Hebrew Word Study: Shabbat

Some people think the Hebrew word for Sabbath, shabbat, means “rest.” This is not entirely incorrect, but it is somewhat misleading. The reason it is somewhat misleading is because in the English language, we think of “rest” as something that follows weariness and/or loss of strength or energy. We normally rest when we are tired, not when we still have our full strength and energy. However, when God “rested” on the seventh day, He did not rest because He was tired nor because His strength and energy were depleted. God’s strength and energy never decrease.

What then does the Bible mean when it says God “rested” on the seventh day? The Bible says God blessed and sanctified the seventh day “because that in it He had rested from all His work” (Gen 2:3 KJV). The word translated “had rested” is shavat, the verb from which we get the noun shabbat, which happens to be spelled the same as shavat but pronounced differently. The verb shavat (lishbot in its infinitive form) means “to cease.” The Everett Fox translation says “he ceased.”

So the idea embedded in the word shabbat is primarily the idea of cessation more than the idea of rest. God did not rest from His work because He was tired and worn out after six days of work; God ceased working because His work of creating was finished. “God saw every thing that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day” (Gen. 1:31).

There are a few modern Hebrew words derived from shavat that further illustrate the idea of cessation. When workers in Israel go on strike, the strike is called a sh’vitah - a cessation of work. A lock-out is called a hashbatah. To lock out is l’hashbit.

Therefore when you “rest” on the Sabbath, your Sabbath rest is not just for the purpose of providing you with relief from six days of exhausting toil, although Sabbath does do that if you happen to work at exhausting toil six days a week. The Sabbath is more about cessation. On the Sabbath you are to cease doing your normal, income-producing work that you do throughout the week to gather your daily “manna,” your physical sustenance. God commands you to cease the work you do during the work week, and assemble with brothers and sisters in a holy convocation to worship the Lord.

We could say that on the seventh day, God declares a sh’vitah, a strike for all His people. So don’t be a scab laborer who works on the Sabbath. Instead, join with the brothers and sisters of your local “union,” i.e., your local congregation, and enjoy good fellowship while you are “on strike” every Sabbath day.

| DB

Image: Psalm 128 by Daniel Botkin from his Psurrealistic Psalms Gallery. See this and all the Psalms he has painted thus far on his art website, DanielBotkin.com.