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what do the original exodus and deuteronomy accounts of the sabbath emphasize about its purpose?

The passage, plainly, with room to sit with it.

Exodus 20:8-11 and Deuteronomy 5:12-15

Exodus 20:8-11: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy." Deuteronomy 5:12-15: "Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as Yahweh your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore Yahweh your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day."

These passages are found in the giving of the Ten Commandments. Exodus places it at Mount Sinai as part of the initial covenant with Israel. Deuteronomy reiterates these laws many years later as Moses prepares a new generation to enter the promised land, serving as a reminder and renewal of the covenant.

What does it mean for rest to be tied to both the created order and liberation from oppression?

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Read alongside it

  • Genesis 2:2-3

    This passage describes God's resting on the seventh day after creation, serving as the theological basis for the Sabbath.

  • Nehemiah 13:15-22

    This shows a later struggle to uphold the Sabbath's sanctity by avoiding commerce and labor, particularly after the exile.

  • Mark 2:27-28

    Jesus declares that 'the Sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the Sabbath,' shifting focus to its human benefit.

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