Re: The Shabbatons On the Meaning of the Biblical Shabbatons
von Ria Tameg » Mi 29. Sep 2021, 17:55
The Hebrew word Shabbaton is found 11 (eleven) times in the Tanach, all of which occur in the Torah of Moses. 6 of those times, the word is used in the phrase Shabbat Shabbaton, and the other 5 occurrences the word Shabbaton is used independent of the phrase above. The term shabbaton is used to describe the weekly Sabbath and each of the 7th month moadim. It also describes the 7th year. Our word occurs 11 times in 10 verses: Used of: Sabbath (Shemot 16:23; 31:15; 35:2; Vayiqra 23:3), Yom Teru’ah (Vayiqra 23:24), Day of Atonement (Vayiqra 16:31; 23:32), Feast of Tabernacles (Vayiqra 23:39 twice), every seventh year (Vayiqra 25:4,5).
The terms Shabbat and Shabbaton are not interchangeable. They do not have the same meaning. The Shabbat (Hebrew, tB'v; ) is a day of cessation from regular work. The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (TWOT) defines shabbat as meaning to cease, desist, rest. The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (HALOT) presents our word as to cease, stop; to come to an end; to rest. Almost exclusively, the term shabbat as a noun refers to the seventh day of the week, which Yahuwah blessed and separated in Creation:
By the seventh day Elohim had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And Elohim blessed the seventh day and separated it, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. (Bereshith 2:2-3)
(More about the seventh day Sabbath below).
The Shabbaton is the Hebrew !AtB'v; (pronounced shăbătōwn). TWOT renders this word as Sabbath observance. The Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (Brown Driver Briggs) defines our word as sabbath observance, sabbatism. And HALOT says this of the word:
one individual and particular tB'v;, such as one that is to be observed in a particularly strict way, or one observed as a special celebration.
The "particularly strict way" which the Hebrew !AtêB'v implies is usually indicated by its translation as "cessation, rest, sabbath observance, complete rest." In the body of our study, we will explore two theories about why some days are shabbaton and others are not.
The Sabbath as a Shabbaton
The seventh day Sabbath is called a shabbaton in four different places (Shemot 16:23; 31:15; 35:2; Vayiqra 23:3). The first reads thus:
He said to them, "This is what Yahuwah commanded: 'Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to Yahuwah. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.'" (Shemot 16:23)
The Hebrew of the key phrase is:
rx"+m' hw"ßhyl;( vd<qo±-tB;v; !AtôB'v;
Literally rendered this reads, "Shabbaton, Shabbat of set-apartness to Yahuwah (is) tomorrow."
The reference of "tomorrow" is to the seventh day Shabbat. Then, the instruction which follows seems to explain the significance of the Sabbath being a shabbaton.
So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.
Special instructions are given in regard to the manna which was on the ground every morning and which the benei Yisrael would gather each morning: It seems that the activity of preparing food to eat was the definitive prohibition which the Sabbath as a shabbaton requires
On the seventh day, because it is a "Shabbaton, Shabbat of set-apartness to Yahuwah," the congregation was instructed NOT to go out and gather the manna, for it would not be found on the Sabbath day. On the Sabbath, Mosheh told the people,
"Eat it today," Mosheh said, "because today is a Sabbath to Yahuwah. You will not find any of it on the ground today. Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any." (Shemot 16:25-26)
The second place where the seventh day Sabbath is called a shabbaton is in Shemot 31:
For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest (Hebrew, Shabbat shabbaton), set apart to Yahuwah. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death (vs 15).
In this text, what makes the Sabbath a complete rest (shabbaton) is that no work at all is to be performed on that day. On pain of death, the sons of Yisrael are urged to set this day apart to Yahuwah and not do any of their work. But nothing is said specifically about preparing food in this passage.
The third occurrence of shabbaton as delimiting the Sabbath day is in Shemot 35:2-3:
For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your set apart day, a Sabbath of rest (Hebrew, Shabbat shabbaton) to Yahuwah. Whoever does any work on it must be put to death. Do not gather a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day."
In this text, the special restfulness of the Shabbat as implied by the term shabbaton is described by the prohibition of "gathering a fire." (I lay out in great detail the meaning of the prohibition of "kindling a fire on the Sabbath" in my study of Keeping Shabbat).
And the final text in which the Sabbath day is called a shabbaton is in Vayiqra 23:3
There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest (Shabbat shabbaton), a day of set apart assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to Yahuwah.
As in the Shemot 31 passage, this text does not specify the particular activity which is prohibited by the term shabbaton.
While shabbaton was connected to the prohibition of preparing food on the Sabbath in Shemot 16, in Shemot 35 shabbaton is connected to the prohibition of "gathering a fire" on the Shabbat. In the other two passages we are merely told that we are not to do any work on the Sabbath on pain of death. So, its difficult at this stage to draw the conclusion that the shabbaton is linked specifically with the preparation of food. Rather, it seems to prohibit all non essential activity - any activities that could be taken care of in advance.