The scriptures consistently depict the significance of sacred space and sacred time in the lives of the Lord’s covenant people. Sacred time is still experienced today, as in the past, through commemorations and celebrations on specific days that are dedicated to God and thus regarded as holy. These days punctuate the passing of ordinary or common time and are intended to help bring focus and clarity to relationships with the divine.

Moving from the broad topic of sacred time discussed in the previous chapter, this chapter focuses on what we learn about one particular dimension of sacred time, the Sabbath day, as found in the oldest scriptures currently available to us: the Hebrew Bible, which Christians call the Old Testament. Just as the Old Testament is foundational to the whole of the Latter-day Saint canon of scripture in general, so too it contains the earliest and some of the most important and oft-quoted passages about the Sabbath.[1]

Because there is debate about when the various books in the Old Testament reached their final form, it is possible that some passages and books that appear to be chronologically early may have actually reached their final form, as we have them, at a time later than other passages or books.[2] However, this uncertainty does not adversely impact the overall purpose of this paper, which is to assess the contribution of the Old Testament as a whole to a Latter-day Saint understanding of the Sabbath in ancient Israel, and how these scriptures set the pattern for Sabbath beliefs and practices that continue to our day.

The following study overviews the word “sabbath,” examines passages in the Old Testament that provide evidence for Sabbath observance in ancient Israel, and then discusses pertinent Sabbath-related topics, concluding with a brief look at how Latter-day Saints have used these Old Testament passages to teach about the Sabbath in this dispensation.

Sabbath: The Word and the Concept[3]

In scripture, names, titles, and other specific terms are often intended to teach and remind us of important concepts. The word “sabbath” is a good example of this pattern. Our English word “sabbath” is a transliteration of the Hebrew noun šabbāt (pronounced shah-BAHT),[4] which occurs over one hundred times in the Hebrew Bible. This noun is likely related to the verbal root š-b-t.

The primary sense of the verbal root š-b-t is “to cease, stop,” emphasizing the act or process of stopping, of coming to an end, although such stopping did not necessarily lead to “rest” (the Hebrew lexical root n-w-ḥ specifically means “to rest”).[5] So, for example, “the manna ceased [š-b-t] on the morrow” (Joshua 5:12), and “behold, I will cause to cease [š-b-t] out of this place . . . the voice of gladness” (Jeremiah 16:9).[6]

Of course, resting can be a byproduct of ceasing work. And Bible readers’ perceptions of the meaning of š-b-t are very much dependent upon translators and their choices in rendering Hebrew words into English or some other language. For example, the KJV renders the Hebrew of Exodus 23:12 as, “Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest [š-b-t]: that thine ox and thine ass may rest [n-w-ḥ].” However, in the NET Bible this same verse reads, “but on the seventh day you must cease [š-b-t], in order that your ox and your donkey may rest [n-w-ḥ].”[7]

The issue of translating verbal forms of š-b-t raises the question of how best to translate the noun šabbāt. Actually, as noted above, it is usually not translated, but rendered in transliteration as “sabbath” in English versions of the Bible. And the predominant use of šabbāt or sabbath in the Hebrew Bible involves not only the sense of “ceasing” work, but also the sense of some sort of “resting.”[8]

Besides the word šabbāt itself, the historical development of the Sabbath concept and practice have been much debated by scholars, with many suggesting the Sabbath was not institutionalized as a recurring seventh day of rest in ancient Israel until the Babylonian Exile (6th century BC) or the subsequent Persian period, both of which were long after Moses.[9] Likewise debated is the original impetus for a Sabbath day, since the weekly Sabbath as presented in the Old Testament was unique in the ancient world.[10] And theories on Sabbath origins range from proposing the Israelites adopted and adapted a monthly full-moon festival from the Canaanites or Babylonians, to a Kenite connection, to early socioeconomic impulses to provide greater equality.[11] Of course, most of these non-revelation-based theories regarding the Sabbath’s origins and Israelite practices relating to it are at variance with what little is preserved in the Bible regarding such matters.

Based on this introductory overview, it is not surprising that the noun šabbāt came to designate a day of “rest,” because one ceased from working on that day. Of course, “ceasing” and “resting” can relate to many activities, including rest from servitude, rest from travel, and rest from war, as well as rest from life’s wearisome labors. And although resting could be construed to mean doing nothing, in ancient Israel the weekly Sabbath day was considered sacred time, which meant, by definition, doing something different from one’s regular weekday labors, something more focused on holy things—something dedicated to God and what he considered sacred. Thus, the Israelite weekly day of “rest” encompassed physical, emotional, and spiritual components—acts and attitudes of worship—designed to bring “rest” to one’s body and soul.[12]

The Sabbath in Genesis–Deuteronomy

The following comments on occurrences of the noun šabbāt deal first with Sabbath passages in the Pentateuch or Torah, designations given to the biblical books comprising Genesis–Deuteronomy. Not surprisingly, most of these passages occur in texts with a priestly orientation. Generally speaking, priestly texts deal with activity related to cultic or ritual matters, such as the calendar; holy days; holiness and purity; and sacrificial rituals and other activities associated with the tabernacle and later the temple in Jerusalem.[13] As James Kugel (and others) have observed, the Sabbath “was a subject dear to priests, . . . [and] the proper observance of the Sabbath is stressed [in priest-oriented texts] in a way not found elsewhere [in the Bible].”[14] This priestly focus was, at least in part, because the Sabbath day was the most basic and oft-recurring holy day in the Israelite calendar.

Surprisingly, the noun šabbāt does not occur in the Bible until Exodus 16, although verbal forms of š-b-t do occur occasionally before Exodus 16. This means there is no information in the Old Testament, nor in the rest of Latter-day Saint scripture, on any peoples’ observance of the Sabbath day in early human history.

Genesis

Although the noun šabbāt does not occur in the book of Genesis, the Bible does present sacred time as dating back to the creation of the earth. Genesis 2:2–3 is of major importance for understanding the biblical Sabbath, for after the six creative periods summarized in Genesis 1, “on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested [š-b-t] on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested [š-b-t] from all his work” (KJV).[15] Pursuant to the discussion above, some modern translations render š-b-t in these verses as “ceased.”[16]

Regardless of how the verb in question is translated, several pertinent points can be made about the content of this passage, including the following:

• As presented in the Bible, the cosmic rhythm portrayed in the creation account in Genesis 1:1–2:4—the act of working six “days,” or time periods, then ceasing and resting on the seventh—becomes the paradigm for a seven-day week of human time.
• Genesis 2:2–3 recounts that “God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it,” or made it holy (by divine decree), because on this day he ceased or rested from his creative activities. The seventh “day” of the creation process was thus designated as separate and distinct, different from the other six days, and as the culmination of what preceded it. As one commentator has expressed, the “sabbath belongs to the created order; it cannot be legislated or abrogated by human beings. . . . Creation thus has to do, not simply with spatial order, but with temporal order [that is, time itself] as well.”[17]
• Genesis 2:2–3 presents the concept of work followed by ceasing and resting on the seventh “day,” a divine Sabbath, but neither it nor what follows in Genesis contain any instruction about humans following suit. In the Bible as we have it, there is no Sabbath law or commandment given to Adam and Eve or their posterity to “go and do” as God did regarding the cessation of work on the seventh day until the time of Moses, when the Lord gave the Israelites the Sabbath command at Mount Sinai (Exodus 20).[18]
• Based on this biblical depiction, most scholars assume that Sabbath observance was not the norm until at least the time of Moses, and many scholars assume that the practice developed centuries later than that (see comments above).[19] Latter-day Saints tend to disagree, as discussed next.

Given the general Latter-day Saint understanding that the principles and practices of the gospel of Jesus Christ were on the earth from the very beginning of human activity, it is not surprising that Latter-day Saint leaders and publications have taught that the Sabbath was practiced from the time of Adam and Eve onwards. Speaking of this general perspective, Spencer W. Kimball taught, “Moses . . . brought to the wandering children of Israel the Ten Commandments, fundamental rules for the conduct of life. These commandments [which include keeping the Sabbath day holy], however, were not new. They had been known to Adam and his posterity, who had been commanded to live them from the beginning, and were merely reiterated by the Lord to Moses.”[20] And more specifically, the Latter-day Saint Bible Dictionary claims that “the Sabbath was a holy day before the giving of the law [to Moses], even from the earliest times . . . but we have no evidence of its observance in patriarchal times. This is no doubt due to the scantiness of the record, for the Sabbath is an eternal principle and would have existed from the days of Adam, whenever the gospel was on the earth among men.”[21] Thus, for Latter-day Saints with a Restoration perspective, the lack of biblical information about the Sabbath from Adam and Eve to Moses is not a barrier to believing in Sabbath-day practice prior to the time of Moses, despite its lack of occurrence in our surviving scriptural records.[22]

Exodus

As mentioned above, the first time the noun šabbāt occurs in the Bible is in Exodus 16, which recounts some of the Israelites’ experiences after fleeing Egypt (see Exodus 12) but before arriving at Mount Sinai (see Exodus 18–19). In particular, Exodus 16:22–30 narrates Moses’s instructions to the Israelites about gathering manna to eat: “To day is a sabbath [šabbāt] unto the LORD: to day ye shall not find it [manna] in the field. Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none. . . . the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days. . . . So the people rested [š-b-t] on the seventh day” (16:23–30).[23]

This account presents a coherent “six days–seventh day” approach to the work of gathering manna in the wilderness, reminiscent of the report of the divine cessation from work in Genesis 2:2–3. Just as God did not work on the seventh day after creating the earth, he likewise ceased from work on the seventh day of each week by not providing the Israelites with manna on that day. And the Israelites were to follow this model. They would not be working to gather and prepare manna on the seventh day. They thus practiced a šabbāt of sorts.

But at this point in the narrative, the Bible as we have it has not yet related a commandment or an explanation about the Sabbath day in general. That first comes with the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20. In fact, Exodus 16:29 is understood by some scholars as introducing the Sabbath concept to Israelites for the first time—“See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath”—with a humanitarian as opposed to a religious emphasis, as preparation for the command that comes in Exodus 20.[24] However, most Latter-day Saints would tend to see this as a continuation of an unattested but age-old Sabbath practice, not as a new innovation.

The Israelites’ arrival and stay at Mount Sinai provided a period of rest and spiritual focus for them after their time in and exodus from Egypt. Exodus 19–20 recounts a dramatic theophany in which Jehovah declared the Ten Commandments. As indicated in Exodus 19 and 20, with support from Deuteronomy 4 and 5 (see below), Jehovah spoke the Ten Commandments, or the Decalogue, to all the Israelites gathered at the base of the mountain. Each Israelite heard the voice of God declaring these standards, collectively to all but individually to each of them.[25]

The very fact that Jehovah gave the Sabbath commandment (see Exodus 20:8–11), the fourth of the ten, as part of the Decalogue signals its gravity in the Israelites’ relationship with him (and in our relationship with him as well). This commandment formally introduces and grounds the Sabbath law in the Bible. And in contrast to the first three of the Ten Commandments (and most of the subsequent commandments), this commandment is not a prohibition against a certain action but a positive command to do something.

Thus, Exodus 20:8 states, “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.”[26] This command immediately requires two conjoined responses from the Israelites. First, they are to “remember” the day of šabbāt. As commentators usually stress, “remembering” in the Bible often means more than merely recalling something. It involves paying attention to and considering, which leads to commitment and action.[27]

This proper “remembering” of the Sabbath leads to the second needed response, “to keep it [the sabbath] holy.” As presented in Genesis 2:3, God “sanctified” the seventh day—that is, he made it holy, which made it separate and different from the other six days of the week. The Sabbath belongs to God; it originated with him. Now in Exodus 20:8 the charge comes to maintain the divinely sanctioned holiness of the day. Thus, every week the Sabbath came to the Israelites, and comes to each of us, as a holy day. As we keep or maintain its holiness, it has the power to help us become holy. This transformation correlates with Jehovah’s greater charge to his covenant people: “Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2).[28]

After the command is given, Exodus 20:9–10 provides instructions about the Sabbath. Ancient Israelites did not have the luxury of a four- or five-day work week, so the mention of working six days per week was essentially a given. What is unique here is that the Israelites were commanded to not do any work every seventh day. And remarkably, everyone was to cease working: each Israelite family; their entire household, meaning all slaves or servants; every gēr, translated variously as “stranger/sojourner/resident alien;” and all animals (vv. 9–10; compare Exodus 23:12).[29] This all-encompassing šabbāt concept is extraordinary, and was intended, at least in this context, to provide a status-leveling dimension to Israelite society—every person and animal was expected to cease working and experience rest on the Sabbath. Thus, as expressed by Bernard White, “Before God, we stand as equals: all are his servants, all are his creatures, all are recipients of his tender care.”[30]

Exodus 20:11 summarizes the content of Genesis 1:1–2:3 and provides the basis for this powerful Sabbath commandment: God created the earth in six days, and then he “blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” This divine cosmic rhythm was presented as the foundation for a weekly human rhythm of work followed by rest, thereby refocusing the Lord’s covenant people on the divine. This explanation loops back to the initial injunctions in verse 8: “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.” Thus, remembering the Sabbath and maintaining its holiness involves recalling what God did during and after six days of creation; why he did it; and what one’s relationship is to him and to his purposes.

However, some things are left unsaid in this passage, such as what constitutes work. There is no defined list in the Old Testament of what Israelites were expected to do on the Sabbath and what “work” they were to cease doing. Their regular occupational work and their subsistence labors were obvious activities to cease, and this seems to be the focus of the instructions in verses 9–10. In this regard, observing the Sabbath required the exercise of great faith by the Israelites. Given their agrarian-based society, not working one day of the week displayed trust in Jehovah and in his willingness to provide. (Other activities that came to be considered “work” to be avoided on the Sabbath are discussed in a separate section below).

A few chapters later, Exodus 31 further emphasizes Jehovah’s view of the sacred nature of the Sabbath day. Following revelation to Moses on Mount Sinai about the design of the tabernacle, its cultic items, and the ordaining of Aaron and his sons as priests (see Exodus 25:1–31:11), Jehovah instructed: “Verily my sabbaths [šabbĕtōt, plural] ye shall keep [š-m-r]: for it is a sign [’ôt] between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you. . . . It is a sign [’ôt] 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 [š-b-t]” (Exodus 31:13, 17). Thus, the Israelites’ keeping the Sabbath day holy was meant not only to provide them rest but also to act as an individual and group marker—a sign—of their covenant relationship with Jehovah (see Exodus 24) and of their recognition that he alone had the power to make them holy like he is. God’s work-then-rest paradigm from the earth’s creation is again emphasized as the basis for this Sabbath practice.

The Sabbath as a sign in Exodus 31 parallels the purpose of the sign of circumcision given to Abraham in Genesis 17—“circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token [’ôt] of the covenant betwixt me and you” (v. 11)[31]—in that Jehovah intended it to function as a human demonstration of obedience to and covenant relationship with the divine.[32] However, “unlike circumcision, it [Sabbath observance] is not a single act but an attitude to be consistently maintained” by all covenant Israelites.[33]

Lastly, Exodus 31 is the first biblical passage that mentions a consequence for Israelite violation of the Sabbath. Exodus 31:14–15 explicitly presents Jehovah’s words: whoever profanes the Sabbath (that is, treats it as a regular, common, and therefore unholy day) by doing work on it “shall surely be put to death.” Although situated in a different time period and cultural context, this penalty for profaning the Sabbath seems harsh to our modern sensibilities. The Old Testament does not specifically state a reason for this severe penalty, but by way of context, capital punishment in ancient Israel was associated with violations of the first seven of the Ten Commandments, plus with other social violations such as kidnapping and rape.[34]

The Old Testament contains only one example of capital punishment applied to Sabbath-day violation. Numbers 15:32–36 recounts the case of a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath. Since this passage follows others dealing with unintentional sins (vv. 22–29) and sins committed “presumptuously” (KJV) or with “a high hand” (ESV, NRSV; vv. 30–31), it may be that the stick gatherer was acting defiantly as well as publicly in violation of the Sabbath commandment. Moses inquires of Jehovah what should be done, and Jehovah instructs Moses that the Israelites should stone the person to death outside the camp.[35] This concise passage in Numbers 15 asserts a penalty for the man’s actions, but it does not answer most questions about the incident or its outcome.[36] It is not clear how often death was inflicted for profaning the Sabbath, since there are other instances of Sabbath violation recounted in the Old Testament in which death was not the outcome (for example, see Amos 8:5; and Nehemiah 13:15–18). Thus many scholars think it was rare for Israelite Sabbath violation to result in capital punishment, and the capital consequence prescribed in Exodus 31:14–15 is understood as a biblical tradition that emphasizes how sacred the Sabbath was to Jehovah.[37]

At the very least, violation of the Sabbath demonstrated a disrespect for one’s promises to and relationship with God on a larger scale. After the Israelites formally accepted and entered into a covenant with Jehovah at Mount Sinai—thereby indicating they would do all that he had commanded them (see Exodus 24:3–8)—profaning the Sabbath, the day that Jehovah had made holy, not only violated a direct commandment from him but also undermined the efficacy of the sign of their covenant with him.[38] An underlying biblical principle is that God’s holiness, and by extension the holiness of things made holy by God (such as the Sabbath day), inherently has greater and more powerful dimensions than many people realize.[39]

The last Sabbath passage in Exodus discussed herein is Exodus 35:1–3, which repeats and adds to the Sabbath commands already given: “Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of rest [šabbat šabbātôn] to the LORD: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death. Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day.” Not only are the work-rest paradigm and the death penalty repeated here, but a new proscription is added—that kindling fires on the Sabbath constitutes work and must be avoided (hinted at in Exodus 16:23; again, a discussion of “work” is provided below).[40]

These passages in Exodus 20, 31, and 35 powerfully inform the rest of the Sabbath passages in the Old Testament. The majority of the remaining Sabbath passages in the Pentateuch are also in priestly-oriented passages, with the exception of Deuteronomy 5 (discussed below).

Leviticus

With its focus on sacrifice, holiness, and other priestly matters, Leviticus depicts the Israelites while they are still camped at Mount Sinai. Major Sabbath-day commandments and instructions occur in Leviticus 19 and 24.[41] But the largest concentration of references to the Sabbath in Leviticus is found in chapters 23 and 25–26. Leviticus 23 outlines annual holy day feasts in the Israelite calendar, but it actually begins with a reemphasis of the weekly Sabbath: “it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings” (23:3; the Sabbath is also mentioned in verses 11, 15, 16, 32, and 38).

The significance of the Sabbath principle was illustrated not only by observing the seventh day of each week as holy. Ancient Israelites were also taught to observe a seven-year cycle and a fifty-year Jubilee cycle—that is, a cycle of seven periods of seven years plus one—with practices that brought “rest” to their agricultural lands and to those in debt and debt slavery. Space does not allow further discussion here, but for example, Leviticus 25:2–7 presents the concept of a Sabbath year for land.[42] It is not clear to what extent these Sabbath-year laws were actually practiced, but such passages demonstrate the broad significance of the Sabbath principle in Israelite theology, further reinforcing the rationale for rest and release from the burdens of ordinary life and providing an expansive view of recurring sacred time.

Further reaffirmation of the Sabbath-day command occurs in Leviticus 26. Preceding a list of blessings Jehovah would provide if the Israelites were righteous and curses if they were disobedient are the reminders to not worship other deities and to keep the Sabbath holy: “Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD” (v. 2). As the listing of curses concludes, Jehovah promises the Israelites to “scatter [them] among the heathen” if they break their covenant with him (v. 33), stating that “then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths” by lying at rest when the Israelites are exiled elsewhere (vv. 33–34; compare vv. 35, 43).

Numbers

There are only sporadic references to the Sabbath in texts recounting the Israelites’ experiences after leaving Mount Sinai (see Numbers 10). The incident of the man gathering sticks on the Sabbath, outlined in Numbers 15, was mentioned above in connection with Exodus 31. Numbers 28–29 contain a sacrificial calendar of sorts, indicating what “sacrifices [should be] made by fire” on the altar at the tabernacle (and later at the Jerusalem temple) on various holy days. Numbers 28:9–10 indicates that every Sabbath day, the regular morning and evening sacrifices should be doubled (see 28:1–8 for the daily offerings, which are first mentioned in Exodus 29:38–39). Thus, two additional lambs were to be offered as whole burnt offerings each Sabbath (one extra in the morning and in the evening), along with doubled grain and drink offerings. These additional offerings highlight the special status of the Sabbath day.

Deuteronomy

The book of Deuteronomy primarily presents Moses’s last teachings to the Israelites in the plains of Moab, east of the Jordan River before his departure and their entrance into the land of Canaan. Although Deuteronomy reviews laws, as did the previously discussed books in the Pentateuch, it is not priestly literature. Much of its language, tone, and interests are different, emphasizing covenant loyalty; faithfulness to and love for Jehovah alone; and the chosen status of the Israelites.

Deuteronomy’s early chapters present Moses’s review of his experiences with the Israelites, including their reception of the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai. Although the Sabbath command as presented in Deuteronomy 5:12–15 is similar to what is recounted in Exodus 20:8–11, these verses also contain important differences. These include the following:

• Deuteronomy 5:12: “Keep [š-m-r] the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee.” In Exodus 20:8, the command is to “remember the sabbath day” to sanctify it, while here the Hebrew verb is š-m-r, meaning “to keep, observe, watch over, protect, guard.”[43] Although there is no good explanation for the difference in wording—especially since the verse ends with Moses saying “as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee,” referring back to the giving of the Decalogue at Mount Sinai—the variants to “remember” (Exodus 20:8) and to “keep, guard” (Deuteronomy 5:12) the Sabbath day to maintain its holiness are best seen as complementary injunctions. Properly remembering the Sabbath leads one to protect its holy status.
• Deuteronomy 5:14 ends with an additional reminder not found in Exodus 20: “Thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.” This clause emphasizes the divine ideal of the need for all people in Israel to cease their labors on the Sabbath, no matter what their social status.[44]
• Deuteronomy 5:15 concludes this version of the Sabbath command by providing a markedly different reason for observing the day than the reason given in earlier scripture. In Exodus 20:11, the basis for the Israelite Sabbath observance was that God had created the earth in six days, after which he ceased or “rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it;” thus the Israelites were expected to emulate Jehovah’s pattern by doing likewise every week. However, Deuteronomy 5:15 explains that “the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day” to help Israelites “remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm.” As with the difference between “remember” and “keep” at the beginning of the Sabbath command (Exodus 20:8; Deuteronomy 5:12), these motivations for Sabbath observance are not mutually exclusive. The version in Deuteronomy 5:15 presumably assumes knowledge of the contents of Genesis 2 and Exodus 20 but, by picking up on a thread in Exodus 20:2, it also exhorts the Israelites to “remember” that, by providing the Israelites with release and rest from Egyptian bondage and engaging with them at Mount Sinai, Jehovah had created, as it were, a newly constituted covenant people. Therefore the Israelites should also rest on the Sabbath day in commemoration of God’s goodness and his power to deliver them.[45]

These two versions of the Sabbath command—Exodus 20:8–11 and Deuteronomy 5:12–15—connect the Sabbath with two different great acts of God: (1) creating the earth and designating a holy day (see Genesis 2:2–3), and (2) fulfilling a promise to redeem the Israelites from Egyptian servitude and offering them a covenant opportunity (see Exodus 1–24). These two passages complement each other by restating Jehovah’s expectations for Israelite Sabbath compliance (and our own Sabbath compliance by extension) and by calling attention to Jehovah’s power to create and to deliver.

As just reviewed, passages in the Torah or Pentateuch introduce and explain the nature of the weekly commemoration known biblically as the Sabbath day. These Sabbath passages appear primarily in priestly-oriented content and comprise the foundational texts for all Sabbath-related activity in the rest of the Old Testament. These Torah texts are part of the Israelites’ binding covenant with Jehovah and prescribe what was supposed to happen regarding the Sabbath, rather than describing what actually did happen (with the exception of Numbers 15:32–36).

Moving beyond the Pentateuch, there is no general discussion of the Sabbath in the remainder of the Old Testament, but there are several narrative passages that mention the Sabbath in passing, and several prophetic books that present critiques of Israelite behavior in relation to the Sabbath.[46] Some of these passages will now be considered, followed by discussions of what the Israelites were to do and not do on the Sabbath day and how Latter-day Saints have employed these Old Testament teachings about the Sabbath.

Sabbath: Practice and Reproof after Moses

Mention of the Sabbath in Narrative Texts

Following Moses’s departure, the Bible narrates that Joshua led the Israelites into the land of Canaan, which then became known as the land of Israel. The noun šabbāt does not occur anywhere in the books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, or 1 Kings, although one can assume that at least some Israelites observed the Sabbath during the centuries overviewed by these books.[47] Scattered references to the Sabbath in other narrative texts say little about the Sabbath itself, but they do indicate awareness of the day and its related practices, as well as abuses thereof.

One passage worth highlighting occurs in 2 Kings 4.[48] A son in an Israelite family living in the northern kingdom of Israel in the mid-800s BC died. The boy’s mother instructed her husband to prepare a donkey and a servant so she could ride to find “the man of God,” meaning the prophet Elisha. Her husband responded, “Wherefore wilt thou go to him to day? it is neither new moon, nor sabbath. And she said, It shall be well” (v. 23). The monthly new moon was a day of sacrifice and rest, similar to the weekly Sabbath day in some ways (compare Numbers 28:11–15). The husband’s response suggests that people would gather around prophets on worship days, such as the New Moon and the weekly Sabbath, and further assumes at least some degree of observance of the Sabbath by Israelites in that region at that time.[49]

Other important narrative passages relating to Sabbath expectations occur in Nehemiah 10 and 13. The reported events took place in Jerusalem in the mid-400s BC, in what is called the postexilic period, that is, the period following the Babylonian destruction of the Jerusalem Temple, the subsequent deportation of Israelites to Babylonia, and the ensuing return from exile and rebuilding of the temple in the Persian era.[50]

Nehemiah 10 recounts that many Israelites in Jerusalem pledged to keep “all the commandments of the LORD our Lord” (v. 29), the stipulations of which included that “if the people of the land bring ware[s] or any victuals [grain] on the sabbath day to sell, that [the Israelites] would not buy it of them on the sabbath, or on the holy day” (v. 31).[51] As recounted in Nehemiah 13:15–22, Nehemiah’s efforts to rebuild Jerusalem physically and spiritually included eliminating the production and transportation of goods by Israelites and foreigners by securing the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. Many of Nehemiah’s people had not learned this important lesson from the past: a major reason for the divine judgments which culminated in the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem was the violation of Sabbath law (compare Jeremiah 17:21–27; Lamentations 2:6; compare Amos 8:5; these passages are discussed below). Thus, based on Nehemiah 13, the issue of profaning the Sabbath in preexilic times continued among some postexilic Israelites.

The accounts in 1 and 2 Chronicles, produced in the postexilic period, assert (among other things) the significance of Jerusalem, the temple, and priestly and Levitical activities. With this priestly orientation, it is no surprise that the word šabbāt occurs ten times therein: twice in 1 Chronicles 9:32 in reference to preparation of showbread for the Sabbath, and the remaining eight times (in both singular and plural forms) in connection with sacrificial offerings or other priestly service on the Sabbath day.[52]

Mention of the Sabbath in Prophetic Texts—Critiques

Many of the occurrences of the noun šabbāt in the prophetic books appear in critiques of some Israelites’ lack of compliance with prophetic expectations regarding the Sabbath day. Each has its own context, important for understanding the full dimensions of the prophetic critique. However, space limitations necessitate limiting most context in what follows.

Prophesying that various covenant violations would result in the coming destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel, Amos portrays some Israelites as saying, “When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great” (Amos 8:5). These people were not really celebrating the Sabbath, but rather enduring it so they could return to their business practices. Although not providing much description of actual Sabbath-day activities, this passage affirms an ongoing Sabbath-day tradition in the northern kingdom of Israel in the mid-700s BC.[53]

Likewise, Isaiah 58 relates Jehovah’s condemnation of Israelites who engaged in fasting for selfish rather than compassionate reasons (see vv. 1–4).[54] Following instructions on what constitutes an acceptable fast (see vv. 5–12), this Sabbath-related encouragement is given: “If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy [day] of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD” (vv. 13–14). Here, again, proper observance of the Sabbath serves as a sign of one’s focus on and commitment to Jehovah and his will. And again, an Israelite prophet was calling at least some people to repent of their abuses of the Sabbath day.

Sometime before the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem (586 BC), Jehovah instructed Jeremiah to publicly declare this message in Jerusalem: “Thus saith the LORD; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. But they obeyed not” (Jeremiah 17:21–23). This rebuke is followed by a conditional promise of spiritual and political blessings (see vv. 24–26), which would all be voided if the Israelites in Jerusalem did not keep the Sabbath day holy: “But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched” (17:27).[55] The passage in Nehemiah 13 dealing with closing the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath, cited above, draws on the content of this Jeremiah passage. By doing so, Nehemiah 13 encourages postexilic Israelites, those living in Jerusalem a century and a half after the time of Jeremiah, to honor the Sabbath more faithfully than their preexilic ancestors had done.

Just as the Lord warned in Jeremiah 17, Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC, resulting in death, destruction, and the deportation of thousands of Israelites (see 2 Kings 25; Jeremiah 39; 52; and Lamentations 2). The destruction of the temple ended the special sacrifices offered there on the Sabbath day for the next seventy years, thus eliminating that institutional ritual aspect of Sabbath worship until the Jerusalem temple was rebuilt and dedicated in 515 BC.

Turning now to the book of Ezekiel, Ezekiel was an Aaronic priest deported to Babylonia in 597 BC. He was called while in exile as a prophet to represent Jehovah to others who had also been deported. The book of Ezekiel, which displays a definite priestly tone and focus, contains several passages mentioning the Sabbath day in a context of judgement. For example, chapter 20 references the Israelite exodus-era experiences, and includes denouncements such as: “I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them. But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: . . . and my sabbaths they greatly polluted” (20:12–13; compare 20:16, 20–21, 24; and Nehemiah 9:13–17). Thus we can see that centuries after Moses, Israelite prophets were utilizing teachings in Exodus 20 and 31 to emphasize Sabbath observance as a covenant sign between Jehovah and the Israelites and as a conduit to sanctification. Ten of the fifteen occurrences in the Old Testament of the phrase “my sabbaths,” meaning Jehovah’s Sabbaths, are in the book of Ezekiel.[56] This phrase emphasizes that Jehovah set the Sabbath and certain other days apart as holy. The Sabbath day belongs to him, and his covenant people are expected to keep it holy.

The book of Ezekiel also states that the profaning of the Sabbath by Ezekiel’s contemporary Israelites, including priests and princes, was a key factor in Jehovah’s willingness to allow the Babylonians to destroy Jerusalem in 586 BC (see 22:8, 26, 31; 23:38). Powerfully, Ezekiel 22:26 ends with this claim: “they [the priests] have put no difference between the holy and profane, . . . and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them” (emphasis added). Regarding this final phrase, Old Testament scholar Daniel Block has observed that “the priests’ betrayal of their calling ultimately affects Yahweh himself. Their irresponsibility reflects not only on his character, since he had appointed them to this office, it also inhibits the nation as a group in its performance of his will.”[57] Although profaning the Sabbath (and other occasions of “sacred time”) was not Israel’s only covenant infraction that provoked divine judgment ending in destruction, passages in Jeremiah and Ezekiel clearly indicate that it was a major factor.

Collectively, the strong response from some biblical prophets to Sabbath violations among Israelites living in the kingdoms of Israel and Judah serves many purposes: it emphasizes the significance of the Sabbath day in Jehovah’s relationship with his people; it recounts an ongoing disregard for approved Sabbath observance; and it provides, at least in part, justification for divine judgments against the Israelites. Sadly, as scholar Ronald Clements has observed, the language in the Sabbath command in Deuteronomy 5:13–15 “serve[s] to confirm a perspective corroborated elsewhere in the OT that this particular commandment [of Sabbath observance] was especially vulnerable to indifference and neglect.”[58]

Mention of the Sabbath in Prophetic Texts—Future Observance

In addition to reproof for Israelite Sabbath-day violations, prophetic texts in the Old Testament also contain a few passages presenting a future vision of peace and harmony that includes ideal Sabbath-day observance. For example, Isaiah 56:1–8 contains a remarkable set of promises from Jehovah in the context of the claim that “my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness [is soon] to be revealed” (v. 1). All people, Israelites and foreigners (nēkār; KJV, “stranger”), who abide by God’s law are promised blessings. Although commentators differ on when this was or will be fulfilled (and likely it will not completely be fulfilled until the Millennium), the emphasis on honoring the Sabbath is important here. Happiness is promised to each faithful person “who keeps [š-m-r] the sabbath, not profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil” (v. 2, ESV; see also vv. 4, 6).

Additionally, Isaiah 66 looks forward to an ideal age when those in Jerusalem would all worship Jehovah in truth and harmony, including the prophecy that “it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD” (Isaiah 66:23). This view of an ideal future stands in stark contrast to ongoing calls in such prophetic books as Amos, Isaiah, and Jeremiah for Israelites to repent and keep the Sabbath day holy.[59]

This concludes the overview and assessment of important Sabbath passages in the Old Testament. The following two sections deal with specific issues relating to the Sabbath.

Ancient Israelite Sabbath Activities

The biblical laws, teachings, and practices reviewed above emphatically attest that Jehovah expected Israelites to cease their weekly labors as part of their Sabbath observation. However, as many commentators have stated, the Bible contains little description about what constituted the “work” that should be avoided. Similarly, there is no specific list of activities Israelites were expected to do on the Sabbath.[60] This situation is likely due, at least in part, to the focus and purpose of the Old Testament texts in general: they usually do not report the details of day-to-day life. Additionally, ancient prophets and scripture compilers may have taken an approach similar to many Latter-day Saint prophets, who have typically emphasized Sabbath principles over lists of what is acceptable or objectionable for the Sabbath day.[61] Therefore, the following comments provide a brief overview of the biblical passages that contribute to our understanding of Sabbath practice in ancient Israel.

“Work” to be Avoided on the Sabbath

As indicated above, Exodus 20:10 and Deuteronomy 5:14 are quite specific that the Israelites—along with everyone in their household, sojourners, and animals—should “not do any work” on the Sabbath. Thus, occupational and subsistence labor was to cease each Sabbath day as part of maintaining the day’s holiness.

Additional passages, if they are broadly representative, help illustrate what, beyond occupational and agricultural activities (see Exodus 34:21), was considered “work” that was to cease on the Sabbath. For example, gathering food (see Exodus 16:23–30), gathering wood (see Numbers 15:32–36), kindling fire (see Exodus 35:3), and engaging in commercial activities (see Nehemiah 10:31; 13:15–22) desecrated the Sabbath day.[62]

Specific accusations of commercial activities as Sabbath violations are found in Amos 8:5; Jeremiah 17:19–27; and Nehemiah 10:31; 13:15–18 (all of which are mentioned above). This shows us that, according to Jeremiah’s and Nehemiah’s accounts, “profaning the Sabbath” included the acts of buying and selling on the day that Jehovah had set apart as sacred.

Additionally, Isaiah 58:13 prompts Israelites to “call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, . . . not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words.” This admonition clearly indicates that personal interests and pleasures commonly pursued during the week had replaced the divinely focused perspective Jehovah desired on the Sabbath. Reverence for God and his holy day was being subverted by the Israelites’ own mundane activities on the Sabbath; the Israelites were thus profaning or making common that holy day.

It is not currently possible to know if these stipulations were all in effect during the whole of Israelite history, but cumulatively these few passages have certainly shaped the post-Old Testament understanding of Sabbath practice.[63] With these guidelines and restrictions in mind, the next subsection examines what the Israelites did on the Sabbath day, again based only on what is preserved in the Old Testament.

What the Israelites Did on the Sabbath

Just as with the issue of what “work” was to be avoided on the Sabbath, scholar Harold P. Dressler’s claim that “the actual celebration of the Sabbath is not described in detail” in the Old Testament is accurate but also greatly understated.[64] The Sabbath is not only “not described in detail”; no description whatsoever is provided. However, returning to Exodus 20:8 provides the framework of the Sabbath principle: to keep the Sabbath day holy. This means that things which contributed to the holiness or uncommonness of the day were and are acceptable to Jehovah. Things that detracted from the holiness of the Sabbath—work and other activities that made it common—were to be excluded.

The few Old Testament passages available to us that depict acceptable Sabbath activities fall into two categories: (1) ritual actions prescribed for Aaronic priests, and (2) what nonpriestly “regular” Israelites did. Regarding priestly activity, the daily morning and evening sacrificial offering of a lamb, grain, and drink offerings at the tabernacle, and later at the Jerusalem temple, were doubled on the Sabbath day (see Numbers 28:9–10).[65] The offering of these extra sacrifices emphasized the importance of the Sabbath. These sacrifices were not considered “work”; instead they were considered priestly activity directed towards Jehovah in worship rather than towards one’s own self-interest.[66]

Additionally, the priests who entered the tabernacle every morning to burn incense and ensure that the oil lamps on the menorah were still burning would, on the Sabbath, eat “in the holy place” the twelve “loaves” (ESV) or “cakes” (KJV) of flat bread that had rested on the table of showbread during the week, replacing them with twelve fresh loaves that were placed before Jehovah for the coming week (see Leviticus 24:5–9; compare Exodus 25:25–30). These twelve loaves represented the twelve tribes of Israel and their gratitude for the blessings of life Jehovah had given them, a worshipful offering renewed by the priests on behalf of the people each Sabbath day.[67] These priestly and related activities on the Sabbath, occurring in the sacred space of the tabernacle or temple area, emphasize the magnitude of this weekly sacred time.

Segueing to what the majority of Israelites (the nonpriestly ones) did on the Sabbath, Ezekiel 46:3 states that at the future temple in Jerusalem, “the people of the land shall worship at the door of this [eastern] gate before the LORD in the sabbaths and in the new moons.” Such prophesied Sabbath worship at the temple likely reflects actual practice in Jerusalem in Ezekiel’s time and probably earlier, and this worship was presumably led by priests with Levitical assistance (see also Isaiah 1:13, which contains an implication of worshipful assemblies on the Sabbath).

However, many Israelites lived beyond practical travelling distance to the tabernacle or temple. Again, based on only the few passages in the Old Testament, it appears that those Israelites who could not go to the tabernacle or temple on the Sabbath worshipped at or near their home.[68] This notion of home-based Sabbath worship is implied in the Ten Commandments, with the specification that the entire household was to cease work and rest on the Sabbath (see Exodus 20:10; 23:12), and in the injunction to “kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day” (Exodus 35:3).

Further affirming this perspective, Leviticus 23:3 states that “the seventh day is the sabbath of rest . . . ; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.” The phrase “in all your dwellings” indicates that many Israelites would celebrate the Sabbath locally or regionally (usually in kin-based groups), not at the tabernacle.[69] Because of this, resting from weekday labors provided time for special meals, praying, teaching, and service, which likely took place in an immediate- or extended-family context.

Furthermore, this locally-based worship appears to have included gatherings (at least sometimes) with a religious authority figure, as suggested by the account in 2 Kings 4, in which a mother’s insistence on finding the prophet Elisha and securing his help to revive her deceased son is met with this response from her husband: “Wherefore wilt thou go to him [Elisha] to day? it is neither new moon, nor sabbath” (v. 23). This supports the notion that some Israelites gathered around a prophet or perhaps some other leader, such as a priest or patriarch, on Sabbaths and other holy days for worship and instruction. Finally, Psalm 92, a “Song for the sabbath day” (superscription), recounts praise and gratitude that many Israelites likely expressed in Sabbath worship, whether at home or at the temple.

Given the conjoined commands to cease weekday work and to keep the Sabbath day holy, we can confidently assume, aided by these few biblical clues, that what Jehovah expected Israelites to do on the Sabbath day was to worship and praise him; to teach and learn about him, including remembering his great acts of creating, delivering, and covenanting; to bless the lives of family members and neighbors; and to demonstrate in desire and deed that the Sabbath was a sign or symbol of their covenant relationship with him—that this one day of their week was distinct from the other six days of the week, a holy day. Doctrine and Covenants 59:10 reiterates this general approach to Sabbath observance in this dispensation: “This is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto the Most High.”

Latter-day Saint Use of Old Testament Sabbath Teachings

Given that the Old Testament contains such foundational scriptures commanding Sabbath worship, it is no surprise that Latter-day Saint leaders and Church materials often utilize these scriptures in teaching about the Sabbath day in this dispensation. Later chapters in this volume more thoroughly focus on Latter-day Saints and the Sabbath. Here it is sufficient to briefly illustrate the use of Old Testament passages in recent teaching about the Sabbath.

There are, of course, comments on the Sabbath in Church manuals and other media, and these deal with such major passages as Genesis 2, Exodus 20, and Isaiah 58 (as well as Mark 2 and Doctrine and Covenants 59). For the sake of brief illustration, the following comments deal with the employment of Old Testament Sabbath passages in recent general conference addresses.

Passing encouragements to keep the Sabbath day holy from one or more speakers occur in most general conferences of the Church, and these encouragements often cite Exodus 20:8 as support.[70] Additionally, every few years there has been a major conference address focusing on observing the Sabbath day, and these have drawn heavily on passages in the Old Testament.

Examples of this include Elder H. Aldridge Gillespie’s October 2000 conference address entitled “The Blessing of Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy,” in which he quoted from Exodus 20:8, Leviticus 26:2–12, and Isaiah 58:13–14.[71] In an April 2011 conference address entitled “The Sabbath and the Sacrament,” Elder L. Tom Perry quoted Genesis 2:3 and Exodus 20:8–11.[72] And in an address in the April 2015 general conference entitled “The Sabbath Is a Delight”—the title of which derives from Isaiah 58:13—then-Elder Russell M. Nelson explained the meaning of the Hebrew word šabbāt and referenced a wide variety of Sabbath passages, including Genesis 2:2–3; Exodus 20:8 and 31:13, 16; Deuteronomy 5:12; Leviticus 19:3, 30, and 26:2–4; Ezekiel 20:20 and 44:24; and Isaiah 58:13–14—all of which have also been cited in this chapter.[73]

The citing of Old Testament verses has not been confined to recent general conference addresses. The January 1978 issue of the Ensign magazine had a Sabbath-day focus, beginning with a First Presidency message from President Spencer W. Kimball entitled “The Sabbath—A Delight.”[74] Additionally, on September 28, 1992, the First Presidency of the Church released a letter, entitled “Sabbath Day Observance,” which was to be read in sacrament meetings throughout the Church.[75] Although no Old Testament passages were quoted in this letter, “observance of the Sabbath” is mentioned as “one of the Ten Commandments” (see Exodus 20:8). Finally, Church emphasis on keeping the Sabbath day holy in 2015 and 2016 included passages from the Old Testament as well as a media campaign that encouraged Latter-day Saints “of all ages and living around the world to share their photos and thoughts as they honor the Sabbath day—#HisDay.”[76]

Hopefully, these few examples are sufficient to illustrate the significant role that Sabbath-day passages from the Old Testament have had, and continue to have, on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as prophets and apostles have reaffirmed the importance of the Sabbath during the past few decades of this dispensation.[77]

Conclusion

Much has been said and could yet be said about the principle and practice of the Sabbath in the Old Testament. The Old Testament presents the Sabbath as a great gift from God, holy and sacred time in an unholy world, designed to assist each of us in our transformation to becoming true saints—that is, holy people.[78] In conclusion, these few points are offered by way of review and application.

First, the Old Testament teaches that humans properly observing the Sabbath are paralleling God and the pattern he established, with six days of creative activity followed by a day for ceasing work, resting, and finding spiritual refreshment (see Genesis 1:3–2:3). God’s designating a holy day says something about his nature, since holiness is a divine attribute. And our keeping the Sabbath day holy says something about our desire to accept his invitation to develop this attribute of holiness in ourselves (see Leviticus 19:2). In this way, “sanctifying the Sabbath is part of our imitation of God, but it also becomes a way to find God’s presence.”[79]

Second, the command to honor the Sabbath day is introduced in both Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 with a connection to an event— respectively, the creation of the earth and Jehovah’s deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt. Recognizing and remembering these and other great acts of God invokes a sense of awe and gratitude. Severing Sabbath-day observance from this commemorative dimension diminishes the power that commemoration has: the power to direct and sustain a worshipful focus and the pursuit of holiness. This diminishment of power that happens when the Sabbath is not kept then negatively impacts one’s future possibilities. This is because “the setting aside of one day when human beings attend, not to their own responsibilities and freedoms, but to God’s ordering of life honors the larger creative purposes of God and integrating oneself into them. It acknowledges that God is indeed the Creator and provider of all things,”[80] as well as the one who has power to redeem his covenant people from all things.

Third, God declared the Sabbath day holy and indicated that keeping the Sabbath day holy is a sign of our active covenant relationship with him (see Exodus 31). Sabbath observance was intended to reflect Israel’s orientation— what the Israelites valued and to whom they looked. Sabbath observance was about their relationship with God. The Israelites’ view of Jehovah and the significance he had in their lives was signified by the value the Sabbath day had in their lives, and likewise for us. As has been aptly stated, “observing the Sabbath is one of the quintessential expressions of loyalty to God.”[81]

Fourth, in the Old Testament as we have it, the Pentateuch contains the command to keep the Sabbath day holy but provides little by way of promised blessings.[82] However, a few of the Sabbath passages in the prophetic books contain related promises, especially Isaiah 58, which states that those who will honor and “delight in the sabbath” will “delight [themselves] in the LORD; and I [Jehovah] will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it” (58:14; see also 56:1–6).[83] This Sabbath blessing promises ultimate victory and security through Jehovah for all faithful, Sabbath-observing saints.

Fifth, in the scriptures, sacred time is presented as being at least as important as sacred space. As was likely the case with ancient Israelites, Latter-day Saints would not think of desecrating the sacred space of a temple. But “many Latter-day Saints have become lax in their observation of the Sabbath day,” participating in “activities that now commonly desecrate the Sabbath,” which is sacred time.[84] By setting it apart from the other days of the week, to and for God, the Sabbath offers a regularly recurring opportunity to benefit from the blessings of sacred time.

Finally, the seventh day of the week functioned as the Sabbath or day of rest during the Old Testament time period prior to the institution of Christian worship on Sunday, “the Lord’s Day.” This day is meant to commemorates Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, another great act of God. It also serves as a symbolic foreshadowing of a future “ultimate rest for the people of God.”[85] As God created the earth and then ceased and rested, so is that pattern utilized in Restoration scripture to present the history of the earth in its fallen condition, after which Jehovah—the resurrected Lord—will conclude the salvation of his people and join with them in the great millennial “day of peace and rest.”[86]

Notes

*I express my gratitude to Daniel L. Belnap, Gaye Strathearn, two anonymous reviewers, and my wife, Jane Allis-Pike, for reading and providing helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper.

[1] For interesting thoughts on the relationship between space and time, including the sacred time of the Sabbath, see Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man,paperback ed. (New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2005), 21. Heschel states that the Sabbath day “is like a palace in time with a kingdom for all.”

[2] Given the uncertainty about many questions of textual composition and final form, those reading this paper will likely find other publications that claim, for example, that Sabbath laws in Exodus are late developments interjected into earlier times. Latter-day Saints, in general, tend to conservatively accept the biblical texts, their presentations, and their claims at face value. This is not inherently bad but may sometimes lead to missing other real possibilities of textual development. For the purposes of this paper, I am taking a generally canonical approach.

[3] Many studies on the Sabbath day have been published, and many commentaries deal with the Old Testament passages that mention the Sabbath, far too many to list here. I have utilized some of these and cite them below, but readers should be aware that other resources are also available, some better than others. Also, much more could be said about the passages mentioned below, but space does not allow this.

[4] For further discussion of the word “sabbath,” see Dana M. Pike, “Biblical Hebrew Words You Already Know, and Why They are Important,” Religious Educator 7, no. 3 (2006): 101–3. Transliterated words are different from translated words. Translated words are ones in which the meaning of a word crosses (hence the root “trans”) from one language to another without necessarily retaining the sound of the original word. On the other hand, transliterated words are ones in which the general sound of a word in one language crosses into another language, creating a new word in the second language.

[5] See the entry š-b-t in Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, trans. and ed. under the supervision of M.E.J. Richardson (Leiden: Brill, 2000), 4:1407–9, hereafter abbreviated HALOT. See also the comments of E. Haag, “š-b-t,” in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, ed. G. Johannes Botterweck, Helmer Ringgren, and Heinz-Josef Fabry, trans. David E. Green (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2004), 14:381–86, hereafter abbreviated TDOT. See also Andreas Schuele, “Sabbath,” in The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, ed. Katharine Doob Sakenfeld et al. (Nashville: Abingdon, 2006–2009), 5:3, hereafter abbreviated NIDB. And see Harold H. P. Dressler, “The Sabbath in the Old Testament,” in From Sabbath to Lord’s Day: A Biblical, Historical, and Theological Investigation, ed. D. A. Carson (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1982), 23–24.

[6] Quotations of biblical passages cited in this paper are from the King James Version (KJV) unless otherwise indicated. Other translations cited herein are the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV; 1989); the English Standard Version (ESV; 2016); the New English Translation, 2nd ed. (NET; 2019); and the Schocken Bible (SB; 2019), translated by Everett Fox. These quotations derive from their current versions in Accordance Bible Software.

[7] For a more complete discussion of the concept of “rest” in the Old Testament, especially as connected to the lexical root n-w-ḥ, see, for example, HALOT,s.v. “n-w-ḥ”; and the chapter entitled, “The Rest Motif in the Old Testament,” in Jon Laansma, “I Will Give You Rest”: The Rest Motif in the New Testament, with Special Reference to Mt 11 and Heb 3–4 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1997), 17–76.

[8] Some scholars have asserted that the Sabbath day was originally intended as a day on which one ceased working, but not necessarily for the purpose or benefit of “rest.” See, for example, Dressler, “Sabbath in the Old Testament,” 23–24, 37n30; and Niels-Erik A. Andreasen, The Old Testament Sabbath: A Tradition-Historical Investigation, SBLDS 7 (Missoula, MT: Society of Biblical Literature, 1972), both of whom cite earlier scholars on this issue.

[9] These theories are beyond the scope of this paper, but see, for example, Oded Tammuz, “The Sabbath as the Seventh Day of the Week and a Day of Rest: Since When?,” Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 131, no. 2 (2019): 288–89, and the many citations provided there.

[10] For this assessment, see, for example, Dressler, “Sabbath in the Old Testament,” 23; and Carol Meyers, “Feast Days and Foodways: Religious Dimensions of Household Life,” in Family and Household Religion: Toward a Synthesis of Old Testament Studies, Archaeology, Epigraphy, and Cultural Studies, ed. Rainer Albertz et al. (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2014), 234.

[11] For further discussion, see, for example, Tammuz, “Sabbath as the Seventh Day,” 287–88; Dressler, “Sabbath in the Old Testament,” 22–23, 27; and the previous studies they both cite. Dressler, 22, quotes Andreasen’s claim that “the origin and early history of the sabbath . . . continue to lie in the dark.” Old Testament Sabbath, 8. See also Schuele, “Sabbath,” 3–4.

[12] Also worth noting, the Hebrew word šabbātôn is related to the noun šabbāt, but its distinction is no longer clear. So, for example, it is described in HALOT, s.v. “šabbātôn,” as “a sabbath that is markedly different . . . inasmuch as it is to be observed strictly and to be celebrated in a special way” (several other explanations for the meaning of this word are also given). See also Nahum M. Sarna, Exodus, JPS Torah Commentary (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1991), 90. Translators have taken various approaches to rendering this word. Occurring only eleven times in the Hebrew Bible, šabbātôn appears with šabbāt in some of the passages discussed below. It is not discussed further herein, but it attests to an extra dimension of sacred Sabbath time that is no longer well understood.

[13] In this paper I broadly designate passages and texts as having a priestly orientation or perspective, without dealing with the academic conceptions of a specific priestly source (P) in the books of the Pentateuch or the dating of such texts. As noted above, I am taking a more canonical approach to this topic.

[14] James L. Kugel, How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now (New York: Free Press, 2007), 54.

[15] The NRSV and ESV read similarly.

[16] See, for example: “Then he ceased [š-b-t], on the seventh day, from all his work that he had made. God gave the seventh day his blessing, and he hallowed it, for on it he ceased [š-b-t] from all his work” (SB; NET reads similarly).

[17] Terence E. Fretheim, “The Book of Genesis,” in The New Interpreter’s Bible—Old Testament and Apocrypha, (Nashville: Abingdon, 2015), 1:346. Similarly, Sarna stated, in Genesis, JPS Torah Commentary (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1989), 14, that the seventh day in the creation sequence is an “integral part of the divinely ordained cosmic order. . . . Its blessed and sacred character is a cosmic reality entirely independent of human effort.” See also the comments and quotations included in Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, “The Seventh Day,” Book of Moses Essay #52, https://www.pearlofgreatpricecentral.org/the-seventh-day.

[18] See, for example, Sarna, Genesis, 14; and Dressler, “Sabbath in the Old Testament,” 28.

[19] Sarna, for example, claimed that “the Sabbath is a distinctively Israelite ordinance” (Genesis, 14), so one would not expect to read about the Sabbath prior to the Israelite exodus account or about non-Israelites observing it.

[20] Spencer W. Kimball, “The Sabbath—A Delight,” Ensign, January 1978, 2. See also the comments and quotations provided in Kerry Muhlestein, Joshua M. Sears, and Avram R. Shannon, “New and Everlasting: The Relationship of Gospel Covenants in History,” Religious Educator 21, no. 2 (2020): 26–27.

[21] Bible Dictionary, “Sabbath.” Similarly, Robert J. Matthews claimed, “No doubt the sacredness of the Sabbath day was known to the true believers from the time of Adam, although the Bible is not very clear on this point.” “Why do we observe the Sabbath on Sunday when the biblical Sabbath seems to have been on the seventh day?,” Ensign, January 1978, 15.

[22] As a corollary to the claim of “the scantiness of the [biblical] record,” consider also the fact that the word “sabbath” occurs a total of five times in the Book of Mormon. Three of these five occurrences are in one recitation of the Ten Commandments (see Mosiah 13:16–19), which leaves only two other references to the Sabbath day in a record dealing with about one thousand years of time (not counting the redacted Jaredite record, which contains no mention of the Sabbath; see Jarom 1:5; Mosiah 18:23). Thus, the focus and/or purpose of any document or collection of texts plays a major role in what is included and what is excluded.

[23] The phrase “the LORD” is the English substitution for the divine name yhwh, which in Hebrew is thought to have been pronounced “Yahweh,” and which is sometimes written YHWH. “Jehovah” is a hybrid form of the consonants yhwh and the vowels of the Hebrew word translated “lord.” For the purposes of this chapter, the term has been capitalized, as it appears in the KJV, to remind readers that it represents the divine name Yahweh/Jehovah. For a fuller discussion of these matters, see, for example, Dana M. Pike, “The Name and Titles of God in the Old Testament,” Religious Educator 11, no. 1 (2010): 17–31, especially 19–21.

[24] This notion is not so odd, given the received canon of the Bible. For example, see the comments of Dressler, “Sabbath in the Old Testament,” 16, 22, 27–28, 37n39.

[25] See, in particular, Exodus 19:9; 20:18–22; Deuteronomy 4:10, 12–13, 33, 36; 5:4, 22–25; and Hebrews 12:19.

[26] Significantly, Doctrine and Covenants 59 introduces the reaffirmation to observe “the Lord’s day” (12), also called “my holy day” (9), with “a commandment” to love God, love one’s neighbors, and to “not steal, neither commit adultery, nor kill nor do anything like unto it” (5–6). This is a powerful way of tying the sabbath concept back to the Ten Commandments, first articulated in scripture as we have it in Exodus 20.

[27] See, for example, the comments of Sarna, Exodus, 13, 112. In this light, consider the promise Latter-day Saints renew whenever participating in the weekly sacrament ordinance, to “always remember” Jesus (Doctrine and Covenants 20:77, 79).

[28] See similarly in Leviticus 20:7, 26; 1 Peter 1:15–16; and Doctrine and Covenants 59:9.

[29] On gēr, see, for example, HALOT, s.v. “gēr”; and David Jobling, “Sojourner,” NIDB, 5:314–16. On animals resting on the Sabbath, see Bernard White, “The Sabbath: A Surprising Boon for Animals,” Academia Letters, Article 175 (January 2021), 1–5; and Jeffrey H. Tigay, Deuteronomy, JPS Torah Commentary (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1996), 69, 357n93.

[30] White, “Sabbath: A Surprising Boon,” 5.

[31] Although the KJV translates the Hebrew word ’ôt in Genesis 17:11 as “token” (as also, for example, in Genesis 9:12, 13, 17 [rainbow], and Exodus 12:13 [Passover lamb]), ’ôt is the standard Hebrew word for “sign.” It is the word the KJV translates as “sign” in Exodus 31:13 and dozens of times elsewhere in the Old Testament. So, as far as the Hebrew text is concerned, there is no distinction made between “token” and “sign” in these various promise passages. In fact, every time the word “token(s)” occurs in the KJV Old Testament (not counting the three italicized instances that were added by the translators), it is the KJV rendition of ’ôt in the Hebrew Bible.

[32] See the previous footnote. For further discussion of signs in the Old Testament, see, for example, Patricia K. Tull, “Signs in the OT,” NIDB, 5:254.

[33] John H. Walton, Victor H. Matthews and Mark W. Chavalas, eds., The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2000), 114.

[34] For passages that proscribe capital punishment for the violation of various religious and societal laws given to Israelites through Moses, see, for example, Roy E. Gane, Old Testament Law for Christians: Original Context and Enduring Application (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2017), 326–32.

[35] For further discussion of this passage and of Moses’s questions (Was stick gathering work? How should the man be put to death? Was the Sabbath law applicable only in the land of Israel or everywhere?), see, for example, Jacob Milgrom, Numbers, JPS Torah Commentary (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1990), 126, and especially 408–410; Timothy R. Ashley, The Book of Numbers, New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1993), 290–92; and Thomas B. Dozeman, “The Book of Numbers,” in New Interpreter’s Bible, 2:128.

[36] In this stick-gathering incident in Numbers 15:32–36, this unnamed man became a life-and-death object lesson to the Israelites of the realities of covenanting with a holy being. It seems to me that the scriptures report such “object lessons” early in most, if not all, gospel dispensations. See, for example, the consequence received by Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5, early in the New Testament Christian dispensation. Such people can presumably repent in the spirit world, even though their mortal life was cut short through their disobedience.

[37] Many scholars would agree with this statement from Ronald E. Clements: “That it was ever customary to enforce it [that is, the Sabbath-day commandment to cease work] by imposing capital punishment (cf. Num 15:32–36) appears very unlikely.” “The Book of Deuteronomy,” in New Interpreter’s Bible, 2:332. The passage at the end of Exodus 31:14, “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,” seems to diminish the severity of the consequence for profaning the Sabbath, but then the death penalty is repeated in the next verse. A similar consequence is stated in Numbers 15:31, and elsewhere in the Old Testament, for intentional sins. See, for example, Milgrom, Numbers, 125, 405–8; and Gerhard F. Hasel, “kārat,” in TDOT, 7:339–52, especially 345–49.

[38] See similarly, for example, Ganes, Old Testament Law for Christians, 326, who writes: “Zero tolerance for breaking these commandments [including the sabbath] accords with the fact that they constituted stipulations of the covenant between YHWH and Israel, which had to be preserved for the well-being of all Israelites.”

[39] For examples of instances in the Old Testament in which disrespecting the holiness of the Ark of the Covenant had serious consequences, see 1 Samuel 6:19–20; and 2 Samuel 6:6–11.

[40] Some commentators suggest that the literary location of these two Sabbath reminders— Exodus 31:13–17 at the end of the “how-to” revelation about building the tabernacle and Exodus 35:1–3 at the beginning of the report about the construction of the tabernacle (with the golden-calf and covenant-renewal incidents in between; see Exodus 32–34)—further emphasizes that the seventh day would be a day of ceasing and rest even during the construction of the tabernacle. This further underscores the nature of the Sabbath day and the importance of keeping it holy. See, for example, Adele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler, The Jewish Study Bible, 2nd ed. (New York: Oxford, 2014), 173.

[41] It is worth noting that Leviticus 16 introduces the most solemn and sacred annual holy day in the Israelite calendar, yom kippur, the Day of Atonement. In addition to fasting and prayer by the Israelites, the Aaronic High Priest led various ceremonial activities, which were intended to ritually remove the accumulated uncleanliness from the people and everything associated with the tabernacle (see v. 16). Reminiscent of the Sabbath day instructions, on yom kippur the Israelites were to “do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger [gēr] that sojourneth among you. . . . It shall be a sabbath of rest [šabbat šabbātôn] unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls” (vv. 29, 31). Thus it is clear that this annual holy day and the weekly Sabbath day shared important aspects of sacred time.

[42] Just as Israelites were to work six days then cease on the seventh, so did laws prescribe that they work their agricultural lands for six years and then let them lie fallow during the seventh (see Exodus 23:10–11). Additionally, Exodus 21:2–6 and Deuteronomy 15:12–18 stipulate that Israelite debt slaves were to be released after six years and their debts were to be forgiven at that time, and Deuteronomy 15:1–11 specifies that Israelites should be released from their debts every seventh year. Thus the principle of seventh-year rest also provided rest from poverty and societal injustice. For a discussion of all aspects of the sabbatical year, see, for example, Michael LeFebvre, The Liturgy of Creation: Understanding Calendars in Old Testament Context (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2019), 30–32; and Mark W. Hamilton, “Sabbatical Year,” in NIDB, 5:11–13. Finally, Leviticus 25:8–18 indicates that after seven cycles of Sabbath years (7x7), the fiftieth year should be celebrated as a Jubilee, in which no agricultural activity was to take place, debt slaves were to be released, and family land lost due to debts was to be returned (compare Leviticus 25:39–46; Isaiah 61:1). For comments on the jubilee year, see for example, LeFebvre, Liturgy of Creation, 33–36; and Sharon H. Ringe, “Jubilee, Year of,” in NIDB, 3:418–19. Although the various Sabbath-year prescriptions are not completely in harmony with each other, and there are theories about their development in relation to each other, it is sufficient here to mention these practices.

[43] See HALOT, s.v. “š-m-r.” The Hebrew verb š-m-r does not occur in Exodus 20:8, despite the KJV rendition “to keep it holy.”

[44] Note also that Deuteronomy 5:14 expands on the general mention of “cattle” (bĕhēmāh; NRSV and ESV: “livestock”) in Exodus 20:10, stating, “thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle [bĕhēmāh].” This functions as a more explicit reminder that all animals belonging to Israelites were to cease working on the Sabbath day.

[45] Tigay notes that this command to the Israelites to remember they had previously been slaves in Egypt is additionally found in Deuteronomy 15:15; 16:12; and 24:18, 22. Deuteronomy, 69.

[46] Readers who are less familiar with the Old Testament may find it helpful to consult a general resource such as Richard Neitzel Holzapfel, Dana M. Pike, and David Rolph Seely, Jehovah and the World of the Old Testament (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2009).

[47] See again the comment in note 22 about the paucity of the word “sabbath” in the Book of Mormon.

[48] Joshua, Judges, to a lesser extent 1 and 2 Samuel, and 1 and 2 Kings exhibit a clear connection with the language and perspectives of Deuteronomy, and are often referred to collectively as the Deuteronomistic History.

[49] Elsewhere in 2 Kings the Sabbath is mentioned in 11:1–20 and 16:17–18.

[50] The term “preexilic” refers to Israelite history before the Babylonian conquest of Judah and Jerusalem in the early 500s BC, while the term “postexilic” refers to the time period beginning with the Persian allowance of Israelites to return to the land of Israel, beginning about 538 BC.

[51] The “people of the land” in this passage may have been non-Israelites. See, for example, F. Charles Fensham, The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah: New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1982), 239–40.

[52] For more on Chronicles and its relationship to other biblical priestly literature, see, for example, Jaeyoung Jeon and Louis C. Jonker, eds., Chronicles and the Priestly Literature of the Hebrew Bible (Boston: De Gruyter, 2021).

[53] See also Hosea 2:11 [2:13 in Heb]).

[54] For centuries now, scholars have debated when various portions of the book of Isaiah were initially written. The historical Isaiah prophesied primarily during the time of kings Ahaz and Hezekiah, who reigned in Jerusalem from ca. 735–687 BC, and traditionally all 66 chapters of the book of Isaiah have been attributed to him. However, for multiple reasons chapters 40–55 appear to most scholars to have been written in the sixth century BC. These are attributed to an anonymous “Second Isaiah,” and some posit that a different anonymous “Third Isaiah” wrote chapters 56–66. Thus, it is possible, depending on one’s views, that some of the teachings of “Isaiah” about the Sabbath are from more than one person and from more than one century. This chapter deals with Sabbath passages as found in the canonical book of Isaiah without further specification. For examples of how some Latter-day Saints have recently dealt with this issue; see, for example, Sears, “Deutero-Isaiah in the Book of Mormon: Latter-day Saint Approaches,” in They Shall Grow Together: The Bible in the Book of Mormon, ed. Charles Swift and Nicholas J. Frederick (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2022), 365–91; and Kent P. Jackson, “Isaiah in the Book of Mormon,” in A Reason for Faith: Navigating LDS Doctrine and Church History, ed. Laura Harris Hales (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2016), 69–78; see also the additional citations these two authors provide.

[55] Although Jeremiah was of priestly lineage, the book of Jeremiah is strongly Deuteronomic in language and focus.

[56] There is also one occurrence of this phrase in Exodus 31, three total in Leviticus 19 and 26, and one is Isaiah 56. Ezekiel’s priestly orientation likely accounts, at least in part, for the higher number of occurrences of this phrase in the book that bears his name, given the occurrences in Exodus and Leviticus. In the Hebrew Bible, “my sabbaths” is written šabbĕtōtay and šabbĕtôtay. Some scholars have asserted that the plural form, “sabbaths,” came to designate not just the ongoing observation of the weekly Sabbath, but also the other holy days on which work was to cease, such as in the aforementioned case of yom kippur. On this plausible claim, see, for example, Daniel I. Block, Ezekiel 1–24: New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1997), 632, and note 95.

[57] Block, Ezekiel 1–24, 726.

[58] Clements, “Book of Deuteronomy,” 332.

[59] Also, Ezekiel 40–48 include prophecies concerning the building of a (still future) temple and the return of Jehovah’s glory to it. Chapters 44–46 focus largely on priests and Levites, their temple service, the role of a future “prince,” and the celebration of holy days and their attendant sacrifices, including Sabbath-day observance (see 44:24; 45:17; 46:1–4, 12). As with the prophetic texts in Isaiah 56 and 66, these passages in Ezekiel claim that the future age will not be complete without Sabbath-day worship that is acceptable to Jehovah.

[60] As illustrations, the seven-day marriage festival of Samson (see Judges 14:10–17) and the week- or two-week-long festival celebrating Solomon’s dedication of the Jerusalem temple (see 1 Kings 8:65–66) both must have included Sabbath days, but nothing is mentioned about the Sabbath in these contexts. Note that there is a challenge with the Hebrew text for 1 Kings 8:65–66, since it says the feasting was fourteen days (v. 65), but that Solomon sent everyone home on the eighth day (v. 66). Modern translations attempt to rectify this situation differently, often using the Septuagint, which states the feast was seven days, not fourteen.

[61] Russell M. Nelson had this to say: “I learned from the scriptures that my conduct and my attitude on the Sabbath constituted a sign between me and my Heavenly Father. With that understanding, I no longer needed lists of dos and don’ts. When I had to make a decision whether or not an activity was appropriate for the Sabbath, I simply asked myself, ‘What sign do I want to give to God?’ That question made my choices about the Sabbath day crystal clear.” “The Sabbath is a Delight,” Ensign, May 2015, 130. In a similar vein, see Dallin H. Oaks, “Gospel Teaching,” Ensign, November 1999, 79.

[62] Similar lists of biblical passages are cited in, for example, Sarna, Exodus, 112; and Tigay, Deuteronomy, 68, 357n91.

[63] See especially the tractate “Shabbath” in the Jewish Mishnah for an illustration of the increasing specification of “work” in later time periods. In addition, see the chapter by Avram Shannon in this volume. Note, for example, that Exodus 16:29 states, “let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.” Given in conjunction with the instructions about manna gathering in the wilderness, this verse, quoted above, later became the basis for the idea that one should only walk or travel a certain distance on the Sabbath, which was eventually referred to as a “sabbath day’s journey” (Acts 1:12). It is not likely that this impacted Sabbath observance in the land of Israel during Old Testament times, but our records are silent on the matter.

[64] Dressler, “Sabbath in the Old Testament,” 33.

[65] For an even larger Sabbath-day offering by “the prince” in the future Jerusalem temple, see Ezekiel 46:4–5.

[66] See similarly the comments of Tigay, Deuteronomy, 68.

[67] And at least at one point in time, the changing of the temple guards occurred on the Sabbath day (2 Kings 11:5–9).

[68] See, for example, Meyers, “Feast Days and Foodways,” 234–35.

[69] See also for this view, Baruch A. Levine, Leviticus, JPS Torah Commentary (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1989), 155.

[70] See, for example, David A. Bednar, “Exceeding Great and Precious Promises,” Ensign, November 2017, 92.

[71] H. Aldridge Gillespie, “The Blessing of Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy,” Ensign, November 2000, 79–80. Three other examples of Sabbath-focused general conference addresses in the previous decades, most of which include multiple Old Testament citations, help illustrate this pattern: Earl C. Tingey, “The Sabbath Day and Sunday Shopping,” Ensign, May 1996, 10; John H. Groberg, “The Power of Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy,” Ensign, November 1984, 79; and Sterling W. Sill, “Remember the Sabbath,” in Conference Report, October 1969, 16–18.

[72] L. Tom Perry, “The Sabbath and the Sacrament,” Ensign, May 2011, 6–9. His main focus was on Jesus and several New Testament passages. On page 9 he stated, “Sometimes we think of resting from our labors as merely letting the hay baler stand idle in the field or putting a Closed sign on the business door. Yet in today’s world, labor includes the every-day work of our lives. This could mean business activities we may accomplish from home, athletic competitions, and other pursuits that take us away from Sabbath day worship and the opportunity to minister to others.”

[73] Nelson, “Sabbath Is a Delight,” 129–132.

[74] Kimball, “Sabbath—A Delight,” 2–5. In this message, President Kimball quotes Exodus 20:3, 8–11; Leviticus 26:2–6; and Isaiah 58:13–14, along with other Sabbath passages, including Doctrine and Covenants 59.

[75] A copy of this letter is in the author’s possession. The First Presidency at the time was Ezra Taft Benson, Gordon B. Hinckley, and Thomas S. Monson.

[76] See https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/church/news/church-invites-members-to-share-how-they-honor-hisday.

[77] It would be easy to conclude that all this prophetic emphasis on the Sabbath indicates that many latter-day covenant Israelites, like their ancient counterparts, struggle with a full and true observance of this holy day.

[78] The English word “saint” derives from the Latin sanctus, which means holy. So, a true Latter-day “Saint” is a person striving to become holy through the power of Christ’s redeeming sacrifice and the influence of the Holy Spirit, recognizing that it is not possible to obtain this status without their assistance nor fully in this mortal life.

[79] Susannah Heschel, “Introduction,” in Abraham Heschel, Sabbath, xiii.

[80] Fretheim, “Book of Genesis,” 348.

[81] Tigay, Deuteronomy, 68.

[82] Although Leviticus 26:2–13 is sometimes used to teach that Sabbath observance will bring a multitude of blessings, the Sabbath command in verse 2 is actually separated from the promise of blessings that begins in verse 3 with this conditional statement, “If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; Then . . . ” (the curses for disobedience begin in verse 14). Note the plural forms of “commandments” and “statutes,” followed by “them.” So, while honoring the Sabbath is certainly one of Jehovah’s commandments and will bring many blessings, this whole passage is not explicitly about Sabbath-specific blessings, but rather the promise of a variety of blessings for keeping all the Lord’s commands (plural).

[83] See, for example, “Line upon Line: Isaiah 58:13–14,” New Era, February 2016, 40.

[84] The quoted phrases are from the 1992 First Presidency letter, “Sabbath Day Observance,” referenced above.

[85] Dressler, “Sabbath in the Old Testament,” 29.

[86] Joseph L. Townsend, “The Day Dawn is Breaking,” Hymns (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1985), no. 52; see also Doctrine and Covenants 77:7, 12; 29:11.