Exodus 31:15

Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Six	שֵׁ֣שֶׁת She.shet	H8337	six (as an overplus beyond five or the fingers of the h… · cardinal number, both genders singular construct
days	יָמִים֮ ya.Mim	H3117	a day (as the warm hours) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
work	מְלָאכָה֒ me.la.Khah	H4399	properly · noun, common feminine singular absolute
done	יֵעָשֶׂ֣ה ye.'a.Seh	H6213	to do or make · verb, niphal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
seventh	הַשְּׁבִיעִ֗י ha.she.vi.'I	H7637	seventh · definite article + ordinal number, masculine singular absolute
sabbath	שַׁבַּ֧ת sha.Bat	H7676	intermission · noun, common feminine singular construct
rest	שַׁבָּת֛וֹן sha.ba.Ton	H7677	a sabbatism or special holiday · noun, common masculine singular absolute
holy	קֹ֖דֶשׁ Ko.desh	H6944	a sacred place or thing · noun, common masculine singular absolute
LORD	לַיהוָ֑ה la.Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · preposition + proper noun, a title
doeth	הָעֹשֶׂ֧ה ha.'o.Seh	H6213	to do or make · definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
work	מְלָאכָ֛ה me.la.Khah	H4399	properly · noun, common feminine singular absolute
sabbath	הַשַּׁבָּ֖ת ha.sha.Bat	H7676	intermission · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
day	וּבַיּ֣וֹם u.vai.Yom	H3117	a day (as the warm hours) · conjunction + preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
surely	מ֥וֹת Mot	H4191	to die (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal infinitive absolute
death	יוּמָֽת yu.Mat	H4191	to die (literally or figuratively) · verb, hophal imperfect, 3rd 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

Genesis 2:2 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 16:23 And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye wi…
Leviticus 23:3 Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath…
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 31:17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he reste…
Exodus 35:2 Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of rest to the LORD: whosoever doeth work t…
Jeremiah 17:24-27 And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith the LORD, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sab…
Luke 13:14 And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 31:12–end

Here is, I. A strict command for the sanctification of the sabbath day, Exo 31:13-17. The law of the sabbath had been given them before any other law, by was of preparation (Exo 16:23); it had been inserted in the body of the moral law, in the fourth commandment; it had been annexed to the judicial law (Exo 23:12); and here it is added to the first part of the ceremonial law, because the observance of the sabbath is indeed the hem and hedge of the whole law; where no conscience is made of that, farewell both godliness and honesty; for, in the moral law, it stands in the midst between the two tables. Some suggest that it comes in here upon another account. Orders were now given that a taberna…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 31:12

Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep--The reason for the fresh inculcation of the fourth commandment at this particular period was, that the great ardor and eagerness, with which all classes betook themselves to the construction of the tabernacle, exposed them to the temptation of encroaching on the sanctity of the appointed day of rest. They might suppose that the erection of the tabernacle was a sacred work, and that it would be a high merit, an acceptable tribute, to prosecute the undertaking without the interruption of a day's repose; and therefore the caution here given, at the commencement of the undertaking, was a seasonable admonition.

Adam Clarke on Exodus 31:14

Every one that defileth it - By any kind of idolatrous or profane worship. Shall surely be put to death - The magistrates shall examine into the business, and if the accused be found guilty, he shall be stoned to death. Shall be cut off - Because that person who could so far contemn the Sabbath, which was a sign to them of the rest which remained for the people of God, was of course an infidel, and should be cut off from all the privileges and expectations of an Israelite.

John Gill on Exodus 31:15

Six days may work be done;.... Allowed to be done by an Israelite, if he would; for this is not a command to work, but a permission or grant to do it; and therefore, seeing they had so many days granted them for their use, it could not be thought hard and unreasonable that God should claim one day in seven for his own use and service, and oblige them to refrain from work on it: but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest; from worldly labour, and was typical of spiritual rest here, and eternal rest hereafter: holy to the Lord; separated from other days, and entirely devoted to the worship and service of God, and to be kept holy to the Lord in all holy and religious exercises, as hearing and…

The Church Fathers

They were also commanded to keep the holiday of the Sabbath one day in the week, so as to be subjected to no burthen, and I would that being thus released from earthly works they had escaped, carrying with them to that perpetual sabbath of future ages the burthen of heavy crimes. But as God knew how prone to fall the people were, He enjoined a part upon the weaker by the observance of one day, He reserved the fulness for the stronger: the Synagogue observes the day, the Church immortality. In the Law therefore is a part, in the Gospel is perfection.
— Ambrose of Milan, Letter 74.5

Indeed by the fleshly sabbath, which was kept according to the letter, the people were ordered to keep free from all servile work on the seventh day. [The meaning of] the spiritual sabbath, in the light of the sevenfold spiritual grace which we have received, is that we should remain on holiday from the unrest of vices not only on one day but every day. For if, according to the Lord's voice, "Everyone who commits sin is a servant of sin," it is clear that sins are properly understood as servile works, and we are ordered to walk free of them, as it were on the seventh day, in the partaking of spiritual grace. [We are ordered] not only to keep from wrong deeds but also to devote ourselves to good deeds.
— Bede, Homilies on the Gospels 1.23

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

Sabbath — (Heb. verb shabbath, meaning “to rest from labour”), the day of rest. It is first mentioned as having been instituted in Paradise, when man was in innocence (Gen. 2:2). “The sabbath was made for…
Sabbath · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Sabbath, The · God: Sanctified — God: Sanctified
Sanitation · REST COMMAN — REST COMMAN

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).

Exodus 31:15

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 31:12–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 31:12

Adam Clarke on Exodus 31:14

John Gill on Exodus 31:15

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Exodus 31:15

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 31:12–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 31:12

Adam Clarke on Exodus 31:14

John Gill on Exodus 31:15

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Exodus 31:12-17

Keil & Delitzsch on Exodus 31:12-17

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Exodus 31:14-15

Rashi on Exodus 31:15