“Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
- KJV Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
- BSB Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
- NKJV “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
- NASB “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The fourth commandment calls Israel to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. God sets apart regular rest and worship as sacred.
Overview
The Sabbath was a weekly day consecrated to rest and devotion, marking Israel as God's covenant people. Christians have differed on how the command applies now, some seeing it transferred to the Lord's Day, others as fulfilled in Christ. All agree Christ is our ultimate rest, offering the soul's true Sabbath (Matt. 11:28; Heb. 4:9-10).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Lev 26:2“‘You shall keep my Sabbaths, and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am Yahweh.
- Lev 19:3“‘Each one of you shall respect his mother and his father. You shall keep my Sabbaths. I am Yahweh your God.
- Gen 2:3God blessed the seventh day, and made it holy, because he rested in it from all his work of creation which he had done.
- Exod 31:13–16“Speak also to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Most certainly you shall keep my Sabbaths: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that you may know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies you.
- Lev 23:3“‘Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no kind of work. It is a Sabbath to Yahweh in all your dwellings.
- Lev 19:30“‘You shall keep my Sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary; I am Yahweh.
- Isa 56:4–6For Yahweh says, “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and hold fast to my covenant:
- Exod 16:23–30He said to them, “This is that which Yahweh has spoken, ‘Tomorrow is a solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to Yahweh. Bake that which you want to bake, and boil that which you want to boil; and all that remains over lay up for yourselves to be kept until the morning.’”
- Exod 23:12“Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant, and the alien may be refreshed.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 20:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.