Exodus 20:10 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Exodus 20:10
But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
a day (as the warm hours) · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct
sabbath
שַׁבָּ֖֣תsha.Bat
H7676
intermission · noun, common feminine singular absolute
LORD
לַיהוָ֣הla.Yah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · preposition + proper noun, a title
God
אֱלֹהֶ֑֗יךָ'e.lo.Hei.kha
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
do
תַעֲשֶׂ֣֨הta.'a.Seh
H6213
to do or make · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
work
מְלָאכָ֡֜הme.la.Khah
H4399
properly · noun, common feminine singular absolute
son
וּבִנְךָֽ֣u.vin.kha-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
daughter
וּ֠בִתֶּ֗ךָu.vi.Te.kha
H1323
a daughter (used in the same wide sense as other terms… · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
manservant
עַבְדְּךָ֤֨'av.de.Kha
H5650
a servant · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
maidservant
וַאֲמָֽתְךָ֜֙va.'a.ma.te.Kha
H519
a maidservant or female slave · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
cattle
וּבְהֶמְתֶּ֔֗ךָu.ve.hem.Te.kha
H929
properly · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
stranger
וְגֵרְךָ֖֙ve.ge.re.Kha
H1616
properly · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
gates
בִּשְׁעָרֶֽ֔יךָbish.'a.Rei.kha
H8179
an opening · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Deuteronomy 5:14-15 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manse…
Exodus 34:21 Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest: in earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest.
Exodus 16:27-28 And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none.
Numbers 15:32-36 And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day.
Genesis 2:2-3 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
Exodus 23:9-12 Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Exodus 31:13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your g…
Deuteronomy 24:14-22 Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land with…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Exodus 20:1-11
Here is, I. The preface of the law-writer, Moses: God spoke all these words, Exo 20:1. The law of the ten commandments is, 1. A law of God's making. They are enjoined by the infinite eternal Majesty of heaven and earth. And where the word of the King of kings is surely there is power. 2. It is a law of his own speaking. God has many ways of speaking to the children of men (Job 33:14); once, yea twice - by his Spirit, by conscience, by providences, by his voice, all which we ought carefully to attend to; but he never spoke, at any time, upon any occasion, as he spoke the ten commandments, which therefore we ought to hear with the more earnest heed. They were not only spoken audibly (so he own…
Remember the sabbath day--implying it was already known, and recognized as a season of sacred rest. The first four commandments [Exo 20:3-11] comprise our duties to God--the other six [Exo 20:12-17] our duties to our fellow men; and as interpreted by Christ, they reach to the government of the heart as well as the lip (Mat 5:17). "If a man do them he shall live in them" [Lev 18:5; Neh 9:29]. But, ah! what an if for frail and fallen man. Whoever rests his hope upon the law stands debtor to it all; and in this view every one would be without hope were not "the LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS" [Jer 23:6; Jer 33:16] (Joh 1:17).
Adam Clarke on Exodus 20:9
Six days shalt thou labor - Therefore he who idles away time on any of the six days, is as guilty before God as he who works on the Sabbath. No work should be done on the Sabbath that can be done on the preceding days, or can be deferred to the succeeding ones. Works of absolute necessity and mercy are alone excepted. He who works by his servants or cattle is equally guilty as if he worked himself. Hiring out horses, etc., for pleasure or business, going on journeys, paying worldly visits, or taking jaunts on the Lord's day, are breaches of this law. The whole of it should be devoted to the rest of the body and the improvement of the mind. God says he has hallowed it - he has made it sacred…
Wherefore when He speaks to us of another commandment, not known to us by the dictate of conscience, He not only prohibits, but adds the reason. When, for instance, He gave commandment respecting the Sabbath; "On the seventh day thou shalt do no work;" He subjoined also the reason for this cessation. What was this? "Because on the seventh day God rested from all His works which He had begun to make." And again; "Because thou wert a servant in the land of Egypt." For what purpose then I ask did He add a reason respecting the Sabbath, but did no such thing in regard to murder? Because this commandment was not one of the leading ones. It was not one of those which were accurately defined of our conscience, but a kind of partial and temporary one; and for this reason it was abolished afterwards.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Beast — This word is used of flocks or herds of grazing animals (Ex. 22:5; Num. 20:4, 8, 11; Ps. 78:48); of beasts of burden (Gen. 45:17); of eatable beasts (Prov. 9:2); and of swift beasts or dromedaries…
Decalogue — The name given by the Greek fathers to the ten commandments; “the ten words,” as the original is more literally rendered (Ex. 20:3-17). These commandments were at first written on two stone slabs…
Festivals, Religious — There were daily (Lev. 23), weekly, monthly, and yearly festivals, and great stress was laid on the regular observance of them in every particular (Num. 28:1-8; Ex. 29:38-42; Lev. 6:8-23; Ex. 30:7-9;…
Foreigner — A Gentile. Such as resided among the Hebrews were required by the law to be treated with kindness (Ex. 22:21; 23:9; Lev. 19:33, 34; 23:22; Deut. 14:28; 16:10, 11; 24:19). They enjoyed in many things…
Law of Moses — Is the whole body of the Mosaic legislation (1 Kings 2:3; 2 Kings 23:25; Ezra 3:2). It is called by way of eminence simply “the Law” (Heb. Torah, Deut. 1:5; 4:8, 44; 17:18, 19; 27:3, 8). As a written…
Proselyte — Is used in the LXX. for “stranger” (1 Chr. 22:2), i.e., a comer to Palestine; a sojourner in the land (Ex. 12:48; 20:10; 22:21), and in the New Testament for a convert to Judaism. There were such…
B · Domestic: To enjoy the sabbath — Domestic: To enjoy the sabbath
Commandments · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Commandments, The Ten · Enumerated — Enumerated
Decalogue · SeeCOMMANDMENTS — SeeCOMMANDMENTS
Desert, Journey Of Israel Through The · Moral law given
John Gill on Exodus 20:10
But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God,.... Not which he rested on, and ceased from the works of creation in, though he did rest on the seventh day of the creation, and so on every other day since, as well as that; nor does it appear, nor can it be proved, that this day appointed to the Jews as a sabbath was the seventh day of the week from the creation of the world; but was either the seventh day of the week from their coming out of Egypt, or from the raining of the manna: but this is called the Lord's sabbath, or rest, because enjoined by him to the people of Israel, and not to them until they were separated from other people, and were a distinct body of men under a certain…
Exodus 20:8-11
8. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
8. Recordare diei Sabbathi, ut sanctifices eum:
9. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
9. Sex diebus operaberis et facies universum opus tuum.
10. But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
10. Dies autem septimus Sabbathum Jehovae Dei tui est. Non facies ullum opus, tu, et filius tuus, et filia tua, servus tuus, et ancilla tua, et inquilinus tuus qui est in portis tuis:
11. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and…
The Fourth Word, "Remember the Sabbath-day, to keep it holy," presupposes an acquaintance with the Sabbath, as the expression "remember" is sufficient to show, but not that the Sabbath had been kept before this. From the history of the creation that had been handed down, Israel must have known, that after God had created the world in six days He rested the seventh day, and by His resting sanctified the day (Gen 2:3). But hitherto there had been no commandment given to man to sanctify the day. This was given for the first time to Israel at Sinai, after preparation had been made for it by the fact that the manna did not fall on the seventh day of the week (Exo 16:22). Here therefore the mode o…
The Sabbath day is kept holy when it is dedicated to the Lord (20:10). Whatever belongs exclusively to God shares his character. This is not to say that the other six days are unholy, but simply that they are for ordinary work (20:9). On this day set apart, we are reminded that it is not our work that supplies our needs. Our needs are supplied by God as an act of his grace (20:6).
Rashi on Exodus 20:10
אתה ובנך ובתך THOU AND THY SON AND THY DAUGHTER — these latter mean the young children. Or perhaps this is not so, but it means your adult children? But you must admit that these have already been placed under this prohibition (by the word “Thou”, because the performance of this command is obligatory upon all adults to whom it was addressed). Therefore these words must be intended only to admonish the adults (implied in the term “Thou”) about the Sabbath rest of their young children (to impose upon the parents the obligation of enforcing the Sabbath rest upon them) (Mekhilta). This is the meaning of what we have learnt in a Mishna, (Shabbat 16:6) “A minor who is about to extinguish a fire —…
Industry · To be suspended on the Sabbath — To be suspended on the Sabbath
Labor · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Law · .Engraved on stone — .Engraved on stone
Law Of God, The · Given: To the Israelites — Given: To the Israelites
Masters · Should, with their households: Observe the Sabbath — Should, with their households: Observe the Sabbath
Sabbath · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Sabbath, The · The seventh day observed as — The seventh day observed as
Sanitation · REST COMMAN — REST COMMAN
Servants · Slaves or bond: To be allowed to rest on the Sabbath — Slaves or bond: To be allowed to rest on the Sabbath
Strangers · Required to observe the Sabbath day — Required to observe the Sabbath day
Strangers In Israel · Laws respecting: Not to work on the Sabbath — Laws respecting: Not to work on the Sabbath
Table · .The commandments engraved upon — .The commandments engraved upon
Travellers · The Jews prohibited from taking long journeys on the Sabbath — The Jews prohibited from taking long journeys on the Sabbath
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
