318
SABBATH
SABBATH
a distance would, it is implied, be undertaken naturally only on a sabbath or new moon. Hos2" ('And I will cause all her mirtli to cease, her pil- {.'rinuiges, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her stated [rtlisious] seasons') implies that the sabbath, though it had a religious object (cf. Is 1"), was also an occasion of social relaxation : Am 8° ('When will the new moon be gone, that we ma}' sell corn? and the sal>bath, that we may open out wheat ? ') shows that trade as well as field- laliour was intermitted on it.
The passages quoted make it evident that in the 8th cent. B.C. the sabbath was regarded as sacred to J", and that it was marked by abstention from at least ordinary occu]iatiuns. The first of these facts implies naturallj' iix addition that some special sacriUces were oH'ered on it — an inference which might also be drawn from the connexion in which it is mentioned in Is 1". In later times, both the religious observances and also the absten- tion from labour were more fully defined and specialized. Jeremiah (17"*"") has a prophecy re- lating to the sabbath : the people are solemnly charged by him, ' Bear no burden on the sabbath day, neither bring in by the gates of Jerusalem, nor carry forth a burden out of your houses, nor do any business; but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers ' ; the command, it is added, had been imperfectly observed, but Jer. attaches to Its obserx ance now a promise of the permanence of the Davidic draasty, and the safety of Jerusalem. Jer.'s authorship of this prophecy has been questioned by recent critics ; out it is exactly in Jer.'s style : the high imjiort- ance attached to the sabbath, even before Jer.'s time, is shown by the place which it holds in the Decalogue (to which Jer. plainly refers) ; and no doubt the prophet emphasized the sabbath, not simply for its own sake, but as a typical religious observance ; it was an institution the observance or non-observance of which might be taken as a criterion of the general faithfulness or disloyalty of the nation.
In the ' Law of Holiness' (chiefly Lv 17-26), the individual laws in which, though their setting is later, may in many cases be as old as the 8th cent, or older (cf. vol. iii. pp. 69 f., 108»), the observance of the sabbath is inculcated more than once ('Ye shall keep my sabbaths,' Lv 19^- ^^ 26-), even under pain of death (Ex 31'' [a fragment of H] ' verily ye shall keep my sabbaths, for it is a sign between me and you [i.e. a mark, or token, like circum- cision ((!n 17"), of your being my people] ... to know tliat I am J "which sanctilieth you. And ye shall keep the sabbath, for it is holy unto you ; every one that profaneth it shall surely be put to deatli ') ; and Lzekiel (who elsewhere also shows himself to be strongly influenced by this body of laws: LOT 13S-144 ["" 145-152]) lays great stress ujKm it likewise : with evident reference to the language of H, he declares it to be an ancient ordinance of J" (20'' 'moreover I gave them my sabbaths to be a sign between me and them, to know that I am J" which sanctilieth them,' v.** (I said) '. . . and hallow my sabbaths'; cf., of the priests, 44**), and reproaches the [icople with having deliantly 'profaned' it (20'»-"-='-^ 22" 23'«), or ' hidden their eyes' from it (22-'). It is probable that at this time an increased significance began to be attached to the sabbath on account of its being one of the few distinctive institutions of Israel which could be observed in a foreign land. The same prophet in 45" 46"* (cf. w.'-') also gives directions — based, it may be presumed, upon ex- isting usa''e — resjiecting the sacrifices to be offered every sabbath by the ' prince ' on behalf of the nation in the restored temple, viz. six lambs and •ne ram as a burnt-offering, with accompanying
meal-offerings (the clnil)/ offering, according to Ezk 46'^'', was to be one lamb, with an accompany- ing meal-offeiing).
The later exilic references to the sabbath are in a similar strain to the reference of Jeremiah. Its observance is the typical religious duty, and the test of general allegiance to J' (Is 56^*-''); and a promise of restoration to Palestine is given to those Israelites who faithfully observe it, regarding it as a ' delight,' and refrainmg on J"'s 'holy day from 'doing' their (ordinary) 'ways,' or 'find- ing' their own 'pleasure,' or 'speaking' [vain] 'words' (Is 58'^'): in Is 66", also, it is pictured as being (in the restored Jerusalem) a weekly occasion of worship before J" for 'all flesh,' as the new moon would be analogously a monthly occasion.
In the legislation of P the regulations respect- ing the sabbath are further developed and sys- tematized. Its institution is thrown back to the end of the week of Creation ; God, it is said (Gn 2'), then ' blessed the seventh day and hal- lowed it,' — i.e. set it apart for holy uses, and attached blessings to its observance, — ' because in it he desisted {n^y} from all his work (njK^:^ ' business ') ' of creation : similarly in the motive, based upon the representation of P, attached in Ex. (20°) to the fourth commandment ; and in Ex 31" 'for in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he desisted (njv'), and was refreshed (a';;!,— as above, in 23''^).' In Ex 31'*'" the old law, derived from H, is supple- mented by an addition (vv. '■">"") emphasizing further the sanctity and permanence of the insti- tution, and the penalty (death) for its non- observance: Ex 35'"' (an injunction prefixed to the account of the construction of the tabernacle) the directions contained in 31'" are repeated almost verbatim (v.-), and in v.' the kindling of fire on the sabbath is prohibited ; Lv 23' it is to be observed (like certain other sacred seasons) by a ' holy convocation,' or religious gathering ; Lv 24' the shewbread is to be renewed every sabbath : Nu 153'--3« relates how a man found gathering sticks on the sabbath was by Divine direction stoned to death ; Nu 28*'- the special sacrifices for the sabbath are appointed, viz. double those offered on ordinary days (vv.*'*), i.e. two male lambs for a burnt-offering in the morning, and two in the evening, with twice the usual meal- and drink ollering'S. Lastly, in Ex 16'- ^-"*' the manna is stated to have been withheld on the sabbath, and given in double quantity on the previous day, in order to preserve the sanctity of the day ; anii the people are forbidden to leave their homes, and (indirectly) to bake or cook anything, on the sabbath.