Exodus 20:8–11
Six days of work, and the seventh is shabbat, for servants and foreigners too
Study it word by word8Remember the day of the Sabbath, to keep it holy.
9Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
10but the seventh day is a Sabbath to YHWH your Elohim. You shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male slave, or your female slave, or your livestock, or your resident alien who is within your gates.
11For in six days YHWH made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; that is why YHWH blessed the day of the Sabbath and made it holy.
In its context
6but showing loyal love to thousands, to those who love me and keep my commandments.
7You shall not take the name of YHWH your Elohim in vain, for YHWH will not leave unpunished the one who takes his name in vain.
…
12Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long on the land that YHWH your Elohim is giving you.
13You shall not murder.
Its words in the original
- זָכוֹרzachor· remember
Remember, call to mind; also mention. When God "remembers" someone, it is not that he had forgotten: it means he acts in his favor.
- יוֹםyom· day
Day: the hours of light, or a whole day from one evening to the next. Also an indefinite time or age ("in the day that...", "in those days").
- שַּׁבָּתshabat· Sabbath
Sabbath: the seventh day, when work stops because it is set apart for God. The word comes from the verb "cease". It can also mean a week, or a sabbatical year (the land's rest).
- קַדְּשׁkadsh· consecrate, be holy
Set something apart for God, declare it holy; be holy. God set apart the seventh day as a day different from the others.
- שֵׁשֶׁתsheshet· six
Six; also "sixth".
- תַּעֲבֹדtaavod· work, serve
Work; serve. Till the ground, serve a person, or serve God (worship him). In the causative form, make someone serve, enslave.
- עָשִׂיתָasita· do, make
Do, make, in the widest sense: build, produce, carry out, keep (a command), prepare.
- מְלַאכְתֶּmelachte· work
Work: the task someone carries out and also what results from it; also property, goods.
- שְּׁבִיעִיshevii· seventh
Seventh.
- יהוָהyhva· YHWH
The personal name of the God of Israel, written in Hebrew with four letters, Y-H-W-H, without vowels. Out of reverence Jews stopped pronouncing it and read "Adonai" (Lord), so many Bibles put "the LORD" or "Jehovah". This translation keeps the four letters. The name is related to the verb "to be" (Exodus 3:14-15). He is not a god other than Elohim: "YHWH Elohim" is the same Creator God, called by his name.
- אֱלֹהֶיelohe· Elohim, God, gods
The Hebrew word usually translated "God". This translation keeps "Elohim" when it speaks of the one true God, the Creator, the God of Israel. The word ends like a plural, but it does not mean several: for him the verb is singular ("Elohim created"); the plural form expresses greatness. The same word as a common noun names the "gods" of other peoples, and there it is a true plural, translated "gods". It is also used of mighty ones or judges.
- בִנְvin· son
Son. In the plural it can include sons and daughters, and also grandsons and descendants. "Son of..." also says what group someone belongs to ("sons of Israel" = Israelites).
- בִתֶּvite· daughter
Daughter; also granddaughter. In the plural, also the women of a people or place ("daughters of Canaan"); "daughter of Zion" stands for a city and its people.
- עַבְדְּavd· slave, servant
Slave, servant: someone who belongs to another or is in his service. It can be a slave, a worker or a high official of the king; before God, one who serves him. "Your servant" is a polite way to say "I".
- אֲמָתְamat· female slave, maidservant
Female slave, maidservant.
- בְהֶמְתֶּvehemte· livestock, beast
Four-footed animal, above all livestock and domestic animals; sometimes all animals in contrast with human beings.
- גֵרְger· resident alien
Foreigner who lives in a land that is not his own, without the rights of those who belong to the place.
- שְׁעָרֶיsheare· gate
Gate of a city. It was also the open place where the elders met, business was done and disputes were judged.
- שָּׁמַיִםshamayim· heavens, sky
The heavens: what is above, where the clouds, the sun and the stars are seen; also the dwelling of God. In Hebrew it is always plural. With birds, "the sky".
- אָרֶץarets· earth, land
The earth, in two senses: the whole world in contrast with the heavens, or a particular country or region ("the land of Egypt").
- יָּםyam· sea, west
Sea, or any great body of water (also a lake). Since the Mediterranean lies west of Israel, the word also means "west".
- יָּנַחyanach· rest, settle
Rest, settle, come to rest, stay still; also set down, leave. Noah's name is from the same root.
- בֵּרַךְberach· bless, kneel
Bless. When God blesses, he gives good: life, children, fruit, prosperity. When a person "blesses God", he gives him nothing: he praises and thanks him. Between people, it is wishing the other the good that comes from God; also greet. The root also means kneel.