Bible Strands
Leviticus 23:32
It will be a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you shall humble yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to keep your Sabbath.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD gives this instruction to Moses to relay to the Israelite assembly. The directive establishes the precise timing and boundaries for a sacred observance within the broader calendar of appointed festivals.
The words — שַבָּתוֹן (sha.ba.Ton) denotes a strict sabbath observance or complete cessation of labor. עִנִּיתֶם ('i.ni.Tem) literally means "you will afflict" or humiliate yourselves, specifying the required internal posture.
The thread — Leviticus 16:31 and Leviticus 23:27 repeat the dual commands of complete rest and self-humbling for the tenth day of the seventh month. Psalm 35:13 demonstrates the practical application of this affliction through fasting and sackcloth during times of distress.
Why it lands — The text mandates a literal twenty-four hour period of work cessation, beginning at dusk on the ninth day and ending at dusk the following day. It requires tangible self-denial as a direct, non-negotiable response to divine authority.
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
King James Version
It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.
Cross-references
- Leviticus 16:31 It is a Sabbath of complete rest for you, that you may humble yourselves; it is a permanent statute.
- Leviticus 23:27 “The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. You shall hold a sacred assembly and humble yourselves, and present a food offering to the LORD.
- Psalms 35:13 Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting, but my prayers returned unanswered.
- Psalms 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
- Psalms 69:10 I wept and fasted, but it brought me reproach.
- Matthew 11:28 Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
- Isaiah 57:15 For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.
- Isaiah 58:3 “Why have we fasted, and You have not seen? Why have we humbled ourselves, and You have not noticed?” “Behold, on the day of your fast, you do as you please, and you oppress all your workers.
- Isaiah 61:3 to console the mourners in Zion—to give them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
- Matthew 5:4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.