Exodus 20:11
For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
English Standard Version (ESV)
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The text highlights that God's "rest" after creation wasn't about weariness, but a deliberate cessation from His work to establish a pattern. This makes the Sabbath a divine blueprint, mirroring God's own rhythm and setting a precedent for humanity's own rhythm of work and holy rest.
This verse serves as the foundational reason for the Sabbath commandment. It directly follows the command to "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy," grounding the obligation in God's own pattern of work and rest during creation. The text emphasizes that just as God finished His work in six days and rested on the seventh, so too the people of Israel are to set aside the seventh day as holy.
Why did God create the world in six days and rest on the seventh? It wasn't because He was tired!
This verse grounds the Sabbath command in the very act of creation. God chose to reveal Himself through a rhythm of work and rest.
God's Work, God's Rest
God didn't just rest; He did something special with that seventh day. What makes a day 'holy'?
The verse states that God 'blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.' This isn't a neutral day; it's set apart.
What 'Blessed and Hallowed' Means
Understand the original words
YHWH · Hebrew Proper Noun
The personal, covenant name of God in the Old Testament, revealing His self-existence, faithfulness, and relationship with His people.
shabbath · Hebrew Noun
A period of rest and cessation from regular labor, instituted by God at creation and commanded in the Law, intended for reflection, worship, and physical/spiritual restoration.
qadash · Hebrew Verb
To set apart for a specific divine purpose, to consecrate, or to make clean and sacred. God makes something holy by His presence or by divine decree.
This passage directly establishes the foundation for Exodus 20:11 by detailing God's initial act of creation, setting the stage for the six-day work week.
Genesis 2:2-3This passage provides the immediate context for Exodus 20:11, showing God's completion of creation and His blessing of the seventh day, which is the basis for the Sabbath command.
Deuteronomy 5:15This passage offers a secondary, yet equally important, reason for observing the Sabbath, connecting it to Israel's liberation from slavery in Egypt, thus highlighting its humanitarian aspect.
Hebrews 4:4-9This New Testament passage draws a profound connection between the Sabbath rest established at creation and the eternal rest that believers find in Christ, showing the ultimate fulfillment of the Sabbath principle.
John 5:17This verse acknowledges God's ongoing work in providence and grace, clarifying that God's 'rest' after creation was a cessation from the act of creating, not an abandonment of His sustaining activity, a point relevant to understanding the nature of Sabbath rest.
gillExodus 20:11: "For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it."
For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, &c. And of which six days, and of the several things made in each of them, see the notes on the first chapter of Genesis: and resteth the seventh day: which does not suppose labour, attended with weariness and fatigue; for the Cre…
calvinExodus 20:8-11: "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy."
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:
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:
For in six days the L…
The text highlights that God's "rest" after creation wasn't about weariness, but a deliberate cessation from His work to establish a pattern. This makes the Sabbath a divine blueprint, mirroring God's own rhythm and setting a precedent for humanity's own rhythm of work and holy rest.
This verse serves as the foundational reason for the Sabbath commandment. It directly follows the command to "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy," grounding the obligation in God's own pattern of work and rest during creation. The text emphasizes that just as God finished His work in six days and rested on the seventh, so too the people of Israel are to set aside the seventh day as holy.
This verse serves as the foundational reason for the Sabbath commandment. It directly follows the command to "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy," grounding the obligation in God's own pattern of work and rest during creation. The text emphasizes that just as God finished His work in six days and rested on the seventh, so too the people of Israel are to set aside the seventh day as holy.
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"For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." — The text highlights that God's "rest" after creation wasn't about weariness, but a deliberate cessation from His work to establish a pattern. This makes the Sabbath a divine blueprint, mirroring God'…
