Editing Shabbat (section)

==Origins==

===Babylon===
{{See also|Babylonian calendar}}

A number of scholars propose a [[cognate]] [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] word ''šapattu'' or ''šabattu'', which refers to the day of the [[full moon]]. A lexicographic list found in the [[library of Ashurbanipal]] glosses ''šabattu'' as "[the gods'] day of the heart's rest" (''ūm nûḫ libbi''), although this probably refers to the appeasement of the gods' anger.<ref>{{cite book |title=Israel's Day of Light and Joy: The Origin, Development, and Enduring Meaning of the Jewish Sabbath |last=Levenson |first=Jon D. |publisher=Penn State Press |year=2024 |isbn=978-1-64602-286-1 |pages=24–25 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BNINEQAAQBAJ&pg=PA24}}</ref> Other scholars doubt that there is a connection between the biblical Sabbath and the Akkadian ''šapattu''/''šabattu'', as the two words may not have a common etymology and ''šapattu'' refers almost exclusively to the fifteenth day of the month or the phenomenon of lunar alignment, not to the seventh day of a week.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Sabbath in Judean Communities during the Mid-fifth Century BCE: Onomastic Evidence |journal=Journal of Ancient Judaism |last1=Ganzel |first1=Tova |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=29–42 |last2=Safford |first2=Jan |year=2025 |doi=10.30965/21967954-bja10067 |issn=2196-7954 |doi-access=free}}</ref>{{rp|32-33}}

Connection to Sabbath observance has been suggested in the designation of the seventh, fourteenth, nineteenth, twenty-first and twenty-eight days of a lunar month in an Assyrian religious calendar as a 'holy day', also called 'evil days' (meaning "unsuitable" for prohibited activities). The prohibitions on these days, spaced seven days apart (except the nineteenth), include abstaining from chariot riding, and the avoidance of eating meat by the King.  On these days officials were prohibited from various activities and common men were forbidden to "make a wish", and at least the 28th was known as a "rest-day".<ref>"Histoire du peuple hébreu". [[André Lemaire]]. Presses Universitaires de France 2009 (8e édition), p. 66</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Seven Day Circle: The History and Meaning of the Week|first=Eviatar |last=Zerubavel|publisher=University of Chicago Press|date=1985|isbn=0-226-98165-7}}</ref> This theory has also been challenged on the grounds that the 'evil days' did not always fall every seven days and did not entail a general cessation of work.<ref>{{cite book |title=The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia |last=Bromiley |first=Geoffrey William |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |year=1979 |isbn=978-0-8028-3784-4 |page=248 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6OJvO2jMCr8C&pg=PA248 |volume=4}}</ref>

The ''[[Universal Jewish Encyclopedia]]'' advanced a theory of [[Assyriologist]]s like [[Friedrich Delitzsch]]<ref name=landau/> (and of [[Marcello Craveri]])<ref>{{cite book|author=Craveri, Marcello|title=The Life of Jesus|publisher=Grove Press|date=1967|page=134}}</ref> that Shabbat originally arose from the [[lunar cycle]] in the [[Babylonian calendar]]<ref>{{cite book|date=1943|title=The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia: An authoritative and popular presentation of Jews and Judaism since the earliest times|volume=5|page=410|editor=Landman, Isaac|chapter=Holidays|author=Joseph, Max|others=Cohen, Simon, compiler|publisher=The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, Inc|editor-link=Isaac Landman}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|date=1943|title=The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia: An authoritative and popular presentation of Jews and Judaism since the earliest times|volume=9|page=295|editor=Landman, Isaac|chapter=Sabbath|author=Joseph, Max|others=Cohen, Simon, compiler|publisher=The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, Incv|editor-link= Isaac Landman}}</ref> containing four weeks ending in a Sabbath, plus one or two additional unreckoned days per month.<ref>{{cite book|date=1943|title=The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia: An authoritative and popular presentation of Jews and Judaism since the earliest times|volume=10|page=482|editor=Landman, Isaac|chapter=Week|author=Cohen, Simon|others=Cohen, Simon, compiler|publisher=The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, Inc |editor-link= Isaac Landman}}</ref>  The difficulties of this theory include reconciling the differences between an unbroken week and a lunar week, and explaining the absence of texts naming the lunar week as Sabbath in any language.<ref name="orr" />

===Egypt===
Seventh-day Shabbat did not originate with the [[Ancient Egypt |Egyptians]], to whom it was unknown;<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url= http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13287b.htm|title=[[The Catholic Encyclopedia]]|author=Bechtel, Florentine|chapter=Sabbath|volume=13|location=[[New York City]]|publisher=Robert Appleton Company|date=1912 |access-date= 2009-03-26}}</ref> and other origin theories based on the day of [[Saturn]], or on the [[planets]] generally, have also been abandoned.<ref name="orr">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Tn4PAAAAYAAJ|title=The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia|editor=Orr, James|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Tn4PAAAAYAAJ/page/n536 2630]|chapter=Sabbath: Critical Theories|author=Sampey, John Richard|publisher=Howard-Severance Company|date=1915 |access-date= 2009-08-13| editor-link=James Orr (theologian)}}</ref>

===Hebrew Bible===
{{Main|Biblical Sabbath}}

Sabbath is given special status as a holy day at the very beginning of the [[Torah]] in Genesis 2:1-3.<ref>{{Bibleverse||Genesis|2:1–3|HE}}</ref> It is first commanded after [[The Exodus]] from Egypt, in Exodus 16:26<ref>{{Bibleverse||Exodus|16:26|HE}}</ref> (relating to the cessation of [[manna]]) and in Exodus 16:29<ref>{{Bibleverse||Exodus|16:29|HE}}</ref> (relating to the distance one may [[Biblical mile|travel by foot]] on the Sabbath), as also in Exodus 20:8-11<ref>{{Bibleverse||Exodus|20:8–11|HE}}</ref> (as one of the [[Ten Commandments]]). Sabbath is commanded and commended many more times in the Torah and [[Tanakh]]; double the normal number of animal [[korban|sacrifices]] are to be offered on the day.<ref>''Every Person's Guide to Shabbat'', by Ronald H. Isaacs, Jason Aronson, 1998, p. 6</ref> Sabbath is also described by the prophets [[Isaiah]], [[Jeremiah]], [[Ezekiel]], [[Hosea]], [[Amos (prophet)|Amos]], and [[Nehemiah]].

[[File:Шабатна кибритна кутија - Shabbat matchbox holder.jpg|right|thumb|A silver matchbox holder for Shabbat from [[North Macedonia]] ]]
The longstanding Jewish position is that unbroken seventh-day Shabbat originated among the Jewish people, as their first and most sacred institution.<ref name=landau>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/sabbath00land/sabbath00land_djvu.txt|title=The Sabbath|author=Landau, Judah Leo|publisher=Ivri Publishing Society, Ltd |access-date= 2009-03-26|location=[[Johannesburg, South Africa]]|pages=2, 12}}</ref> The origins of Shabbat and a seven-day week are not clear to scholars; the [[Moses |Mosaic]] tradition claims an origin from the Genesis creation narrative.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pcea.org.au/articles/the_westminster_confession/the_origin_of_the_sabbath/|title=The Origin of the Sabbath|author=Graham, I. L.|publisher=[[Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia]]|date=2009 |access-date= 2009-03-26 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081203162529/http://www.pcea.org.au/articles/the_westminster_confession/the_origin_of_the_sabbath/ |archive-date= December 3, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |chapter-url= http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/303554/Jewish-religious-year/34908/The-Sabbath|title=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|chapter=Jewish religious year: The Sabbath|date=2009 |access-date= 2009-03-26|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica Online|quote=According to biblical tradition, it commemorates the original seventh day on which God rested after completing the creation. Scholars have not succeeded in tracing the origin of the seven-day week, nor can they account for the origin of the Sabbath.}}</ref>

The first non-Biblical reference to Sabbath is in an [[ostracon]] found in excavations at [[Mesad Hashavyahu]], which has been dated to approximately 630 BCE.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cojs.org/cojswiki/Mezad_Hashavyahu_Ostracon%2C_c._630_BCE|title=Mezad Hashavyahu Ostracon, c. 630 BCE |access-date=2012-09-12 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130130125324/http://www.cojs.org/cojswiki/Mezad_Hashavyahu_Ostracon%2C_c._630_BCE |archive-date= 2013-01-30}}</ref>