Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations and References
- A Note of Introduction
- 1 The Prehistory of Judaism
- 2 The Beginnings of Monotheism
- 3 The Book and the People
- 4 Crisis and a New Beginning
- 5 The First Kingdom of Judaea
- 6 Diaspora and Homeland
- 7 A Century of Disasters
- 8 The Rebirth of Judaism
- 9 The Rabbis and Their Torah
- 10 The End of Ancient History
- APPENDIX 1 Three Sample Passages from the Babylonian Talmud
- APPENDIX 2 Rabbinic Biographies
- APPENDIX 3 The Sabbath
- Glossary
- Chronology
- Notes
- Suggestions for Further Reading
- Index
APPENDIX 3 - The Sabbath
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations and References
- A Note of Introduction
- 1 The Prehistory of Judaism
- 2 The Beginnings of Monotheism
- 3 The Book and the People
- 4 Crisis and a New Beginning
- 5 The First Kingdom of Judaea
- 6 Diaspora and Homeland
- 7 A Century of Disasters
- 8 The Rebirth of Judaism
- 9 The Rabbis and Their Torah
- 10 The End of Ancient History
- APPENDIX 1 Three Sample Passages from the Babylonian Talmud
- APPENDIX 2 Rabbinic Biographies
- APPENDIX 3 The Sabbath
- Glossary
- Chronology
- Notes
- Suggestions for Further Reading
- Index
Summary
one of the most important institutions of jewish life throughout the ages, the Sabbath and the seven-day week have appeared in almost every chapter of this book. In order to give a focused picture of one aspect of ancient Judaism in its historical development, this appendix gathers those discussions into a single portrait. Similar portraits could have been offered of other important features of the tradition – the use of scripture, for example, or prayer, or family life and community structure – but this one case will serve as a model for those others as well.
Biblical Evidence
Modern writers have linked the seven-day week to certain features of the ancient Babylonian calendar, but these links are not convincing. At a later time, astrologers developed a seven-day cycle of days corresponding to the seven “planets” (the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, in that order), and this cycle can still be detected in the names that some modern European languages use for the days of the week. But the Israelite Sabbath cannot be connected to any of those developments, and the Bible simply takes the seven-day cycle for granted.
The Bible does provide two explanations for the seven-day week, but only one can be called historical: that is the connection established in the second Decalogue between the Israelite's obligation to allow his servants and animals to rest and the Israelite's own opportunity to rest thanks to God's having rescued the nation from bondage in Egypt (Deuteronomy 5:15).
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- The Origins of JudaismFrom Canaan to the Rise of Islam, pp. 220 - 226Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2007