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Sabbath 8acchoni THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG 138
propitiation, and its name was construed as meaning "the day for ending the wrath of the gods." The Israelites, on the other hand, made the sabbaths the feasts of a living and holy God. The work of man became symbolic of the work of God, and human rest of divine rest, so that the Sabbaths became preeminently days of rest. Since, moreover, the lunar month had twenty-nine or thirty days, the normal lapse of time between sabbaths was six days, although sometimes seven or eight; and six working days were accordingly assigned to the creation, which was to furnish a prototype for human life. The connection of the Sabbath with the lunar phases, however, was discarded by the Israelites, who did not worship the moon, and the weeks were accordingly divorced from the days of the months and were made to follow in succession throughout,the year, a more regular correspondence with the week of creation being thus secured. The first lunar day, however, or the day of new moon, retained, although no longer called Sabbath, somewhat of its sabbatical character, so that in the Old Testament it frequently appears as a pendant of the Sabbath (see FEASTS AND FESTIVALS, L, § 2; MOON, HEBREW CONCEPTIONS OF THE, § 4).
After the exile the observance of the Sabbath was made extremely rigid and in the Maccabean period a large number of ultra-orthodox Jews were killed, together with their wives and children,
Later on the Sabbath day, on which they Jewish would offer no resistance (I Mace. ii. Develop- 27 sqq.; Josephus, Ant., XII., vi. 2-3).
ment. Later, however, the Jews considered it lawful to defend themselves on the Sabbath, though not to take the offensive (I. Mace. ii. 39-41; II. Mace. viii. 26; Josephus, Ant., XIV., iv. 2). Thirty-nine principal forms of work, to gether with many minor varieties, came to be for bidden on the Sabbath. On the other hand, the work involved in the ritual of the Temple and cir cumcision was permitted (Matt. xii. 5; John vii. 22-23); assistance might be given to a woman in childbirth and also to the sick if in danger of death; and Matt. xii. 11 states that it was lawful to rescue a sheep from a pit on the Sabbath, though this is denied by the Talmud. On the basis of Ex. xvi. 29, combined with Num. xxxv. 5 and Josh. iii. 4, more than a "Sabbath day's journey" (2,000 cubits) was forbidden on the Sabbath. Nevertheless, the Sab bath remained a day of joy among the Jews, and the eating of three hearty meals on that day was en joined. The Sabbath feasts of the Jews accordingly became widely known, although not without receiv ing mocking criticism, as from Juvenal ("Satires," xiv. 96-106), Persius (v. 184), and Martial (iv. 417), while Seneca (Opera, ed. F. Hasse, iii. 427, Leipsic 1863) lamented that a seventh part of life should thus be wasted. Despite this the Jews were imitated by many pagans, so that Josephus could say (Apion, ii. 40): "There is not any city of the Grecians, nor any of the barbarians, nor any nation whatsoever, whither our custom of resting on the seventh day hath not come."i. 374 eqq., 430-443, ii. 83, 113 sqq., London, 13th ed., n.d.; A. Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, ii. 52-62, 182, 774 sqq., London, 1883; W. Lots, Quo;ationea de historia Sabbati, Leipsie, 1883; L. Thomas, Le Jour du seagneur, 2 vols., Paris, 1892-93; A. H. Sayce, Verdict of the ' Higher Criticism' and the Monuments, pp. 78 Bqq., London, 1894; H. Gunkel, Schopfung and Chaos, Gbttingen, 1895; M. Jastrow, in AJT, 1898, pp. 315-352; C. H. W. Johns, Assyrian Deeds and Documents, London, 1898; C. H. Toy, in JBL, 1899, pp. 191-193; W. Riedel, Alttestamentliche Untersuchungen, pp. 7489, Leipsie, 1902; F. Bohn, Der Sabbat im Alten Testament, Giiteisloh, 1903; D. Nielsen, Die altarabische Mondreligion, pp. 63 sqq., Strasburg, 1904; Parichm in PSBA, 1904, pp. 51-66; Zimmern, in ZDMG, 1904, pp. 199 sqq., 458 sqq.; F. Delitzsch, Babel and Bibel, i . 62-65, Leipsic, 1905; J. Meinhold, Sabbat and Wachs im A. T., GSttingen, 1905; H. Winekler, Religionsgeschichtlicher and geschichtlicher Orient, pp. 58 sqq., Leipsie, 1906; J. Helm, Sieben zahl and Sabbat bet den Babyloniern and im Alten Testament, Leipsic, 1907; C. F. Kent, Student's Old Testament, iv., § 217, pp. 263-265, New York, 1907; G. Beer, Schabbath, Tiibingen, 1908; Sehdrer, Geschichte, ii . 450 159, 470478, 491-493 et passim, Eng. transl_ II., ii. 75-83, 96105. 120-122, et passim; Schrader, %AT, pp. 592-594; Nowack, Archdologie, ii. 140 sqq.; Benzinger, Archriologie, pp. 389-391; DB, iv. 317-323; EB, iv. 4173-80; JE, x. 587-802; DCG, ii. 540-542; Vigouroux, Dictionnaire, faso. xxxv., cots. 1291-1306. Also cf. the literature under SUNDAY.
SABBATH DAY'S JOURNEY. See WEIGHTS AND MEASURES, HEBREW.
SABBATH LAWS. See SUNDAY, II. SABBATICAL YEAR AND YEAR OF JUBILEE:The seventh and fiftieth year respectively, connected with the idea of the Sabbath (q.v.) among the ancient Hebrews and associated with religious usages. The Book of the Covenant directs (Ex. xxi. 2) that a slave of Hebrew descent be set free in the seventh year of his servitude, and Deut. xv. 12 extends this requirement to Hebrew female slaves as well. It is evident that this year was connected with the Sabbath, although as yet there was no reference to a year which should possess a sabbatical character throughout the country. The Book of the Covenant (Ex. xxiii. 10-11) requires tillage and harvesting for six years, while in the seventh year the land was to lie fallow and what grew spontaneously was to be left for the poor and wild beasts (see also Lev. xxv. 1-7). Although the context (v. 12) clearly shows that the rest of the land should be analogous to that of the Sabbath, there is no implication even here of a sabbatical year for the whole country. Deut. xv. 1 sqq. further required a release from all indebtedness of one Israelite to another every seventh year, the passage in question implying that the "year of release" was observed in the whole country (cf. also Deut. xxxi. 10). These debts were to be remitted each seventh year, not after the lapse of six years from their contraction (cf. Deut. xv. 9) ; but since a year was required for the release in question, although the actual remission might be made in a single day, it would seem that the "release" was not a remission of the debt but merely a cessation of requests for payment during the year. Since the Deuteronomic law for the manumission of slaves after six years of bondage immediately follows the requirements governing the "year of release," it would appear that this manumission was at least desired in the "year of release." Although it is uncertain when