What Is Sabbath?
The Sabbath is the day of rest kept on the seventh day of the week; its Hebrew root means 'to cease, to stop working'. The Bible grounds it in two ways: in the creation account God completes his work on the seventh day and makes it holy, while the Ten Commandments in Exodus command keeping the Sabbath both as a memorial of creation and as a reminder of release from slavery. The Sabbath is a social provision as well, granting rest to servants, to foreigners, even to animals. By Jesus' time Sabbath rules had grown into a detailed interpretive tradition, which is why his healing on the Sabbath sparks controversy in the Gospels. His saying 'the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath' sums up the day's purpose: not restriction but restoring rest. Early Christians in time adopted meeting on the first day of the week, the day of Jesus' resurrection; the principle of a rhythm of rest and worship remains the Bible's lasting legacy.