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The Hebrew word Shabbat comes from the Hebrew verb shabat, which literally means "to cease", in the sense of ceasing from doing something. Although Shabbat or its anglicized version "Sabbath" is almost universally translated as "rest" or a "period of rest", a more literal translation would be "ceasing", with the implication of "ceasing from work". Thus, Shabbat is the day of ceasing from work; while resting is implied, it is not a necessary connotation of the word itself.
Incidentally, this clarifies the often-asked theological question of why God needed to "rest" on the seventh day of creation, as related in the Genesis account. When it is understood that God "ceased" from his labour rather than "rested" from his labour, the usage is more consistent with the Biblical view of an omnipotent God who does not need "rest". Notwithstanding this clarification, this article will follow the far more common translation of Shabbat as "rest".
Shabbat is the basis of the English words " sabbath" and " sabbatical". (A common linguistic confusion leads many to believe that the word means "seventh day". Though the root for seven, or sheva' , is similar in sound, it is spelled differently.
Observance of Shabbat is mentioned a number of times in the TorahTorah [] is a Hebrew word meaning teaching instruction or especially Law''. It primarily refers to the first section of the Tanakh, i. the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. These books are Genesis Bereishit []), Exodus Shemot []), Leviticus Vayikra [], most notably as the fourth of the Ten CommandmentsThis article is about the list of religious and moral imperatives. For the 1956 film with Charlton Heston, see The Ten Commandments (1956 movie The Ten Commandments or Decalogue are a list of religious and moral imperatives that feature prominently in Jud ( ExodusThis article is about the second book in the Torah. For other uses of the name, see Exodus (disambiguation The name Exodus refers to the book which comes second both in the Torah (the five books of Moses) and also in the Tanakh (the Old Testament of the B 20:8-11 and DeuteronomyDeuteronomy is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible, also the fifth book of the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is Devarim ("words"), which comes from the opening phrase "Eleh ha-devarim" ("These are the words. Origin of name The English name, "Deu 5:12-15). Other instances are ExodusThis article is about the second book in the Torah. For other uses of the name, see Exodus (disambiguation The name Exodus refers to the book which comes second both in the Torah (the five books of Moses) and also in the Tanakh (the Old Testament of the B 31:12-17 and 35:2-3, LeviticusLeviticus is the third book of the Hebrew Bible, also the third book in the Torah (five books of Moses). Christians refer to the Hebrew Bible as the Old Testament. The English name is derived from the Latin Liber Leviticus which is from the Greek (i. 19:3 and 30, 23:3 and 28:9-10 (the sacrifices). It is referred to directly by the prophets IsaiahIsaiah or Yeshayahu "Salvation of/is the LORD", Standard Hebrew Yšayahu Tiberian Hebrew Yšaayh was the son of Amoz, and commonly considered the author of the Book of Isaiah. He was apparently of humble rank (Isa. Isaiah was married to a woman (56:4,6) and Ezekiel (ch. 20, 22, 23) and Nehemiah 9:14, apart from numerous other allusions in the Bible.
Jewish law defines one day ending at nightfall, which is when the next day then begins. Thus, Shabbat begins at sundown Friday night and ends at nightfall Saturday night (traditionally, after three stars can be seen on the sky). The added time between sunset and nightfall on Saturday night owes to the ambiguous nature of that part of the day according to Jewish law.On occasions the word Shabbat can refer to the law of Shemittah or to the holidays, dependent on the context.