tAVO robbers should be taken doAA'n (Jn 19^^), in accordance Avith Dt 2P*. It was the custom of the JcAvs to take down the bodies of those Avho Avere condemned and crucified, and to bury them before the going down of the sun (Jos. BJ iv. V. 2). It also explains the haste in the entomb- ment of the Saviour. He did not die iintil the ninth hour, i.e. 3 p.m. (Mt 27^^"'^°), and Joseph of ArimathiBa and his friends had to finish the temijorary burial and to return home before sun- down Avhen the Sabbath began, leaving the com- pletion of the embalming until the Sal3bath Avas past (Lk 23^®). They could prepare the spices after sunset on the Saturday, and be ready to go to the tomb very early on the foUoAving morning (Lk 24').
Just before sunset the Sabbath lamp Avas lighted ; to neglect this Avas a transgression {Shahbath, 2). As no fire Avas alloAA'ed to be kindled, all meals had to be prepared before the Sabbath began. Three meals Avere customary {ib. xvi. 2), one on the Sabbath eve (Friday after sunset) ; another on the folloAving morning, called apiarov (as Lk IP*, see Edersheim, LT, ii. 205 ; but in later times the Avord Avas applied to ' dinner,' see Grimm-Thayer's Lex. ) ; the third meal Avas toAvards evening, called Se'cwvov (Jn 12-). To preserve the festive character of the day, the provisions Avere the best obtainable, and the best clothes Avere Avorn. Religious exercises Avere provided by the synagogue services, which were generally two in number, one on the Sabbath
SABBATH
SABBATH
5-11
eve (Friday night) and tlie other on the following morning.
The traditional rules of the Mishna, which at least partially existed in the time of Christ, intro- duced very embarrassing limitations to actions lawful on the Sabliath. The distance which might be travelled was limited to 20UU cubits. This rule was obtained as follows. According to Ex 16'-", no man may go out of his place on tiie Sabbath. The extent of a 'jjlace' was lixed by the Rabbis at the traditional distance of the Tabernacle from the camp of Israel in the wilderness. Tliis was somewhat arbitrarily set down as the same distance as that by whicii the Ark of the Covenant pre- ceded the people at the crossing of the Jordan (Jos 3*). In this way arose the measurement called a 'Sabbath day's journey' (Ac 1'^, see Lumby, ad loc). This limitation to the distance which might be travelled seems also to illustrate the words of Jesus in Mt 24-** ' neither on the Sabbath day.' (For the way in which this tradi- tional rule might be evaded, see Erubin, iv. and v.). Tiie Misima names thirty-nine aboth (nnx) or principal kinds of work unlawful on the Sabbath, and from these it deduces a number of others (called toledoth, n'nVin), whicli it pronounces like- wise unlawful ; and it proceeds by casuistry to define what actions are permissible (see Shabbath ; also Edersheini, LT, Append, xvii.). It must here sufhce to refer to these rules only in .so far as they illustrate passages in the Gospels.
2. Gospel incidents connected with the Sabbath. — (ft) Preadtbig in the Synagogue at NazaretJi (Lk 4I6-30 II ]yj]^ 6''''). — Some regard these passages as referring to two distinct incidents, of which that recorded by Lk. is the earlier (so Edersheim) ; others think the incident in Mk. is the same as the former, but related out of its chronological order.
(b) Healing of the infirm man at the Pool of Bethcsda (Jn 5^"'**). — It was lawful to carry a sick person on a bed, because the bed was only ac- cessory to the carrying of the person (Shabbath, X. 5), but to carry tlie bed alone was unlawful, as it was then an ordinary bui'den. Thus those who carried the man to the Pool of Bethesda escaped censure (although it is difficult to .see how they could do this, according to the Mishna, unless the man were in danger of death [see Yoma, viii. 6], but this may \)Q a more stringent rule than was then in force) ; but when the healed man carried his bed, he was decidedly breaking the Law as interpreted by the Rabbis. Indeed, the healing of the man, unless he Avere in danger of death, would appear to be regarded as an infraction of the Sabbatii law (Mk Si-**). Food or outward ap]tlications to the body might be used on the Sabbath only if they were in customary use in liealth ; tlius a man wiio iiad toothache might not rinse his teetii with vinegar (for that was not a common act in healtli), but he might wash them as he did every day (Shabbath, xiv. 4). If, how- ever, tiiere were danger of death, the Sabbath law did not ajjply.
('■) Healing of the ma,n. with an unclean spirit at Caiwrna>im'(m<i l^'-^^ || Lk 433-37).
(d) Healing of Peter's wife's mother (Mt 8""'* |1 Mk r-9-3^, Lk 438-««).— The healing of those with divers diseases on the evening of this day took place Avlien tlie sun set and the Sabbath was past.
(e) Plucking the ears of corn (Mt 12i-s || Mk 2-^--», Lk 6'"^). — Tiie action of the disciples was legitimate on week-days, according to Dt 28^^ ; but on the Sabbath it was held unlawful, as involving the two actions of rea))ing and of threshing. The illus- tration given by our Lord in His reply (Mt 12''')— the Temple service in its relation to the Sabbath — was a difficulty whicli the Talmud discusses (see Edersheim, LT, ii. 59). In this case the Law