Meaning, commentary and cross references
Exodus 20:8
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”In other translations
KJV · King James Version
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
NIV · New International Version
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
WEB · World English Bible
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
What does Exodus 20:8 mean?
John Gill · Exposition of the Entire Bible, on Exodus 20:8
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. By abstaining from all servile work and business, and from all pleasures and recreations lawful on other days, and by spending it in religious exercises, both internal and external. This the Israelites are bid to "remember", by observing it in such a manner, because this command had been given them before at the first time the manna was rained about their tents, Exodus 16:23 and because it was a command of positive institution, and not a part of the law of nature, and therefore more liable to be forgotten and neglected; for, as a Jewish writer (e) observes, all the laws of the decalogue are according to the dictates of nature, the law and light of…
John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63). Public domain. Digital text: Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org).
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible, on Exodus 20:1–11
(1.) The command itself (Exo 20:8): Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy; and (Exo 20:10), In it thou shalt do no manner of work. It is taken for granted that the sabbath was instituted before; we read of God's blessing and sanctifying a seventh day from the beginning (Gen 2:3), so that this was not the enacting of a new law, but the reviving of an old law. [1.] They are told what is the day they must religiously observe - a seventh, after six days' labour; whether this was the seventh by computation from the first seventh, or from the day of their coming out of Egypt, or both, is not certain: now the precise day was notified to them (Exo 16:23), and from this they were to observe the…
Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706–21; Romans–Revelation completed by Nonconformist ministers). Public domain. Digital text: Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org).
John Calvin · Commentaries, on Exodus 20:8–11
8. Recordare diei Sabbathi, ut sanctifices eum: 9. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 9. Sex diebus operaberis et facies universum opus tuum. 10.
John Calvin, Commentaries (Calvin Translation Society English text). Public domain. Digital text: Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org).
Context: Exodus 20:5–11 (WEB)
5you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7“You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who misuses his name. 8“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9You shall labor six days, and do all your work, 10but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD 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; 11for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.
Cross references
- Leviticus 26:2
“‘You shall keep my Sabbaths, and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am the LORD.
- Leviticus 19:3
“‘Each one of you shall respect his mother and his father. You shall keep my Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God.
- Exodus 31:13–16
“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 your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.
- Genesis 2:3
God blessed the seventh day, and made it holy, because he rested in it from all his work of creation which he had done.
- Leviticus 23:3
“‘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 a Sabbath to the LORD in all your dwellings.
- Leviticus 19:30
“‘You shall keep my Sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary; I am the LORD.
- Exodus 16:23–30
He said to them, “This is that which the LORD has spoken, ‘Tomorrow is a solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. Bake that which you want to bake, and boil that which you want to boil; and all that remains over lay up for yourselves to be kept until the morning.’”
- Exodus 23:12
“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 servant, and the alien may be refreshed.
Key words
In the Baptist Catechism
- Q63. Which is the fourth commandment?
The fourth commandment is, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor 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 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 the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.”