sabbatismos in hebrews

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Sabbatismos in Hebrews

Kevin L. Morgan

October 28, 2014

For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way,

“And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” … So

then, there remains a rest for the people of God; for whosoever

enters God’s rest also ceases from his labors as God did from

his. —Hebrews 4:4, 9-10, RSV.

In the epistle to the Hebrews, we find an indication of

the continuing value that the first-century Nazarene

believers saw in the Sabbath under the New Covenant of

grace—the covenant under which believers are forgiven

their sins and God’s law is written in their hearts (Heb.

8:7-12; 10:16, 17; 12:24). The writer of Hebrews 4

mentions God’s seventh-day rest (Heb. 4:4) as an

illustration of the “rest” ( sabbatismos) that remains for

the people of God (Heb. 4:9).

Would a Nazarene believer have seen Hebrews 4 as a

dismissal of their day of worship to clear the way for

another? Hardly. Without being told when to assemble

for exhortation (Heb. 10:25), they already know. As

Willy Rordorf has noted, “Sources all agree” that the

Hebrews (to whom this epistle was written), “observed

the Sabbath.” ( Encyclopedia of the Early Church, vol. 2,

p. 748).1

1 Rordorf is a hostile witness to this fact since he is also the author of the

book, Sunday: the History of the Day of Rest and Worship in the Earliest

Centuries of the Christian Church [1968], which was written to support the

assertion that Sunday was the day of worship in the early church.



2

No support for the Gnostic “eighth day”

It is often claimed that early Christians observed the

first day of the week instead of the seventh. The earliest

apology for this practice is found in three early church

fathers—The Epistle of Barnabas, Justin Martyr, and

Clement of Alexandria.

Following an allegorical exposition on the six days of

creation week, which pseudo-Barnabas interpreted to

mean “in six thousand years, all things will be finished,”

and the statement, “And He rested on the seventh day,” to

mean “then shall He truly rest on the seventh day,” the

allegorical expositor says:

Further, He says to them, “Your new moons and your Sabbaths

I cannot endure.” [Isa. 1:13] Ye perceive how He speaks: Your

present Sabbaths are not acceptable to Me, but that is which I

have made, [namely this,] when, giving rest to all things I shallmake a beginning of the eighth day, that is, a beginning of

another world. Wherefore, also, we keep the eighth day with

joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose again from the

dead.2

Notice that he used the Gnostic term “eighth day” to

designate the first day of the week.3

That that is what hemeant is clarified by his connecting it with the day of the

resurrection. Next, in a discussion with Trypho the Jew,

Justin Martyr explained his reason for worshipping on

2

Epistle of Barnabas, The Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, pp. 146, 147.3 Here is an example of the Gnostic eighth day: “And I assigned the eighth

day to be the first day created after my work, and the first seven to revolve in

the form of seven thousand. At the beginning of the eighth thousand I appointed

an uncounted time, an infinity, unmeasured by years, months, weeks, days, or

hours” (The Other Bible, edited by Willis [Barnstone, NY: HarperCollins,

2005], p. 6).



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the “eighth day” (the first day of the week) rather than

the seventh:

“Wherefore, Trypho, I will proclaim to you, and to those who

wish to become proselytes the divine message which I heard

from that man. Do you see that the elements are not idle, and

keep no Sabbaths? Remain as you were born. For if there was

no need of circumcision before Abraham, or of the observance

of Sabbaths, of feasts and sacrifices, before Moses; no more

need is there of them now . . .

“Now, sirs,” I said, “it is possible for us to show how theeighth day possessed a certain mysterious import, which the

seventh day did not possess, and which was promulgated by

God through these rites.”4

Justin’s allegorical interpretation of the eight

survivors of the flood shows how fanciful his method of

interpretation was. He told Trypho: “For righteous Noah,along with other mortals at the deluge, i.e. with his own

wife, his three sons and their wives, being eight in

number, were a symbol of the eighth day, wherein Christ

appeared when He rose from the dead, for ever the first in

power.”5 This is the typical logic of Gnostic numerology.

Clement of Alexandria wrote in AD 190:The Lord’s day Plato prophetically speaks of in the tenth book

of the Republic, in these words: “And when seven days have

passed to each of them in the meadow, on the eighth they are to

set out and arrive in four days.” (Stromata, bk. 5, ch. 14)

Did Clement mean a literal weekly “Lord’s day”? One

wonders, since he also wrote that the true believer “keepsthe Lord’s day when he abandons an evil disposition …

4 Dialogue with Trypho, chap. 24, The Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, p. 206.5 Dialogue with Trypho, chapter 138, The Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1.



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glorifying the Lord’s resurrection in himself” (bk. 7, ch.

12). Whatever he meant, his reasoning was built on Plato

and the Gnostic “eighth day”—not on the words of Christ

or the teachings of Paul! (Was it merely coincidence that

Plato’s Republic turned up among the gnostic texts of

Nag Hammadi?)

In stark contrast to Justin, Barnabas, and Clement of

Alexandria, who adopted Gnostic “eighth day”

terminology and allegory to promote a rest day

supposedly superior to the Sabbath, first-century believers saw continued significance in the seventh-day

Sabbath under the New Covenant of grace, upholding it

as the great symbol of Christian rest. In fact, Lamsa’s

translation of the Syriac goes so far as to say: “It is

therefore the duty of the people of God to keep the

Sabbath.”Why would it be “a duty” for God’s people? Because

observing the Sabbath is the basis for understanding the

rest of faith. In fact, it reminds us what that rest is. Why?

“For anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his

own work, just as God did from his” (TCE). When we

rest from our works as God rested from His (Heb. 4:4),we enter “Sabbath rest” ( sabbatismos, Heb. 4:9).

Sabbatismos rest is to be distinguished from the more

frequently used katapausis rest (Heb. 3:11, 18; 4:1, 3, 4,

5, 8, 10, and 11), which means “resting place” or

“calming.” Sabbatismos, which is derived from either the

noun sabbaton (Thayer’s) or from the verb sabbatiz ō (Vine’s and Moulton’s), means “Sabbath observance” or

“Sabbath kind of rest” (Bauer, Arndt, & Gingrich).



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The verb form sabbatiz ōis is used in the LXX to mean

“keep the Sabbath” (Exo. 16:30; Lev. 23:32; 26:34; 2

Chr. 36:21). In time, the Catholic Church prohibited

“sabbatizing,” which meant that they outlawed resting on

Sabbath.

Safe to say, God’s rest of faith in Hebrews is rooted in

Sabbath observance—not in Sabbath abandonment or

Sabbath substitution! There is no substitution of the

“eighth day” for the seventh in Hebrews as we find in the

Epistle of Barnabas and Justin Martyr. Rather, there isaffirmation of the Sabbath while discussing the rest that

Israel never entered. (Tell me they did not enter into the

non-work rest of the Sabbath.) Within the Syriac, there is

specific mention of God’s resting on the seventh day and

it being “the Sabbath.”

Use of “Sabbath” in the Context of Hebrews 4

Here is the Syriac translation of the opening verses of

chapter 4 from G. D. Bauscher’s translation:

1 Let us fear therefore while the promise of entrance into His

rest stands, lest a man of you should be found who comes short

of entering.

2 For we also were evangelized as also [were] they; but it did

not benefit those who heard the word because it was not joined

with faith to those who heard it.

3 But we who believe are entering into rest just as He said,

“As I swore in my anger, they shall not enter My rest, for

behold the works of God have been from the foundation of theworld.”



6

4 According to what He said about the Sabbath, “God rested

on the seventh day from all of His works.”6

Verse 4 is an explanation of how “the works of God

have been from the foundation of the world.” In verse 5,

the author returns (“And here again”) to the primary

thought from Psalm 95:11 about entering katapausis.

5 And here again He said, “They shall not enter My rest.”

6 Because therefore there has existed an opportunity for each

person to enter and those who were first evangelized did notenter in that they were not persuaded,

7 Again he appointed another day from after many times just

as, that from above, it is written that David said, “Today, if you

will listen to His voice, harden not your hearts.”

8 If Joshua son of Nun had given them rest, would he have

not spoken from afterward about another day?

Joshua did not give Israel rest, and Hebrews tells us

why. Even though the Gospel was preached to the

children of Israel in Joshua’s day, it did not profit them,

because they did not receive it with faith (Heb. 4:2).

9 So then it remains for the people of God to keep the Sabbath.

A paraphrase of the final verse would be: This is whyit remains for the people of God to keep the Sabbath.

10 Whoever enters His rest, he also has rested from his works

as God did from His own.

11 Let us take pains therefore to enter to that rest, lest we fall

in the manner of those who were not persuaded.

6 Author’s note: Forתאׁשּב

(“Sabbath”), the Greek mss. have εβδομης

(“seventh”); “seven” in Aramaic is ”. … The Peshitta reading “Sabbathעאׁשּב

explains the Greek “seventh” much more credibly than the Greek “seventh” can

explain the “Sabbath” reading.



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12 For the word of God is living and all efficient and much

sharper than a double-edged sword ...7

The meaning of sabbatismos

The sabbatismos that remains for the people of God is

built on the concept of Sabbath observance. And how is

the word sabbatismos used in early Greek literature?

Hebrews 4:9 states, “There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for

the people of God” The words “sabbath rest” translate the Gk

noun sabbatismos, a unique word in the NT. This term appearsalso in Plutarch (Superst. 3 [Moralia 166a]) for sabbath

observance, and in four post-canonical Christian writings

which are not dependent on Hebrews 4:9 (Justin Dial. 23:3;

Epiph. Panar. haer. 30, 2.2; Martyrdom of Peter and Paul, chap.

1; Const. Apost. 2.36.2) for seventh-day “sabbath celebration”

(Hofius 1970: 103–5). (Gerhard Hasel, Anchor Bible

Dictionary, vol. 5, p. 855)

Plutarch, De Superstitione 3.10 “‘ō barbar’ exeurontes

Hellēnes kaka’ (Eur. Tro. 764) tē deisidaimonia, pēlōseis

kataborbor ōseis sabbatismous [sabbath observance], dipseis epi

prosō pon, aischras prokathiseis, allokotous proskunēseis.”

Justin, Dialogue with Trypho 23.3 “Do you see that theelements are not idle, and keep no Sabbaths [ sabbatismos]?”

Epiphanius, Panarion [“Medicine Chest”] Haereses 30.2.2

“Houtōs gar kata pasan airesin phthanontes, en tē peri

sabbatismou, kai peritomēs, kai tōn allōn pollakis

epeirgasametha, pōs ho Kurios hēmin ta entelestera . . .” [For

often in every Sect, when I reached the point, I have explainedin connection with Sabbath keeping, circumcision and the rest,

how the Lord has granted us something more perfect.]

7 Literally, “double-mouthed sword.”



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Martyrdom of Peter and Paul , chap. 1 “And when thou seest

Peter, contend against his teaching, because be has destroyed

all the bulwarks of our law; for he has prevented the keeping ofSabbaths [sabbatismos] and new moons, and the holidays

appointed by the law.8 And Paul, answering, said to them: That

I am a true Jew, by this you can prove; because also you have

been able to keep the Sabbath, and to observe the true

circumcision; for assuredly on the day of the Sabbath God

rested from all His works. We have fathers, and patriarchs, and

the law. What, then, does Peter preach in the kingdom of theGentiles? But if he shall wish to bring in any new teaching,

without any tumult, and envy, and trouble, send him word, that

we may see, and in your presence I shall convict him. But if his

teaching be true, supported by the book and testimony of the

Hebrews, it becomes all of us to submit to him.

Apostolic Constitutions 2.36.2 “Thou shalt observe the

Sabbath [sabbatismos], on account of Him who ceased from

His work of creation, but ceased not from His work of

providence: it is a rest for meditation of the law, not for

idleness of the hands.”

Samuele Bacchiocchi wrote in The Sabbath in the

New Testament , pp. 22-23:

More specifically, there is continuity in the “ sabbatismos”—a

term used in a technical way by Plutarch, Justin, Epiphanius,

Apostolic Constitutions to designate Sabbath observance—

which “remains” (apoleipetia), literally “is left behind for the

people of God” (Heb. 4:9).9 It is noteworthy that while the

8

Nothing more is said in this document about the sabbatismos, or “keepingof Sabbaths.”9 Bacchiocchi’s note: Plutarch, De Superstitione 3 (Moralia 166A); Justin

Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 23, 3; Epiphanius, Adversus Haereses 30, 2, 2;

Apostolic Constitutions 2, 36, 7. A. T. Lincoln admits that “in each of these

places the term denotes the observance or celebration of the Sabbath. This usage

corresponds to the Septuagint usage of the cognate verb sabbatiz ō (cf. Exo.



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author declares the Levitical priesthood and services as

“abolished” (Heb. 10:9), “obsolete” and “ready to vanish

away” (Heb. 8:13), he explicitly teaches that a “Sabbath

keeping is left behind for the people of God” (Heb. 4:9).Further consideration will be given to the significance of

Hebrews 4:9 in chapter 4. For the present, it suffices to note

that Hebrews endeavors to clarify both the continuity and

discontinuity brought about by the coming of Christ. The

Levitical priesthood, the temple, and its services are

proclaimed to be terminated by the coming of Christ, but other

aspects of the law, such as “the Sabbath rest,” are declared to be “left behind for the people of God” (Heb. 4:9).

The Syriac of Hebrews 4:9

The original Syriac of the verse, “וה קים מדין למש תו

ד לה ” (read right to left), clarifiesלעמה sabbatismos

further. A translated transliteration is: “MDYN (so then)QYM HU (it remains) LaMSheBaTU (to keep the

Sabbath)10

LEMH (to the people) DALHA (of God).”

A translated transliteration of the Greek of Hebrews

4:9 reads: “ara (so then) apoleipetai (remains)

sabbatismos (Sabbath observance) tō laō (to the people)

tou theou (of God).”From this comparison we see that the Syriac and the

Greek are very similar. Several scholars see the Greek as

16:30; Lev. 23:32; 26, 34f.; 2 Chron. 36:21), which also has reference to

Sabbath observance. Thus the writer to the Hebrews is saying that since the time

of Joshua, an observance of Sabbath rest has been outstanding” (“Sabbath Restand Eschatology in the New Testament” in From Sabbath to Lord’s Day [n. 3],

p. 213).10 Bauscher’s note:

למש תו

[LaMSheBaTU] – “to keep the Sabbath”, Greek

mss. have “σαββατισμὸς”; this word . . . is an obvious reworking of the Aramaic

“Lamshebatu” - (to keep Sabbath) in Greek letters with grammatical noun

ending.



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a translation of the Syriac. Even if it is the other way

around, it tells us what early Eastern believers understood

the verse to mean. The Syriac word LaMSheBaTU in this

verse is not a noun, but a verb. It begins with LaM -,

which puts “to” before the verb. The rest of the verb

means “keep the Sabbath.” The verse says: “It is settled,

the people of God are to keep the Sabbath.”

Murdock’s translation of the Syriac is: “Therefore it is

established, that the people of God are to have a

sabbath.” Lamsa’s translation is more literal: “It istherefore the duty of the people of God to keep the

sabbath.” What is remarkable about Lamsa’s translation

is that he observed Sunday. So his translation isn’t

because of his theological bent. G. David Bauscher’s

interlinear confirms Lamsa’s translation. The body of

evidence supports Lamsa’s translation.Victor Alexander’s interpretation inserts words that

do not exist in the original text: “For if then Eashoa were

to give them rest after He had called it, He would not

have said that there would be another Day, Therefore, He

rose to be the Sabbath for the nation of God” (Heb. 4:8,

9, emphasis supplied).Christopher Lancaster evaluated this version: “The

V-A Bible is not trustworthy ... Furthermore, due to [the

translator’s] anti-Sabbath belief, he blatantly tampers

with the text of Hebrews chapter 4 (a very pro-Sabbath

chapter, in the original Aramaic). . . . This version is

clearly affected by the translator’s doctrine. . . .”11

11 “Was the New Testament Really Written in Greek?” available at

xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/21372679/2073584777/name/peshitta.pdf, accessed

10/28/14.



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The “rest” in the rest of the passage

That God had more in mind for His people than the

physical rest (katapausis) of entering the promised land

is made evident by the fact that He limited “another day”

for rest in the time of David—long after Joshua had led

the people into the land of Canaan (Heb. 4:7, 8; cf. Psalm

95:7, 8). This mention of “another day” for rest should

not be construed as meaning that the perpetual spiritual

rest of “today” takes the place of seventh-day Sabbath

observance. The contrast of “days” in this passage is not

between the Sabbath and “today,” but between the “day

of temptation in the wilderness” (3:8, 15) and “today”

(3:7, 13, 15; 4:7). During the “day of temptation,” Israel

failed to enter God’s rest because of rebellion and

unbelief.

“The day of temptation in the wilderness,” also called

“the provocation” (Heb. 3:8, 15), has passed, but there is

another day to receive the Gospel by faith. It is called

“today.” “Today” God graciously provides another

opportunity for His children to respond to His voice and

enter His rest. You can enter His rest (katapausis) today.

You can enter His rest (katapausis) every day. Matthew

11:28-30 has a slightly different “rest”— anapausis.

Come unto me, all [ye] that labour and are heavy laden, and I

will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me;

for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto

your souls. For my yoke [is] easy, and my burden is light.

(Matt. 11:28–30)

Rest of soul is not new. God had promised rest of soul

through the prophet Jeremiah:



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Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask

for the old paths, where [is] the good way, and walk therein,

and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not

walk [therein]. (Jer. 6:16)Hebrews 4, verse 9 does not say there remains a

“sabbath-like rest.” It says there remains a “sabbath

rest”—a “sabbath keeping”—to the people of God.

The context suggests that σαββατισμός may retain a verbal

meaning, “sabbath-keeping,” though this is often lost in

formations with -μός .... However, σαββατισμός is notcontrasted with κατάπαυσις, and the main distinction between

them appears to be that they denote respectively temporal and

spatial aspects of the same reality. (Ellingworth)

There is no contrast between the rest of faith

(katapausis) and “Sabbath rest” ( sabbatismos).

Katapausis is what Joshua could have given them inentering Canaan. The word sabbatismos means “a

keeping of Sabbath.” The Syriac says: “This is why the

people of God are to keep the Sabbath, for the one who

enters God’s rest, rests from his works, as God did from

His.” To understand the point being made

about katapausis rest, which is used for “rest”everywhere in Hebrews 3 and 4 except in chapter 4, verse

9, requires the continuity of the Sabbath. If one does not

understand sabbatismos —Sabbath keeping—he will not

understand the faith required to enter the katapausis rest

that God provides.



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The consequences of spiritualizing sabbatismos

If a person claims that Hebrews 4:9 gives provides a

daily “Sabbath-like rest,” then it logically follows that person must personally affirm the truth of verse 10:

Because I have entered His rest, I have ceased from my own

works.

However, is that true? The only way most Christians

would say that they have ceased from their own works isto add the phrase “as a means of salvation,” which isn’t

what the verse says. Most Christians do not claim that

they have ceased from their own works. They just believe

that they are forgiven no matter what they do.

Consequently, the Syriac makes more sense as a

description of Sabbath observance. We cease from our

works on the Sabbath in entering God’s rest. Such

keeping of the Sabbath is emblematic of our resting in

Him always.

The problem with doing away with the Sabbath is that

it leaves no pattern to follow. The sabbatismos —Sabbath

observance—is an example for katapausis rest. Ceasing

from one’s own works to enter God’s holy day of rest

requires trusting Him. A secular Jew in Hollywood,

Florida, once told me: “One of these days, I’ll make

enough money to be able to keep the Sabbath.” I

responded: “I know many people who earn very little

who take the day off.” He shrugged his shoulders and

said: “Well, you are right.” The man’s problem was that

it takes faith to cease from one’s labors on God’s day of

rest—the Sabbath.



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If one does not understand the Sabbath or the faith

that it requires to keep it, then what would a “Sabbath-

like rest” even be? For those who think that the Sabbath

is a work to perform to gain God’s pleasure, then

Sabbath-like rest would be rest that is derived from

works to gain God’s pleasure. That makes no sense. It is

only to those who keep the Sabbath by faith who

understand what the rest offered “today” is.

sabbatismos in hebrews

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