut off from the assembly or potentially killed (). Observance in the Hebrew Bible was universally from sixth-day sundown to seventh-day sundown (, cf. ), on a seven-day week. Consultations with prophets (II Kings iv. 23) were sought on the Sabbath. Sabbath corporate worship was not prescribed for the community at large and the Sabbath activities at the shrines were originally a convocation of priests for the purpose of offering divine sacrifices with family worship and rest being centered in homes. They were also required to attend worship services on the Sabbath Leviticus 23:3.

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