Sabbath in New Testament

Hi Dave. Upfront, I'm not a Greek scholar. But I think there are three fairly straightforward reasons why it should be translated "week". But be aware that there are very elaborate and convincing explanations out there for why the translation should be "Sabbath".

First, koine Greek didn't have an established word that meant "week" nor one that represented a 'holy day' for the Jewish Sabbath; so the word sabbaton (Strong's #4521) then was essentially borrowed from Hebrew shabbath (Strong's #7676) and came to be used for both purposes.

Second, the Jews didn't have individual names for each day of the week. They made reference to the days of the week by their numeric relationship within the seven-day period ending with the Sabbath. There are Greek examples outside of the Bible where this useage can also be found.

Third, no word should be analyzed in complete isolation. The words around any word give it context and certain constructions can hold idiomatic or particular meaning.

There are not that many NT ocurrences (8) of the phrase commonly rendered "first day of the week" (or equivalent in English). Generally, these verses display more-or-less the same constructions: a form of the Greek word mia (Strong's #3391) meaning "one" or "first" followed by sabbaton (with or without the definite article). As you stated this is literally 'one (of the) sabbath' but together the two words can consistantly indicate the 'first (day) of the week'. When some these ocurrences are seen in the local context (passage) it is particularly clear that a rendering as "Sabbath" would be confusing and awkward.

I tried to keep this simple (by leaving out many details). I hope it helps.

 

Hi Dave,

The issue IMO, is not the grammar but the true significance of the Sabbath.

Read Hebrews Chapter 4.

Look at Hebrews 4:9 in the Koine.

Jesus Christ Himself IS the Sabbath rest and the only Sabbath which exists (remaineth) and must be entered into.

Anyone not keeping this Sabbath has not ceased from his own works and has not entered into His rest.

Ironic but true that some/many (certainly not all) "Christians" who keep the earthly sabbath are not keeping the heavenly Sabbath.

HankD

 

Yes, Christ is our Sabbath rest from the burden of the Law...

Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.


HankD​

 

Like I said before: I'm not an expert. I know that singular or plural forms are not always translated into the English. For example, the singular word "heaven" from the phrase "kingdom of heaven" in Matthew (KJV 32 times) is actually plural in Greek. This may be a case of synecdoche (a figure of speech where an individual part or a small portion is used to represent the whole).

 

Remember that a word represents a concept; sometimes those concepts are tangible ("chair", "tree", etc.) and sometimes those concepts are intangible ("love", "zero", etc.).

If a foreign word were translated into English as "chair" it would not confirm that the foreign word actually means "chair" but rather the representation of the concept of an item that is used as seating. It is the commonality of the attributes of the furniture to be sat upon that leads us to translate the word as "chair"; that is, the foreign tangible thing corresponds roughly to our tangible thing (perhaps by virtue of having 'legs', or a 'backrest', etc.). This is why other translators might select "seat" (less specific) or "throne" (more specific) instead of "chair".

So also with the intangible concept of "week". While "week" is grammatically singular, a "week" (composed of days) is conceptually plural. I intentionally did not say that a week is always exactly seven days because the corresponding concept in some cultures has included various amounts of days; but the Jewish concept of a weekly period was seven days. Therefore, when/if 'sabbaths' represents this period of time, it actually stands in for 'seven days of which the seventh day is the Sabbath'. The Greek phrase could be translated as 'first of seven days' (which would agree in grammatical number) but has been further refined in English as a "week". One of the details I didn't bring out before was about the Genitive (which indicates 'possession' or 'belonging to'). Therefore, σαββάτων belongs to something; it belongs to a period of days. I think it makes more sense that the Genitive use of Sabbath is that it belongs to specific seven day period rather than belonging with an undefined set of other Sabbaths, but I'd have to search this out more.

The weekly period of time seem to be of little import to the Jews. It is only in about 23 OT verses, about one-third of those in Daniel alone. The Hebrew word in Daniel is shabuwa (String's #7620) which is not even an actual "week" but a prophetic period based on seven (years).

 

Your welcome, Dave. BTW, here is how Young renders Matthew 28:1 --

And on the eve of the sabbaths, at the dawn, toward the first of the sabbaths, came Mary the Magdalene, and the other Mary, to see the sepulchre, ​

Notice that in this very literal version he correctly and consistantly translates both occurrences of σαββάτων as plural. Many versions (including the KJV, NIV, NASB, and ESV) at this verse translate the first occurrence as "Sabbath" and the second as "week". While it is true that another week will begin immediately after the end of the previous Sabbath day, I think what Matthew was literally saying is that the end of the Sabbath completes the entire previous week (seven day period).

I think it is neither literal nor consistant to translate one σαββάτων as "Sabbath" and the other as "week". Indeed, that would be treating precisely the same word form once as singular and once as plural (conceptually) which may have contributed to your initial question. If we understand that the Genitive Plural indicates the 'period of seven days ending with a Sabbath' then this phrase is essentially stating the time reference as 'after that week was complete, it was now the beginning of the next week'. Yes, it was Sunday morning.

Although, a benefit in using "Sabbath" in the first occurrence may assist the modern mind to remember that the calendar week still ends on Saturday (not Friday) and begins on Sunday (not Monday).

 

The Sabbath is not a day of the week, any more than the day of Atonement is. The old covenant is a shadow of the new covenant. The Sabbath is Jesus Christ our Lord as Hebrews 4:1-9 explains. Jesus fulfilled the whole law including the Sabbath law.

The 7th day rest isn't simply a day to rest from godly or ungodly work during the week, or to engage in sloth. The OT is a shadow of the realities of Christ. The 7th day foreshadows that one can do no work to enter God's rest. That's called grace. God didn't rest only on the 7th day; he rested forever from his work just as Christians do when we come to Jesus for rest.

Jesus is also resting forever now that he completed his work. So as Paul tells us in Colossians 2:16-17, "Do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ."

 

Yes, I would.