Exodus 20:10

but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on which you must not do any work—neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant or livestock, nor the foreigner within your gates.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — Moses delivers the Decalogue to Israel at Mount Sinai, immediately after commanding six days of labor. He defines the Sabbath's scope by listing every household member, servant, animal, and resident alien bound by the command.

The words — The term שַׁבָּת (shabbat) marks the seventh day as belonging to Yahweh. The phrase לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה (lo ta'aseh) explicitly forbids performing work on that day.

The thread — This rest mandate reappears in Deuteronomy 5:14 with expanded livestock categories and recurs in Exodus 34:21 during plowing and harvest seasons. It also recalls the failed manna-gathering attempt in Exodus 16:27.

Why it lands — The text demands universal cessation of labor from every person and animal under Israel's jurisdiction. It establishes the seventh day as a divinely bounded period of rest rather than a human schedule.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְי֙וֹם֙ve./Yomand/ [the] day הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔֜יha./she.vi.'I<the>/ seventh שַׁבָּ֖֣ת׀sha.Bat[is] a sabbath לַיהוָ֣הla./Yah.wehto/ Yahweh אֱלֹהֶ֑֗יךָ'e.lo.Hei./khaGod/ your לֹֽ֣א־lo'-not תַעֲשֶׂ֣֨הta.'a.Sehyou must do כָל־khol-any מְלָאכָ֡֜הme.la.Khahwork אַתָּ֣ה׀'a.Tahyou וּבִנְךָֽ֣־u./vin./kha-and/ son/ your וּ֠בִתֶּ֗ךָu./vi.Te./khaand/ daughter/ your עַבְדְּךָ֤֨'av.de./Kha[male] servant/ your וַאֲמָֽתְךָ֜֙va./'a.ma.te./Khaand/ female servant/ your וּבְהֶמְתֶּ֔֗ךָu./ve.hem.Te./khaand/ livestock/ your וְגֵרְךָ֖֙ve./ge.re./Khaand/ sojourner/ your אֲשֶׁ֥֣ר'a.Sherwho בִּשְׁעָרֶֽ֔יךָ׃bi/sh.'a.Rei./kha[is] in/ gates/ your

King James Version

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:

Cross-references

Deuteronomy 5:14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on which you must not do any work—neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox or donkey or any of your livestock, nor the foreigner within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest as you do.
Exodus 34:21 Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even in the seasons of plowing and harvesting, you must rest.
Exodus 16:27 Yet on the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they did not find anything.
Numbers 15:32 While the Israelites were in the wilderness, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day.
Genesis 2:2 And by the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on that day He rested from all His work.
Exodus 23:9 Do not oppress a foreign resident, since you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners; for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
Exodus 31:13 “Tell the Israelites, ‘Surely you must keep My Sabbaths, for this will be a sign between Me and you for the generations to come, so that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.
Deuteronomy 24:14 Do not oppress a hired hand who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother or a foreigner residing in one of your towns.
Nehemiah 10:31 When the people of the land bring merchandise or any kind of grain to sell on the Sabbath day, we will not buy from them on a Sabbath or holy day. Every seventh year we will let the fields lie fallow and will cancel every debt.
Nehemiah 13:15 In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys, along with wine, grapes, and figs. All kinds of goods were being brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I warned them against selling food on that day.