Deuteronomy 5:12–15

Context

Deuteronomy is structured as the farewell address that Moses delivered to the people on the plains of Moab before Israel entered Canaan. In chapter 5, Moses recalls the covenant made at Horeb (Mount Sinai) and recites the Ten Commandments once again (Deuteronomy 5:6–21). This passage is the Sabbath commandment within that list.

The passage differs in several respects from the same commandment in Exodus 20:8–11.

• Opening verb: Exodus begins with "Remember" (Hebrew zakhor), while Deuteronomy begins with "Keep" (shamor). Jewish tradition preserves an interpretation that both words were proclaimed at once.
• Who must rest: Deuteronomy lists the ox and the ass separately and adds that the manservant and maidservant are to rest "as well as thou." Here "cattle" refers to livestock, and "thy stranger that is within thy gates" refers to the sojourner (resident foreigner) living within the town.
• Grounds: Exodus grounds the commandment in God's creating in six days and resting on the seventh. Deuteronomy grounds it in Israel's having been a servant in Egypt and having been brought out "through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm."

Interpretation

• As a remembrance of liberation: Many commentators hold that Deuteronomy presents the Sabbath as a day on which a redeemed people remembers its liberation. On this reading, the commandment's social and ethical character is emphasized: those who were once slaves must now give rest to their own servants, livestock, and sojourners.
• Reformed readings: In the Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin identified one of the purposes of the Sabbath commandment as granting rest to servants and laborers under the authority of others. Chapter 21 of the Westminster Confession of Faith confesses that the principle of keeping one day in seven holy endures, and that since the resurrection of Christ that day has been changed to the first day of the week, the Lord's Day.
• Lutheran readings: In the Large Catechism, Martin Luther regarded the outward regulation of observing a particular day as given to the Jews. He explained that for Christians the heart of this commandment lies in hearing and learning the Word of God on the day of rest.
• Sabbatarian readings: The Seventh-day Adventist Church holds that the Sabbath commandment of the Decalogue remains in force and that the seventh day, Saturday, must be kept.

Debates and Issues

The central question is in what form this commandment applies to Christians today.

• The Reformed tradition, including Presbyterians, holds that the moral principle of rest continues in the Lord's Day.
• Those who keep a Saturday Sabbath argue that there is no warrant for changing the day itself.
• Some scholars, appealing to passages such as Colossians 2:16–17, hold that the Sabbath has been fulfilled in Christ and that the obligation to observe a literal day has ceased.

For a fuller discussion, see the article Sabbath and the Lord's Day.

The numbering of the commandment also differs among traditions. Most Protestant churches, including Reformed, Presbyterian, and Methodist churches, count it as the fourth commandment. The Catholic Church and Lutherans count it as the third.

In the Korean Church

The Korean church has long emphasized juil seongsu (keeping the Lord's Day holy), and this passage is preached alongside Exodus 20 as its basis. Conservative Presbyterian churches in particular are reported to have maintained a tradition of refraining from buying, selling, or working on the Lord's Day. The Ten Commandments recited in worship generally follow the text of Exodus 20. In recent years, some sermons have also connected the Deuteronomy text with rest for workers and the vulnerable and with the problem of overwork.

Related Passages

• Exodus 20:8–11
• Genesis 2:2–3
• Mark 2:27–28
• Hebrews 4:9–11
• Romans 14:5–6