Sab·bath /ˈsæbəθ/
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 Sab·bath n.
 1. A season or day of rest; one day in seven appointed for rest or worship, the observance of which was enjoined upon the Jews in the Decalogue, and has been continued by the Christian church with a transference of the day observed from the last to the first day of the week, which is called also Lord's Day.
    Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.   --Ex. xx. 8.
 2. The seventh year, observed among the Israelites as one of rest and festival.
 3. Fig.: A time of rest or repose; intermission of pain, effort, sorrow, or the like.
    Peaceful sleep out the sabbath of the tomb.   --Pope.
 Sabbath breaker, one who violates the law of the Sabbath.
 Sabbath breaking, the violation of the law of the Sabbath.
 Sabbath-day's journey, a distance of about a mile, which, under Rabbinical law, the Jews were allowed to travel on the Sabbath.
 Syn: -- Sabbath, Sunday.
 Usage: Sabbath is not strictly synonymous with Sunday. Sabbath denotes the institution; Sunday is the name of the first day of the week. The Sabbath of the Jews is on Saturday, and the Sabbath of most Christians on Sunday. In New England, the first day of the week has been called “the Sabbath,” to mark it as holy time; Sunday is the word more commonly used, at present, in all parts of the United States, as it is in England. “So if we will be the children of our heavenly Father, we must be careful to keep the Christian Sabbath day, which is the Sunday.” --Homilies.

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 Sabbath
      n : a day of rest and worship: Sunday for most Christians;
          Saturday for the Jews and a few Christians; Friday for
          Muslims


 Sabbath
    (Heb. verb shabbath, meaning "to rest from labour"), the day of
    rest. It is first mentioned as having been instituted in
    Paradise, when man was in innocence (Gen. 2:2). "The sabbath was
    made for man," as a day of rest and refreshment for the body and
    of blessing to the soul.

      It is next referred to in connection with the gift of manna to
    the children of Israel in the wilderness (Ex. 16:23); and
    afterwards, when the law was given from Sinai (20:11), the
    people were solemnly charged to "remember the sabbath day, to
    keep it holy." Thus it is spoken of as an institution already
    existing.

      In the Mosaic law strict regulations were laid down regarding
    its observance (Ex. 35:2, 3; Lev. 23:3; 26:34). These were
    peculiar to that dispensation.

      In the subsequent history of the Jews frequent references are
    made to the sanctity of the Sabbath (Isa. 56:2, 4, 6, 7; 58:13,
    14; Jer. 17:20-22; Neh. 13:19). In later times they perverted
    the Sabbath by their traditions. Our Lord rescued it from their
    perversions, and recalled to them its true nature and intent
    (Matt. 12:10-13; Mark 2:27; Luke 13:10-17).

      The Sabbath, originally instituted for man at his creation, is
    of permanent and universal obligation. The physical necessities
    of man require a Sabbath of rest. He is so constituted that his
    bodily welfare needs at least one day in seven for rest from
    ordinary labour. Experience also proves that the moral and
    spiritual necessities of men also demand a Sabbath of rest. "I
    am more and more sure by experience that the reason for the
    observance of the Sabbath lies deep in the everlasting
    necessities of human nature, and that as long as man is man the
    blessedness of keeping it, not as a day of rest only, but as a
    day of spiritual rest, will never be annulled. I certainly do
    feel by experience the eternal obligation, because of the
    eternal necessity, of the Sabbath. The soul withers without it.
    It thrives in proportion to its observance. The Sabbath was made
    for man. God made it for men in a certain spiritual state
    because they needed it. The need, therefore, is deeply hidden in
    human nature. He who can dispense with it must be holy and
    spiritual indeed. And he who, still unholy and unspiritual,
    would yet dispense with it is a man that would fain be wiser
    than his Maker" (F. W. Robertson).

      The ancient Babylonian calendar, as seen from recently
    recovered inscriptions on the bricks among the ruins of the
    royal palace, was based on the division of time into weeks of
    seven days. The Sabbath is in these inscriptions designated
    Sabattu, and defined as "a day of rest for the heart" and "a day
    of completion of labour."

      The change of the day. Originally at creation the seventh day
    of the week was set apart and consecrated as the Sabbath. The
    first day of the week is now observed as the Sabbath. Has God
    authorized this change? There is an obvious distinction between
    the Sabbath as an institution and the particular day set apart
    for its observance. The question, therefore, as to the change of
    the day in no way affects the perpetual obligation of the
    Sabbath as an institution. Change of the day or no change, the
    Sabbath remains as a sacred institution the same. It cannot be
    abrogated.

      If any change of the day has been made, it must have been by
    Christ or by his authority. Christ has a right to make such a
    change (Mark 2:23-28). As Creator, Christ was the original Lord
    of the Sabbath (John 1:3; Heb. 1:10). It was originally a
    memorial of creation. A work vastly greater than that of
    creation has now been accomplished by him, the work of
    redemption. We would naturally expect just such a change as
    would make the Sabbath a memorial of that greater work.

      True, we can give no text authorizing the change in so many
    words. We have no express law declaring the change. But there
    are evidences of another kind. We know for a fact that the first
    day of the week has been observed from apostolic times, and the
    necessary conclusion is, that it was observed by the apostles
    and their immediate disciples. This, we may be sure, they never
    would have done without the permission or the authority of their
    Lord.

      After his resurrection, which took place on the first day of
    the week (Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1), we never
    find Christ meeting with his disciples on the seventh day. But
    he specially honoured the first day by manifesting himself to
    them on four separate occasions (Matt. 28:9; Luke 24:34, 18-33;
    John 20:19-23). Again, on the next first day of the week, Jesus
    appeared to his disciples (John 20:26).

      Some have calculated that Christ's ascension took place on the
    first day of the week. And there can be no doubt that the
    descent of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost was on that day (Acts
    2:1). Thus Christ appears as instituting a new day to be
    observed by his people as the Sabbath, a day to be henceforth
    known amongst them as the "Lord's day." The observance of this
    "Lord's day" as the Sabbath was the general custom of the
    primitive churches, and must have had apostolic sanction (comp.
    Acts 20:3-7; 1 Cor. 16:1, 2) and authority, and so the sanction
    and authority of Jesus Christ.

      The words "at her sabbaths" (Lam. 1:7, A.V.) ought probably to
    be, as in the Revised Version, "at her desolations."