Genesis 2:2–3
God ceased on the seventh day and blessed it, from the creation
Study it word by word2And on the seventh day Elohim finished his work that he had done, and on the seventh day he ceased from all his work that he had done.
3And Elohim blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he ceased from all his work that Elohim had created to make.
In its context
1So the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their army.
…
4These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that YHWH Elohim made earth and heavens.
5Now no shrub of the field was yet on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for YHWH Elohim had not sent rain on the earth, and there was no human being to work the ground;
Its words in the original
- יְכַלyechal· finish, consume
Finish, complete something; come to an end. Also put an end to something, consume it, destroy it.
- אֱלֹהִיםelohim· 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.
- יּוֹםyom· 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").
- שְּׁבִיעִיshevii· seventh
Seventh.
- מְלַאכְתּmelacht· work
Work: the task someone carries out and also what results from it; also property, goods.
- עָשָׂהasa· do, make
Do, make, in the widest sense: build, produce, carry out, keep (a command), prepare.
- יִּשְׁבֹּתyishbot· cease, rest
Cease, stop doing something; from there "rest". When God ceased from his work it was because he had finished it, not from weariness. The word "Sabbath" comes from this verb.
- יְבָרֶךְyevarech· 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.
- יְקַדֵּשׁyekadesh· 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.
- בָּרָאbara· create
Create: make something new exist. In its basic form this verb is used in the Hebrew Bible only when God is the one acting. In other forms it means "clear, cut down" (a forest) or "fatten".