Abrahamic religions The term Abrahamic religions is used to group together monotheistic religions revering the Biblical figure Abraham, namely Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The religions share doctrinal, historical, and geographic overlap that contrasts them wit ...

, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the

Book of Exodus The Book of Exodus (from ; ''Šəmōṯ'', 'Names'; ) is the second book of the Bible. It is the first part of the narrative of the Exodus, the origin myth of the Israelites, in which they leave slavery in Biblical Egypt through the strength of ...

, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, commanded by

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

to be kept as a holy day of rest, as God rested from creation. Sabbath (

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...

) observance is commanded in the

Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (), or the Decalogue (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , ), are religious and ethical directives, structured as a covenant document, that, according to the Hebrew Bible, were given by YHWH to Moses. The text of the Ten ...

: " Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy". The Sabbath might have been influenced by Babylonian mid-month rest days and lunar cycles, though its origins remain debated. The Sabbath is observed in

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

, and by some

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

groups. Observances similar to, or descended from, the Sabbath also exist in other religions. The term may be generally used to describe similar weekly observances in other religions.

Origins

A number of scholars propose a

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...

Akkadian word ''šapattu'' or ''šabattu'', which refers to the day of the full moon. A lexicographic list found in the

library of Ashurbanipal The Royal Library of Ashurbanipal, named after Ashurbanipal, the last great king of the Assyrian Empire, is a collection of more than 30,000 clay tablets and fragments containing texts of all kinds from the 7th century BCE, including texts in ...

glosses ''šabattu'' as " he gods'day of the heart's rest" (''ūm nûḫ libbi''), although this probably refers to the appeasement of the gods' anger. Other scholars doubt that there is a connection between the biblical Sabbath and the Akkadian ''šapattu''/''šabattu'', as the two words may not have a common etymology and ''šapattu'' refers almost exclusively to the fifteenth day of the month or the phenomenon of lunar alignment, not to the seventh day of a week. However, different studies found evidence that the biblical sabbath indeed sometime had a monthly, rather than weekly, meaning. Connection to Sabbath observance has been suggested in the designation of the seventh, fourteenth, nineteenth, twenty-first and twenty-eight days of a lunar month in an Assyrian religious calendar as a 'holy day', also called 'evil days' (meaning "unsuitable" for prohibited activities). The prohibitions on these days, spaced seven days apart (except the nineteenth), include abstaining from chariot riding, and the avoidance of eating meat by the King. On these days officials were prohibited from various activities and common men were forbidden to "make a wish", and at least the 28th was known as a "rest-day". This theory has also been challenged on the grounds that the 'evil days' did not always fall every seven days and did not entail a general cessation of work. The earliest extrabiblical attestation of Sabbath might occur in a 7th century BCE

ostracon An ostracon (Greek language, Greek: ''ostrakon'', plural ''ostraka'') is a piece of pottery, usually broken off from a vase or other earthenware vessel. In an archaeology, archaeological or epigraphy, epigraphical context, ''ostraca'' refer ...

discovered at the ancient fortress of Mesad Hashavyahu, which could refer to a servant doing certain kinds of work "before Sabbath" (''lpny šbt''). There is some dispute on whether ''šbt'' does indeed refer to Sabbath or just to the activity of quitting from the work, however.

Biblical Sabbath

Sabbath (as the verb שָׁבַת֙ ''shabbat'') is first mentioned in the

Genesis creation narrative The Genesis creation narrative is the creation myth of both Judaism and Christianity, told in the book of Genesis chapters 1 and 2. While the Jewish and Christian tradition is that the account is one comprehensive story, modern scholars of ...

, where the seventh day is set aside as a day of rest (in Hebrew, ''shabbat'') and made holy by

(). Observation and remembrance of Sabbath ( ''shabbat'') is one of the

(the fourth in the original

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, the

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

, and most

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

traditions, the third in

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

and

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

traditions). Most Jews who observe the Sabbath regard it as having been instituted as a perpetual covenant for the

Israelites Israelites were a Hebrew language, Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age. Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanites, Canaanite populations ...

(), as a sign respecting two events: the day during which God rested after having completed Creation in six days () and the Israelites' deliverance from Egypt (). However, most Sabbath-keeping Christians regard the Sabbath as having been instituted by God at the end of Creation week and that the entire world was then, and continues to be, obliged to observe the seventh day as Sabbath. Observance in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' sixth-day sundown to seventh-day sundown on a seven-day week. The Sabbath was considered a day of joy, and an occasion for consultation with prophets. Sabbath corporate worship was not prescribed for the community at large, and the Sabbath activities at the shrines were originally a convocation of priests for the purpose of offering divine sacrifices, with family worship and rest being centered in homes. Originally, Sabbath-breakers were officially to be cut off from the assembly or potentially killed ().

Judaism

Jewish ''

'' (''Shabbath'', ''Shabbes'', ''Shobos'', etc.) is a weekly day of rest, observed from sundown on Friday until the appearance of three stars in the sky on Saturday night. Thirty-nine activities prohibited on ''Shabbat'' are listed in Tractate ''

Shabbat (Talmud) Shabbat (, lit. "Sabbath") is the first tractate of '' Seder Moed'' ("Order of Appointed Times") of the Mishnah and of the Talmud. The tractate deals with the laws and practices regarding observing the Jewish Sabbath (''Shabbat'' in Hebrew). Th ...

''. Customarily, ''Shabbat'' is ushered in by lighting

candle A candle is an ignitable candle wick, wick embedded in wax, or another flammable solid substance such as tallow, that provides light, and in some cases, a Aroma compound, fragrance. A candle can also provide heat or a method of keeping time. ...

s shortly before sunset, at halakhically calculated times that change weekly and geographically. ''Shabbat'' is a widely noted hallmark of the Jewish people. Several weekly ''Shabbat''s per year are designated as Special Sabbaths, such as '' Shabbat haGadol'', prior to

Pesach Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday and one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Biblical Egypt, Egypt. According to the Book of Exodus, God in ...

(literally, "the High Sabbath", but not to be confused with other High Sabbaths); and ''Shabbat Teshuvah'', prior to Yom Kippur ("Repentance Sabbath"). While Shabbat is universally considered by Jews to take place between Friday at sundown and Saturday at sundown, the classical Reform movement at its height produced innovations in practice, exemplied by some

Reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

rabbis such as Samuel Holdheim, who shifted his congregation's Shabbat services to Sundays in imitation of Christians' observance of their sabbath, which takes place on Sunday. (Reform Judaism has since abandoned the practice of holding Shabbat services on Sundays.)

Shabbaton

Colloquially, in contemporary Israel, the term ''Shabbaton'' or ''Shaboson'' may mean an event or program of education and usually celebration held on ''

'', or over an entire weekend with main focus on ''Shabbat''. Such events are held by youth groups, singles groups, synagogues, schools, social groups, charitable groups or family reunions, can be either multi-generational and wide-open or limited-group, and can be held where a group usually meets or offsite. "''Shabbaton''", rather than just " retreat", signifies recognition of the importance of ''Shabbat'' in the event or program..

Christianity

Eastern Christianity Eastern Christianity comprises Christianity, Christian traditions and Christian denomination, church families that originally developed during Classical antiquity, classical and late antiquity in the Eastern Mediterranean region or locations fu ...

, the Sabbath is considered still to be on

Saturday Saturday is the day of the week between Friday and Sunday. No later than the 2nd century, the Romans named Saturday ("Saturn's Day") for the god Saturn. His planet, Saturn, controlled the first hour of that day, according to Vettius Valens. T ...

, the seventh day, in remembrance of the Hebrew Sabbath. In

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and most branches of Protestantism, the "

Lord's Day In Christianity, the Lord's Day refers to Sunday, the traditional day of communal worship. It is the first day of the week in the Hebrew calendar and traditional Christian calendars. It is observed by most Christians as the weekly memorial of the ...

" (Greek Κυριακή) is considered to be on Sunday, the first day (and "eighth day"). Communal worship, including the Holy Mysteries, may take place on any day, but a weekly observance of the resurrection is made consistently on Sunday.

Western Christianity Western Christianity is one of two subdivisions of Christianity (Eastern Christianity being the other). Western Christianity is composed of the Latin Church and Protestantism, Western Protestantism, together with their offshoots such as the O ...

sometimes refers to the Lord's Day as a "Christian Sabbath", distinct from the Hebrew Sabbath, but related in varying manner. Subbotniks (literally, Sabbatarians) are a Russian sect, categorized Judaizing Christians, which became particularly branded by strict ''Shabbat'' observance.

First-day

Since

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

times, most English-speaking

s identify the "

" (viz., Sunday) with a " Christian Sabbath", a term

s in those areas may also celebrate with the

Eucharist The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...

. It is considered both the first day and the "eighth day" of the seven-day week. In

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

, all commerce and entertainment activities cease on Sunday, starting at midnight and ending the next day, at midnight, as Tonga's constitution declares the Sabbath sacred forever. In

Oriental Orthodoxy The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite Christology, with approximately 50 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches adhere to the Nicene Christian tradition. Oriental Orthodoxy is ...

, the

Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church () is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Christian churches in Africa originating before European colonization of the continent, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church dates bac ...

has observed both Sunday Resurrection Day and Saturday Sabbath in different ways for several centuries, as have other

traditions.

Sabbatarianism or Reformed Sabbatarianism is strict observance of Sabbath in Christianity that is typically characterized by its avoidance of recreational activities. "Puritan Sabbath", expressed in the '' Westminster Confession of Faith'', is often contrasted with " Continental Sabbath": the latter follows the Continental Reformed confessions such as the '' Heidelberg Catechism'', which emphasize rest and

worship Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity or God. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recognition of a God. An act of worship may be performed individually, in an informal or formal group, ...

, but do not forbid recreational activities.

Seventh-day

Several Christian denominations observe Sabbath in a similar manner to Judaism, though with observance ending at Saturday sunset instead of Saturday nightfall. Early church historians Sozomen and

Socrates Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was a Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the Ethics, ethical tradition ...

cite the seventh day as the Christian day of worship except for the Christians in Rome and Alexandria. Many Sabbatarian Judeo-Christian groups were attested during the Middle Ages. The

Waldensians The Waldensians, also known as Waldenses (), Vallenses, Valdesi, or Vaudois, are adherents of a church tradition that began as an ascetic movement within Western Christianity before the Reformation. Originally known as the Poor of Lyon in the l ...

, a religious group founded during the 12th century, are regarded as one of the first Post-Constantinian Christian groups to observe the seventh-day Sabbath. The Szekler Sabbatarians were founded in 1588 from among the Unitarian Church of Transylvania and maintained a presence until the group converted to Judaism in the 1870s. Seventh Day Baptists have observed Sabbath on Saturday since the mid-17th century (either from sundown or from midnight), and influenced the (now more numerous) Seventh-day Adventists in America to begin the practice in the mid-19th century. They believe that keeping

seventh-day Sabbath The seventh-day Sabbath, observed from Friday evening to Saturday evening, is an important part of the beliefs and practices of list of Sabbath-keeping churches, seventh-day churches. These churches emphasize biblical references such as the ancien ...

is a moral responsibility equal to that of any of the other

, based on the Fourth Commandment's injunction to Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy, as well as the example of

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

. They also use "Lord's Day" to mean the seventh day, based on Scriptures in which God calls the day "my Sabbath" () and "to the " () and in which Jesus calls himself "Lord of Sabbath" (). The question of defining Sabbath worldwide on a round earth was resolved by some seventh-day Sabbatarians by making use of the

International Date Line The International Date Line (IDL) is the line extending between the South and North Poles that is the boundary between one calendar day and the next. It passes through the Pacific Ocean, roughly following the 180.0° line of longitude and de ...

(i.e., permitting local rest-day adjustment, ), while others (such as some

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

n Sabbatarians) keep Sabbath according to

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

time (i.e., rejecting manmade temporal customs, ). Adherents of

Messianic Judaism Messianic Judaism is a syncretic Abrahamic religious sect that combines Christian theology with select elements of Judaism. It considers itself to be a form of Judaism but is generally considered to be a form of Christianity, including by ...

(a Christian sect or grouping of sects), also generally observe the Sabbath on Saturdays.

Seventh-day versus First-day

In 321 AD, Roman emperor

Constantine the Great Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...

enacted the first civil law regarding Sunday observance. The law did not mention the Sabbath by name, but referred to a day of rest on "the venerable day of the sun."

New moon

The new moon, occurring every 29 or 30 days, is an important separately sanctioned occasion in Judaism and some other faiths. It is not widely regarded as Sabbath, but some messianic and

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

churches, keep the day of the new moon as Sabbath or rest day, from evening to evening. New-moon services can last all day. Some modern sects who are Sabbath keepers have suggested a Sabbath based on the New Moon citin
Psalm 104:19
an

as a key prooftexts. Observers recognize the 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th days of the month of the Hebrew Calendar as Sabbath days which should be observed. They reject the 7 day week as non-biblical. The Lunar Sabbath theory is rejected by most Sabbatarian groups and Judaism as false and misleading but the recently discovered Dead Sea Scrolls translated by Eisenman and Wise show the Essene Jewish calendar revealing the first sabbath of the month of Nisan being on the 4th day 3 days after the new moon and kept every 7 days for the rest of the year. While some of the writings at the Dead Sea sect or Qumran state the 4th day, other writings such as HaYubilim XLIV:1 or The Jubilees 44:1 mention the seventh day of the 3rd moon a sacrifice takes place and Yaakob stays seven days later because travel is not permitted on Shabbat. Philo of Alexandria also mentions in Decalogue XXX (161) But to the seventh day of the week he has assigned he beginning ofthe greatest festivals, those of the longest duration nleavened Bread and Tabernacles at the periods of the equinox both vernal and autumnal in each year; appointing two festivals for these two epochs, each lasting seven days; the one which takes place in the spring being for the perfection of what is being sown, and the one which falls in autumn being a feast of thanksgiving for the bringing home of all the fruits which the trees have produced. And seven days have very appropriately been appointed to the seventh month of each equinox, so that each month might receive an especial honour of one sacred day of festival, for the purpose of refreshing and cheering the mind with its holiday.

Day of the Vow

Day of the Vow or Dingane's Day (

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

''Geloftedag'' or ''Dingaansdag'', December 16) was the name of a religious public holiday in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

commemorating a famous Boer victory over the Zulu. Celebrated as annual Sabbath (a holy day of thanksgiving) since 1838, it was renamed Day of Reconciliation in 1994. The anniversary and its commemoration are intimately connected with various streams of

Afrikaner Afrikaners () are a Southern African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers who first arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: Brain to Casting''. Encyclopæd ...

and South African nationalism.

Millennial Sabbath

Since

Hippolytus of Rome Hippolytus of Rome ( , ; Romanized: , – ) was a Bishop of Rome and one of the most important second–third centuries Christian theologians, whose provenance, identity and corpus remain elusive to scholars and historians. Suggested communitie ...

in the early third century, Christians have often considered that some thousand-year Sabbath, expected to begin six thousand years after Creation, might be identical with the

millennium A millennium () is a period of one thousand years, one hundred decades, or ten centuries, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting ...

described in the

Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation, also known as the Book of the Apocalypse or the Apocalypse of John, is the final book of the New Testament, and therefore the final book of the Bible#Christian Bible, Christian Bible. Written in Greek language, Greek, ...

. This view was also popular among 19th- and 20th-century dispensational premillennialists. The term "Sabbatism" or "Sabbatizing" (Greek ''Sabbatismos''), which generically means any literal or spiritual Sabbath-keeping, has also been taken in to have special reference to this definition.

Spiritual Sabbath

Some modern Christians uphold Sabbath principles but do not limit observance to either Saturday or Sunday, instead advocating rest on any one chosen day of the week as following the spirit of Sabbath, or advocating Sabbath as instead a symbolic metaphor for rest in Christ. These look upon Sabbath as a principle to be observed in spirit rather than in letter, regarding the rest offered in

as the only New Testament admonishment containing the root word of "Sabbath" () and sometimes as a more permanent rest than a day could fulfill ().

Latter Day Saint Movement

In 1831,

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious and political leader and the founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. Publishing the Book of Mormon at the age of 24, Smith attracted tens of thou ...

published a revelation commanding his related movement, the

Latter Day Saint movement The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by ...

, to go to the house of prayer, offer up their sacraments, rest from their labors, and pay their devotions on the Lord's day (D&C 59:9–12). Latter-day Saints believe this means performing no labor that would keep them from giving their full attention to spiritual matters (Ex. 20:10). LDS prophets have described this as meaning they should not shop, hunt, fish, attend sports events, or participate in similar activities on that day. Elder Spencer W. Kimball wrote in his '' The Miracle of Forgiveness'' that mere idle lounging on the Sabbath does not keep the day holy, and that it calls for constructive thoughts and acts. Members of the Church are encouraged to prepare their meals with "singleness of heart" on the Sabbath (D&C 59:13) and believe the day is only for righteous activities (Is. 58:13.) In most areas of the world, this means worship on Sunday, though there is adaptation for Israel and many Muslim-majority countries. In harmony with this revelation, members of the LDS church attend

sacrament meeting Sacrament meeting is the primary weekly Sunday worship service in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Sacrament meetings are held in the chapel of a meetinghouse by each individual ward (or branch). The service is pres ...

each week. Other Sabbath-day activities may include: praying, meditating, studying the scriptures and the teachings of latter-day prophets, writing letters to family members and friends, reading wholesome material, visiting the sick and distressed, and attending other Church meetings.

Islam

The

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

shares the six-part Abrahamic creation narrative (32:4, 50:38) and the Sabbath as the seventh day (: 2:65, 4:47, 154, 7:163, 16:124), but God's mounting the throne after creation is taken in contradistinction to

Elohim ''Elohim'' ( ) is a Hebrew word meaning "gods" or "godhood". Although the word is plural in form, in the Hebrew Bible it most often takes singular verbal or pronominal agreement and refers to a single deity, particularly but not always the Go ...

's concluding and resting from his labors. The Quran states that since Sabbath was only for Jews, Muslims replace Sabbath rest with (). Also known as "Friday prayer", is a congregational prayer () held every Friday (the Day of Assembly), just after midday, in place of the otherwise daily prayer; The Quran states: "When the call is proclaimed to prayer on Friday, hasten earnestly to the Remembrance of Allah, and leave off business: That is best for you if ye but knew" (62:9). The next verse ("When the prayer is ended, then disperse in the land ...") leads many Muslims not to consider Friday a rest day, as in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, which regards the seventh-day Sabbath as unchanged; but many Muslim countries, such as

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

and

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

, do consider Friday a nonwork day, a holiday or a weekend; and other Muslim countries, like

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

and the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

count it as half a rest day (after the Friday prayer is over). attendance is strictly incumbent upon all free adult males who are

Samaritanism

The Sabbath is observed weekly by the Samaritan community every Friday to Saturday beginning and ending at sundown, for twenty four hours the families gather together to celebrate the rest day, all electricity with the exception of minimal lighting (kept on the entire day) in the house is disconnected, no work is done, neither is cooking or driving allowed. The time is devoted to worship which consists of seven prayer services (divided into two for Sabbath eve, two in the morning, one in afternoon and one at eve of conclusion), reading the weekly Torah portion (According to the Samaritan yearly Torah cycle), spending quality time with family, taking meals, rest and sleep, and within the community visiting each other is encouraged. Shabbat candles are not used in Samaritan custom and would be considered a violation of the biblical commandment of "You shall not kindle fire".

Other religious traditions

Seven-day week

synecdoche Synecdoche ( ) is a type of metonymy; it is a figure of speech that uses a term for a part of something to refer to the whole (''pars pro toto''), or vice versa (''totum pro parte''). The term is derived . Common English synecdoches include '' ...

(naming the whole for a part), in Jewish sources by the time of the

Septuagint The Septuagint ( ), sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy (), and abbreviated as LXX, is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Biblical Hebrew. The full Greek ...

, the term "Sabbath" ( Greek ''Sabbaton'', Strong's ''4521'') also came to mean an entire " se'nnight" or seven-day week, the interval between two weekly Sabbaths.

parable A parable is a succinct, didactic story, in prose or verse, that illustrates one or more instructive lessons or principles. It differs from a fable in that fables employ animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature as characters, whe ...

of the Pharisee and the Publican () describes the

Pharisee The Pharisees (; ) were a Jews, Jewish social movement and school of thought in the Levant during the time of Second Temple Judaism. Following the Siege of Jerusalem (AD 70), destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD, Pharisaic beliefs became ...

as fasting "twice a week" ( Greek ''dis tou sabbatou'', literally, "Twice of the Sabbath"). Philo of Alexandria states in Decalogue XX. (96) The fourth commandment has reference to the sacred seventh day, that it may be passed in a sacred and holy manner. Now some states keep the holy festival only once in the month, counting from the new moon, as a day sacred to God; but the nation of the Jews keep every seventh day regularly, after each interval of six days; (97) and there is an account of events recorded in the history of the creation of the world, constituting a sufficient relation of the cause of this ordinance; for the sacred historian says, that the world was created in six days, and that on the seventh day God desisted from his works, and began to contemplate what he had so beautifully created; (98) therefore, he commanded the beings also who were destined to live in this state, to imitate God in this particular also, as well as in all others, applying themselves to their works for six days, but desisting from them and philosophising on the seventh day, and devoting their leisure to the contemplation of the things of nature, and considering whether in the preceding six days they have done anything which has not been holy, bringing their conduct before the judgment-seat of the soul, and subjecting it to a scrutiny, and making themselves give an account of all the things which they have said or done; the laws sitting by as assessors and joint inquirers, in order to the correcting of such errors as have been committed through carelessness, and to the guarding against any similar offences being hereafter repeated.

High Sabbaths

"High Sabbaths" are observed by Jews and some Christians. Seven annual Biblical festivals, called ''miqra'' ("called assembly") in Hebrew and "High Sabbath" in English and serving as supplemental testimonies to Sabbath, are specified in the books of Exodus and

Deuteronomy Deuteronomy (; ) is the fifth book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called () which makes it the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament. Chapters 1–30 of the book consist of three sermons or speeches delivered to ...

; they do not necessarily fall on weekly Sabbath. Three occur in spring: the first and seventh days of

(

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday and one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Biblical Egypt, Egypt. According to the Book of Exodus, God in ...

), and

Shavuot (, from ), or (, in some Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi usage), is a Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday, one of the biblically ordained Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It occurs on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan; in the 21st century, it may ...

(

Pentecost Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 49th day (50th day when inclusive counting is used) after Easter Day, Easter. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spiri ...

). Four occur in fall, in the seventh month, and are also called ''Shabbaton'':

Rosh Hashanah Rosh Hashanah (, , ) is the New Year in Judaism. The Hebrew Bible, biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (, , ). It is the first of the High Holy Days (, , 'Days of Awe"), as specified by Leviticus 23:23–25, that occur in the late summe ...

( Trumpets); Yom Kippur, "Sabbath of Sabbaths" ( Atonement); and the first and eighth days of Sukkoth ( Tabernacles). "High Sabbaths" is also often a synonym of " High Holy Days", viz., Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Shmita

'' Shmita'' (, Strong's 8059 as ''sh^emittah'', literally "release"), also called sabbatical year, is the seventh (שביעי, Strong's 7637 as ''sh^ebiy'iy'') year of the seven-year agricultural cycle mandated by

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

for the

Land of Israel The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The definition ...

, relatively little observed in Biblical tradition, but still observed in contemporary

. During ''Shmita'', the land is left to lie

fallow Fallow is a farming technique in which arable land is left without sowing for one or more vegetative cycles. The goal of fallowing is to allow the land to recover and store Organic compound, organic matter while retaining moisture and disrupting ...

and all agricultural activity, including plowing, planting, pruning and harvesting, is forbidden by Torah and Jewish law. By tradition, other cultivation techniques (such as watering, fertilizing, weeding, spraying, trimming and mowing) may be performed as preventive measures only, not to improve the growth of trees or plants; additionally, whatever fruits grow of their own accord during that year are deemed '' hefker'' (ownerless), not for the landowner but for the poor, the stranger, and the beasts of the field; these fruits may be picked by anyone. A variety of laws also apply to the sale, consumption and disposal of ''Shmita'' produce. When the year ended, all debts, except those of foreigners, were to be remitted (); in similar fashion, Torah requires a slave who had worked for six years to go free in the seventh year. Leviticus 25 promises bountiful harvests to those who observe ''Shmita'', and describes its observance as a test of religious faith. The term ''Shmita'' is translated "release" five times in the

Book of Deuteronomy Deuteronomy (; ) is the fifth book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called () which makes it the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament. Chapters 1–30 of the book consist of three sermons or speeches delivered to ...

(from the root שמט, ''shamat'', "''desist'', ''remit''", 8058).

Babylonian rest days

Counting from the new moon, the Babylonians celebrated the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th as "holy-days", also called "evil days" (meaning "unsuitable" for prohibited activities). On these days officials were prohibited from various activities and common men were forbidden to "make a wish", and at least the 28th was known as a "rest-day". On each of them, offerings were made to a different god and goddess. Tablets from the 6th-century BCE reigns of

Cyrus the Great Cyrus II of Persia ( ; 530 BC), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Achaemenid dynasty (i. The clan and dynasty) Hailing from Persis, he brought the Achaemenid dynasty to power by defeating the Media ...

and Cambyses indicate these dates were sometimes approximate. The lunation of 29 or 30 days basically contained three seven-day weeks, and a final week of nine or ten days inclusive, breaking the continuous seven-day cycle. The Babylonians additionally celebrated the 19th as a special "evil day", the "day of anger", because it was roughly the 49th day of the (preceding) month, completing a "week of weeks", also with sacrifices and prohibitions. Difficulties with Friedrich Delitzsch's origin theory connecting Hebrew ''

'' with the Babylonian lunar cycle include reconciling the differences between an unbroken week and a lunar week, and explaining the absence of texts naming the lunar week as ''Shabbat'' in any language. Reconstruction of a broken tablet seems to define the rarely attested Babylonian Akkadian word ''Sapattu^m'' or ''Sabattu^m'' as the full moon: this word is cognate or merged with Hebrew ''Shabbat'', but is monthly rather than weekly. It is regarded as a form of

Sumer Sumer () is the earliest known civilization, located in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (now south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age, early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. ...

ian ''sa-bat'' ("mid-rest"), attested in Akkadian as ''um nuh libbi'' ("day of mid-repose"). This conclusion is a contextual restoration of the damaged Enûma Eliš creation mythos, which is read as: " aattu shalt thou then encounter, mid onthy." The pentecontad calendar, thought to be of Amorite origin, includes a period known to

Babylonia Babylonia (; , ) was an Ancient history, ancient Akkadian language, Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Kuwait, Syria and Iran). It emerged as a ...

ns as ''Shappatum''. The year is broken down into seven periods of fifty days (made up of seven weeks of seven days, containing seven weekly Sabbaths, and an extra fiftieth day, known as the ''atzeret''), plus an annual supplement of fifteen or sixteen days, called ''Shappatum'', the period of harvest time at the end of each year. Identified and reconstructed by Hildegaard and Julius Lewy in the 1940s, the calendar's use dates back to at least the 3rd millennium BCE in Western

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

and surrounding areas; it was used by the

Canaan CanaanThe current scholarly edition of the Septuagint, Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX interprets. 2. ed. / recogn. et emendavit Robert Hanhart. Stuttgart : D ...

ite tribes, thought by some to have been used by the

Israelite Israelites were a Hebrew language, Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age. Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanites, Canaanite populations ...

s prior to

King Solomon King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by f ...

, and related to the liturgical calendar of the Essenes at

Qumran Qumran (; ; ') is an archaeological site in the West Bank managed by Israel's Qumran National Park. It is located on a dry marl plateau about from the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, about south of the historic city of Jericho, and adjac ...

. Used well into the modern age, forms of it have been found in Nestorianism and among the Palestinian people, Palestinian ''fellaheen''. Julius Morgenstern believed that the calendar of the Jubilees had ancient origins as a somewhat modified survival of the pentecontad calendar.

Buddhist rest day

The ''Uposatha'' has been observed since Gautama Buddha's time (500 BCE), and is still being kept today in Theravada Buddhist countries. It occurs every seven or eight days, in accordance with the four phases of the moon. Buddha taught that ''Uposatha'' is for "the cleansing of the defiled mind", resulting in inner calm and joy. On this day, Śrāvaka, disciples and monks intensify their practice, deepen their knowledge, and express communal commitment through millennia-old acts of lay-monastic reciprocity. Thai Chinese likewise observe their Sabbaths and traditional Chinese holidays according to lunar phases, but not on exactly the same days as ''Uposatha''. These Sabbaths cycle through the month with respect to the Thai solar calendar, so common Thai calendars incorporate Thai and Chinese calendar lunar dates, as well as ''Uposatha'' dates, for religion, religious purposes.

Cherokee rest days

The first day of the new moon, beginning at sunrise, is a holiday of leisure, quiet reflection and prayer among the Cherokee. Monthly fasting is encouraged, for up to four days. Work, cooking, sex and childbirth were also prohibited during the empty moon days, called "un-time" or "non-days"; childbirth during these days was considered unlucky. The Cherokee new year, the "great new moon" or "Hunting Moon", is the first new moon in autumn, after the setting of the Pleiades star cluster and around the time of the Leonids meteoric shower.

Sabbath as Saturday

One folk tradition in English is the widespread use of "Sabbath" as a synonym of midnight-to-midnight "Saturday" (literally, Saturn's day in at least a dozen languages): this is a simplification of the use of "Sabbath" in other religious contexts, where the two do not coincide. (Using midnight instead of sundown as delimiter dates back to the Roman Empire.) In over thirty other languages, the week-day names, common name for this day in the seven-day week is a cognate of "Sabbath". "Sabbatini", originally "Sabbadini", often "Sabatini", etc., is a very frequent Italian name form ("Christodoulos Sabbatos, Sabbatos" is the Greek form), indicating a family whose ancestor was born on Saturday, Italian ''sabato''; "Domenico" indicated birth on Sunday. In vampire hunter lore, people born on Saturday were specially designated as ''sabbatianoí'' in Greek and ''sâbotnichavi'' in Bulgarian language, Bulgarian (rendered in English as "Sabbatarians"). It was also believed in the Balkans that someone born on a Saturday could see a vampire when it was otherwise invisible.

Wicca

The annual cycle of the Earth's seasons is called the Wheel of the Year in Wicca and neopaganism. Eight Wheel of the Year, sabbats (occasionally "sabbaths", or "Sun sabbats") are spaced at approximately even intervals throughout the year. Samhain, which coincides with Halloween, is considered the first sabbat of the year. An esbat is a ritual observance of the full moon in Wicca and neopaganism. Some groups extend the esbat to include the dark moon and the first and last quarters. "Esbat" and "sabbat" are distinct and are probably not

terms, although an esbat is also called "moon sabbat". European records from the Middle Ages to the 17th century or later also place Witches' Sabbaths on similar dates to sabbats in modern Wicca, but with some disagreement; medieval reports of sabbat activity are generally not firsthand and may be imaginative, but many persons were accused of, or tried for, taking part in sabbats.

Unification Church

The Unification Church has a regular day of worship on Sunday, but every eight days Unificationists celebrate the day of Ahn Shi Il, considered as Sabbath but cycling among the weekdays of the Gregorian calendar. The Family Pledge, formerly recited at 5:00 a.m. on Sundays, was moved to Ahn Shi Il in 1994 and includes eight verses containing the phrase "by centering on true love".

Baháʼí Faith

The day of rest in the Baháʼí Faith is Friday.

Secular traditions

Secular use of "Sabbath" for "rest day", while it usually refers to the same period of time (Sunday) as the majority Christian use of "Sabbath", is often stated in North America to refer to different purposes for the rest day than those of Christendom. In ''McGowan v. Maryland'' (1961), the Supreme Court of the United States held that contemporary Maryland blue laws (typically, Sunday rest laws) were intended to promote the secular values of "health, safety, recreation, and general well-being" through a common day of rest, and that this day coinciding with majority Christian Sabbath neither reduces its effectiveness for secular purposes nor prevents adherents of other religions from observing their own holy days. Massachusetts, uncharacteristically, does not specify which day of the week its "Day of Rest" statute applies to, providing only that one day off from work is required every week; an unspecified weekly day off is a very widespread business production cycle. The Supreme Court of Canada, in ''R. v. Big M Drug Mart Ltd.'' (1985) and ''R. v. Edwards Books and Art Ltd.'' (1986), found some blue laws invalid for having no legitimate secular purpose, but others valid because they had no religious purpose. The weekend is that period of the week set aside by custom or law for rest from labor. In many countries the non-working days are Saturday and Sunday, and in that case "the weekend" is often considered to begin when Friday's workday ends. This five-day workweek arose in United States, America when labor unions attempted to accommodate Jewish Sabbath, beginning at a New England cotton mill and also instituted by Henry Ford in 1926; it became standard in America by about 1940 and spread among English-speaking and European countries to become the international workweek. China adopted it in 1995 and Hong Kong by 2006. Businesses in India and some other countries might follow either the international workweek or a more traditional plan that is nearly the same but includes half a day of work on Saturday. While

and Lebanon have the international workweek, in most Muslim countries Friday is the weekend, alone or with Thursday (all or half) or Saturday. Some universities permit a three-day weekend from Friday to Sunday. The weekend in Israel, Nepal, and parts of Malaysia, is Friday (all or half) and Saturday. Only the one-day customary or legal weekends are usually called "Sabbath".

State-mandated rest days

State-mandated rest days are widespread. Laws of the Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE) required imperial officials to rest on every ''mu'' (every fifth day), within a ten-day Chinese week. The rest day was changed to ''huan'' or ''xún'' (every tenth day) in the Tang dynasty (618–907). The calendar reform, reform calendar of the French Revolution was used from 1793 to 1805. It used ten-day weeks, contained in twelve months of three weeks each; the five or six extra days needed to approximate the tropical year were placed at the end of the year and did not belong to any month. The tenth day of each week, ''décadi'', replaced Sunday as the day of rest and festivity in France. From 1929 to 1931, the Soviet Union mandated a Soviet calendar, five-day week in which each day designated by color as a state rest day for a different 20% of the workforce; members of the same family did not usually have the same rest day. Three weeks each year were longer (six or seven days instead of five), because those weeks were interrupted by holidays. From 1931 to 1940, the Soviets mandated a six-day week, with state rest days for all upon the 6th, 12th, 18th, 24th, and 30th of each Gregorian month, as well as upon March 1. This also necessitated varying weeks of five to seven days over the year. Among many calendar reform proposals that eliminate the constant seven-day week in exchange for simplified calculation of calendrical data like weekday names for given dates, some retain Sabbatical influences. The Hermetic Lunar Week Calendar uses moon phases, resulting in weeks of six to nine days. The International Fixed Calendar and World Calendar both use 364-day years containing exactly 52 weeks (each starting on a day designated as Sunday), with an additional one or two intercalation (timekeeping), intercalary "blank" days not designated as part of any week (Year Day and Leap Day in the International Fixed Calendar; Worldsday and Leapyear Day in the World Calendar). Supporters of reform sought to accommodate Sabbatical observance by retaining the modified week and designating the intercalary days as additional Sabbaths or holidays; however, religious leaders held that such days disrupt the traditional seven-day weekly cycle. This unresolved issue contributed to the cessation of calendar reform activities in the 1930s (International Fixed Calendar) and again in 1955 (World Calendar), though supporters of both proposals remain.

Subbotnik

The subbotnik is a weekly day of volunteer work on Saturday in Russia, other (former) Republics of the Soviet Union, Soviet republics, the Eastern Bloc, and the German Democratic Republic, sporadically observed since 1919. The ''voskresnik'' is a related volunteer workday on Sunday. They focus on community service work; "Lenin's Subbotnik" was also observed annually around his birthday.

Sabbatical

From the biblical sabbatical year came the modern concept of a sabbatical, a prolonged, often one-year, hiatus in the career of an individual (not usually tied to a seven-year period). Such a period is often taken in order to fulfill some goal such as writing a book or traveling extensively for research. Some universities and other institutional employers of scientists, physicians, or academics offer paid sabbatical as an employee benefit, called "sabbatical leave"; some companies offer unpaid sabbatical for people wanting to take career breaks.

References

External links

* * * {{Set index article Sabbath, Religious holidays Working time Genesis 1 Weekly events