You shall labor six days, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.
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Exodus 20:9-11 sits inside this longer paragraph.
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. You shall labor six days, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.
Parallel Translations
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You shall labor six days, and do all your work,
but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates;
for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.
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Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
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Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work;
but the seventh day is a sabbath unto the LORD thy God, in it thou shalt not do any manner of work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates;
for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day; wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
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Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
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The laws of the Torah, each cited and shown as a primary source.
Cross-references (23)
- Genesis 1:1-2 (v11) In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and…
- Deuteronomy 5:14-15 (v10) but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God, in which you shall not do any work— neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor…
- Genesis 2:2-3 (vv10–11) On the seventh day God finished his work which he had done; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. God…
- Exodus 31:17 (v11) It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested,…
- Mark 2:27-28 (v11) He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”
Show all 21 cross-references
- Exodus 34:21 (vv9–10) “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest: in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.
- Luke 13:14 (v9) The ruler of the synagogue, being indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the multitude, “There are six days in which…
- Exodus 16:27-28 (v10) On the seventh day, some of the people went out to gather, and they found none. Yahweh said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep my…
- Numbers 15:32-36 (v10) While the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. Those who found him gathering…
- Psalms 95:4-7 (v11) In his hand are the deep places of the earth. The heights of the mountains are also his. The sea is his, and he made it. His hands formed…
- Exodus 23:12 (v9) “Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your…
- Exodus 23:9-12 (v10) “You shall not oppress an alien, for you know the heart of an alien, since you were aliens in the land of Egypt. “For six years you shall…
- Exodus 31:13 (v10) “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Most certainly you shall keep my Sabbaths; for it is a sign between me and you throughout…
- Leviticus 23:3 (v9) “ ‘Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no kind of work. It is…
- Deuteronomy 24:14-22 (v10) You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the foreigners who are in your…
- Nehemiah 10:31 (v10) and if the peoples of the land bring wares or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, that we would not buy from them on the Sabbath, or on a…
- Nehemiah 13:15-21 (v10) In those days I saw some men treading wine presses on the Sabbath in Judah, bringing in sheaves, and loading donkeys; also with wine,…
- Luke 23:56 (v10) They returned and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
- Exodus 35:2 (v9) ‘Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of solemn rest to Yahweh: whoever does…
- Deuteronomy 16:11-12 (v10) You shall rejoice before Yahweh your God: you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, the Levite who is within…
- Genesis 1:28 (v11) God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the…
21 distinct cross-references across this passage (23 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (11 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v10 Or, city.
Or, city.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv9–11 Exo 20:9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do…
Exo 20:9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
Ver. 9. Six days shalt thou labour.] God hath reserved but one day in seven, as he reserved the tree of knowledge of good and evil; {Gen 2:2-3} yet wretched men must needs clip the Lord’s coin. In many places God’s Sabbaths are made the voider and dunghill for all refuse businesses. The Sabbath of the Lord, the sanctified day of his rest, saith one, is shamelessly troubled and disquieted. The world is now grown perfectly profane, saith another, and can play on the Lord’s day without concern. {a} {See Trapp (for summary of Law) on "Exo 20:17"}
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{a} Bishop King, On John, lect. vii.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv9–11 This may be either,
This may be either,
1. A command to employ those days in our worldly occasions, yet so as God and religion be not neglected on those days, as many scriptures teach us. Or,
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2. A permission to do so; which I prefer,
1. Because so it is a proper argument to enforce the observation of the sabbath: q.d. Grudge not me one day, when I allow you six for it.
2. Because the command of diligence in our callings would seem improperly placed here, as being of a quite different nature, and belonging to the second table, and being provided for in a distinct command, as we shall see.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv9–11 Six days shalt thou labour,.... This is not to…
Six days shalt thou labour,.... This is not to be taken for a precept, but a permission; not as a command enjoining men to work and labour with their hands, to provide for themselves and families things useful and necessary, and honest in the sight of God; but as a grant and allowance of so many days to employ themselves in, for their own profit and advantage, and that of their families; the Lord only reserving one day out of seven for his service, which ought to be looked upon as a singular favour, that he required no more of their time for his use, and the rest they might spend as they pleased, so that they did not indulge themselves in sin. It is required indeed of all men to labour in some sort and way or another, with their heads or with their hands; though all are not obliged to labour in the same way, or to the same degree, for he that will not work ought not to eat; but this law is not an injunction of that kind, only a toleration of labour on the six days of the week, if proper and necessary, when it is forbidden on the seventh:
and do all thy work, which is incumbent on a man, he is called unto, and is necessary to be done for the good of him and his family; particularly care should be taken, that all should be done on the six days that could possibly be done, and nothing left to be done on the seventh.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v9 Verse 9. Six days shalt thou labour] Therefore he…
Verse 9. Six days shalt thou labour] Therefore he who idles away time on any of the six days, is as guilty before God as he who works on the Sabbath. No work should be done on the Sabbath that can be done on the preceding days, or can be deferred to the succeeding ones. Works of absolute necessity and mercy are alone excepted. He who works by his servants or cattle is equally guilty as if he worked himself. Hiring out horses, &c., for pleasure or business, going on journeys, paying worldly visits, or taking jaunts on the Lord's day, are breaches of this law. The whole of it should be devoted to the rest of the body and the improvement of the mind. God says he has hallowed it - he has made it sacred and set it apart for the above purposes. It is therefore the most proper day for public religious worship.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv9–10 Six, &c. This must be understood if no festival…
Six, &c. This must be understood if no festival of obligation occurred. For many were in force in the old law; such as the Passover, Encenia, Purim, &c., as there are still in the Church. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv9–11 9. Six days shalt thou labour — Here is…
9. Six days shalt thou labour — Here is a positive commandment, as explicit as that which enjoins the sabbath rest. No man is at liberty, before God, to spend his days in idleness and inactivity, and the healthfulness and full vigour of the physical constitution depend as much upon bodily activity as does the soundness of the religious life demand a weekly day of rest.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv9–11 9. work] more precisely, business,—the word regularly used of…
9. work] more precisely, business,—the word regularly used of the ‘work’ or ‘business’ forbidden on the sabbath (Exo_31:14-15, Jer_17:22; Jer_17:24 al.: cf. Gen_2:2), or other sacred day (Exo_12:16).
9, 10. Explanation how the sabbath is to be kept holy.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv9–11 (9) Six days shalt thou labour.—The form is certainly…
(9) Six days shalt thou labour.—The form is certainly imperative; and it has been held that the fourth commandment is “not limited to a mere enactment respecting one day, but prescribes the due distribution of a week, and enforces the six days’ work as much as the seventh day’s rest” (Garden in Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible, vol. iii., p. 1068). But the work on the six days is really rather assumed as what will be than required as what must be; and the intention of the clause is prohibitory rather than mandatory—“thou shalt not work more than six days out of the seven.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv9–11 Six days shalt thou labour. This is not so…
Six days shalt thou labour. This is not so much a command as a prohibition" Thou shaft not labor more than six (consecutive) clays." In them thou shelf do all thy necessary work, so as to have the Sabbath free for the worship and service of God.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v11 20:11 To be in covenant with God is to…
20:11 To be in covenant with God is to do what God does; since he rested from his work (Gen 2:1-3), how can we think that we need no rest?
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.