Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 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:

10. The rest is to be a general one: no work is to be done either by the Israelite himself, or any member of his household (including his servants), or by his cattle, or by the ‘sojourner’ settled in his cities.

in it] LXX. Pesh. Vulg. express this; Sam. and the Nash papyrus read it.

manservant maidservant ] bondman bondmaid: the meaning is (as always) male and female slaves. Cf. Exo 21:2; Exo 21:7.

stranger ] sojourner, or foreigner settled in Israel (see on Exo 12:48): he also is to enjoy rest from his toil on the sabbath. Cf. the injunction not to oppress him (Exo 22:21, with the note). For the enumeration, cf. Deu 12:12; Deu 12:18; Deu 16:11; Deu 16:14.

thy gates ] i.e. thy cities, a distinctively Deut. expression, occurring 26 times in Dt., and only 1Ki 8:37 = 2Ch 6:28 (Deut. compiler) besides; comp. esp. (with ‘within‘) Deu 12:12; Deu 12:18; Deu 14:21; Deu 14:27; Deu 14:29; Deu 16:11; Deu 16:14; Deu 24:14; Deu 31:12. In Deu 5:14 a clause is added, emphasizing the humanitarian purpose of the observance; cf. Deu 12:7; Deu 12:12; Deu 14:29.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

The sabbath of the Lord, or, to the Lord, i.e. consecrated to his use, honour, and service. Hence God calls them my sabbaths, Lev 26:2; Isa 56:4, because they are commended by his example, and enjoined by his command. Any work; , i.e. any servile, laborious, common, or worldly work, tending to thy own profit or pleasure. See Exo 34:21; Lev 23:7; Num 28:18; Isa 58:13.

Nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant: this clause is added, not as if children or servants were not immediately obliged by this command, or were excused by God for the breach of this law at their masters commands, which were to obey men rather than God, contrary to St. Peters command and practice, Act 5:29 and which were to limit the foregoing word thou, and the law of the sabbath, only to those that have children and servants, which is an idle, senseless, and absurd, as well as profane opinion; but to restrain hard-hearted, and covetous, or ungodly persons, that they should neither command nor suffer their children or servants to profane the sabbath, so far as they can hinder it; which how far it concerns thousands of governors of families at this day, they shall do well seriously and in time to consider.

Nor thy cattle, partly, to teach us to exercise mercy towards the brute creatures; compare Deu 5:14; partly, because the use of cattle must have drawn along with it the attendance and employment of men; and partly, that by observing the rest of the cattle, they might be more minded and quickened to the observation of this sacred rest.

Nor thy stranger, i.e. the Gentile that sojourneth with thee; lest their example should provoke the Israelites to imitate them; and lest the Gentiles should have opportunity of gaining at that time when, and by that thing whereby, the Israelites were losers, even by the religious observation of the sabbath. That dwells within thy cities, which have walls and gates, or within thy villages or territories. So the word gates is oft taken, as Gen 22:17; 24:60; 2Sa 10:8, compared with 1Ch 19:9.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

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 meridian; for it is impossible that one and the same day, be it the seventh, or any other, should be kept to exactness of time by all the inhabitants of the earth; it being night with one part, when it is day with another, and not the same day to them all:

in it thou shall not do any work; of a servile nature, exercise any trade or any hand labour, or any kind of work for pleasure or profit, only works of mercy and necessity. No labour or handicraft was to be exercised, according to the Jewish canons f, until the going out of it, or the appearance of the stars:

thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter; neither a man nor his children, male and female, such as were under age, and under the tuition, direction, and care of their parents, who were to instruct them in this kind, and not suffer them to work on this day, and much less oblige them to it; for as for those that were grown up, and no longer under the inspection of parents, and were heads of families themselves, they are included in the word “thou”, and are in the first place charged in this command;

thy manservant, nor thy maidservant; this is to be understood, according to the Jews, not of hired servants, concerning whose rest from labour a man was not bound g, but of such as were born in their house, and bought with their money; and of such menservants as were circumcised, and in all things professed to be proselytes to the Jewish religion, and to conform to it; for as for one that only received the commands of the sons of Noah, and was not circumcised, he might do work for himself on the sabbath day, but not for his master; and no Israelite might bid him work on the sabbath day for the necessity of an Israelite, though he was not his master h. If a servant does work without the knowledge of his master, and it is known to all that he does it without his knowledge, there is no need to separate him from it, or take him off of it i: so maidservants, when they did things without the knowledge of their masters and mistresses, and without being bid to do it, they were free to do it: thus, for instance, they say k,

“a cheese which maids make of themselves, of milk that belongs to an Israelite, is lawful when he does not bid them make it:”

nor thy cattle, of any sort whatever that is used to labour, because if the cattle did not rest, servants could not, who are concerned in the care and use of them: in De 5:14, the ox and the ass are particularly mentioned, because laborious creatures; the one were used in ploughing, and treading out the corn, and the other to ride upon, and carry burdens; and concerning the latter the Jews have this canon l,

“he who is going in the way, (or on a journey,) and has sanctified for himself the day, and has money with him, and has an ass; and though he has with him an idolater, he may not put his bag upon his ass; because he is commanded concerning its rest; but he may give his bag to the idolater to throw it upon it; and at the going out of the sabbath he may receive it from him, and even may not give him a reward for it;”

but not only those, but all sorts of cattle were exempt from labour on this day, as horses, camels, mules, c. which, according to the Jewish canons, as they were not to be employed in work by the Jews, so they were not to be let or lent out to an idolater m: nor the stranger that is within thy gates: who was a proselyte of the gate, and not of righteousness as for the proselyte of righteousness that was circumcised, and professed the Jewish religion, about him there could be no doubt concerning his rest on this day; but the proselyte of the gate, his case was not so clear, and therefore is particularly expressed; and by which description it should seem that he was not obliged by this law, had he not been within their gates, or a sojourner in anyone of their cities; since it was contrary to the laws and usages among whom they dwelt, and might be an offence to some, and a snare to others, and, as Grotius thinks, might be to their detriment, get their work and their gain from them, they are forbid to work; and yet, according to the Jewish writers n, they might work for themselves, though not for an Israelite, as before observed.

f Schulchan Aruch, par. 1. Orach Chayim Hilchot Sabbat, c. 293. sect. 2, 3. g Lebush, par. 1. c. 304. sect. 1. h Schulchan Aruch, ib. c. 304, sect. 1. i Lebush, ib. k Schulchan, ib. c. 305. sect. 21. l lb. c. 266. sect. 1. m Ib. c. 246. sect. 3. n Maimon. Hilchot Sabbat, c. 20. sect. 14.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

10. Thou shalt not do any work. That is, whatever could have been finished yesterday, or postponed till to-morrow. (For instance, (333)) it was not lawful for judges to give a hearing to two litigants; but if any one had violently assaulted his neighbor, it was allowable to prevent the injury, and to give relief to the unoffending person; because the necessity of the case admitted of no delay. It was not lawful to cook food for your guests; but if an ox or an ass had fallen into a pit it was to be taken out, because aid would have been too late on the morrow. For this reason Christ. declares that “the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath,” (Mar 2:27,) since God does not require more than was useful or necessary for keeping the people in the exercise of piety. Thus it would have been wicked to send out an ox to pasture; but if an ox that tossed had got out, it was right to bring it back to its stall, lest it should kill or injure those whom it met.

Thy man-servant and thy maid-servant. Although it is added in Deuteronomy that God had respect to equity, when He commands a relaxation from labor to be given to the men and maid-servants, and the Israelites are called upon to remember that they were once servants, that they may be more disposed to act humanely, still we must bear in mind what I have stated, that the direct object here was the honoring of the One God. We know that the whole race of Abraham were consecrated to God, and that their servants were a kind of adjunct to them, so that they were circumcised in common with themselves. And assuredly it is very absurd that a man should encourage a profane contempt of God in the family over which he presides, and in which he would be recognised as master. The case of “strangers” was different, who were obliged to rest on the Sabbath, although they remained uncircumcised; for he does not only refer to the foreigners, who had subscribed to the Law, but also to the uncircumcised. If any should object that they were improperly made partakers of the sacred sign whereby God had bound His elect people to Himself, the reply is easy, that this was not done for their sakes, but lest anything opposed to the Sabbath should happen beneath the eyes of the Israelites; as we may understand more clearly from the case of the oxen and asses. Surely God would never have required spiritual service of brute animals; yet He ordained their repose as a lesson, so that wherever the Israelites turned their eyes, they might be incited to the observation of the Sabbath. Nor can we wonder at this, when in the general mournings which were appointed for the deprecation of God’s wrath, a fast was imposed upon the brutes, that wretched men being admonished by the sight, might feel the burden of their guilt the more, and by their voluntary serf-accusation might prevent the judgment of God, and might be seriously dissatisfied with themselves on account of those sins, whose punishment they saw to be imposed to a certain degree upon innocent animals. Besides, if the very least liberty had been conceded to them, they would have done many things to evade the Law in their days of rest, by employing strangers and the cattle in their work.

(333) Added from Fr.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(10) But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God.Heb., But the seventh day (shall be) a sabbath to the Lord thy Godi.e., it shall be a day of holy rest from things worldly, and of devotion to things heavenly. (See Note 2 on Exo. 20:8.)

In it thou shalt not do any work.This negative aspect of the Sabbath is further emphasised by particular prohibitions :(1) The prohibition against gathering the manna on the Sabbath (Exo. 16:26); (2) the prohibition against lighting a fire (Exo. 35:3); (3) against gathering sticks (Num. 15:35). Some exceptions were allowed, as the work of the Priests and Levites in the Temple on the Sabbath, attendance on and care of the sick, rescue of a beast that was in peril of its life, &c. (See Mat. 12:5; Mat. 12:11.) But the tendency was to press the negative aspect to an extreme, and to ignore the positive one. By the time of the Maccabees it had come to be considered unlawful to defend oneself against the attack of an enemy on the Sabbath (1Ma. 2:32-38 :2Ma. 5:25-26; 2Ma. 6:11; 2Ma. 15:1); and, though this extravagant view did not maintain its ground, yet at the time of our Lords ministry a rigour of observance was in vogue upon other points which exceeded the limits of reasonable exegesis. Our Lords practice was pointedly directed against the overstrained theory of Sabbath observance which was current in His day, and was clearly intended to vindicate for His disciples a liberty which ecclesiastical authority was disposed to deny them. There are parts of Christendom in which, even at the present day, a similar spirit prevails, and a similar vindication is needed.

Nor thy son, nor thy daughter.The whole family was to partake in the Sabbatical rest. Labour was to cease, not to be devolved by the stronger on weaker members.

Thy manservant, nor thy maidservant.The rest was to extend also to the domestics, who specially required it, since the heavier labours of the household had to be performed by them.

Thy cattle.Labour can scarcely be exacted from cattle without man being also called upon to work. God, however, careth for cattle, even for their own sakes, and wills that the Sabbath rest be extended to them. His mercy is over all His works, and embraces the dumb unreasoning animals no less than His human creatures. (Comp. Gen. 8:1; Gen. 9:9-11; Exo. 9:19; Deu. 25:4; Jon. 4:11.)

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

10. Thou shalt not do any work The kinds of work incidentally noticed as coming under this prohibition were gathering manna, (Exo 16:27-29,) plowing, and gathering of harvests, (Exo 34:21,) kindling fires, (Exo 35:3,) collecting wood, (Num 15:32-36,) selling articles of commerce, (Amo 8:5,) bearing burdens, (Jer 17:21,) treading wine-presses, and carrying on traffic . Neh 13:15-22. From this it is evident that the commandment was understood as forbidding all sorts of ordinary work, and was to be applied to all members of the house, and even to the cattle, that is, the beasts of burden . The stranger, that is, the foreigner who settled in any of the cities of Israel, must also observe the sabbath law . The holy day, however, was not to be a day of gloom and sadness, but one filled with all such delights as would bring the heart into closer fellowship with Jehovah . Isa 58:13-14.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Exo 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:

Ver. 10. But the seventh day. ] Or, A seventh day. Not only Hebrews, but also Greeks and Barbarians, did rest from work on the seventh day: witness Josephus, Clemens Alexand., and Eusebius. That which they tell us of the river Sabbatius, its resting, and not running on that day, I look upon as fabulous.

Thou shalt not do any work. ] Only works of piety, of charity, and of necessity may bc done on the Sabbath day. He that but gathered sticks was paid home with stones. The first blow given the German Churches was upon the Sabbath day, which they carelessly observed. Prague was lost upon that day. a

Thou, nor thy son, &c. ] Every mother’s child. The baser sort of people in Sweden do always break the Sabbath, saying, that it is for gentlemen to keep that day. b

Thy man servant. ] There is an old law of the Saxon king Ina, If a villain work on Sunday by his lord’s command, he shall be free. c See Trapp (for summary of Law) on “ Exo 20:17 “

a Dike, Of Confession of Sin, p. 276.

b David’s Desire, by R. Abbot.

c Sir H. Spelman, in Concil.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)