But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God: that is “The seventh day is a day of rest that is to be dedicated to the LORD your God”; or we may say “The seventh day is a day of rest that belongs to me, Yahweh your God.” Notice that the third person reference to God may be changed to first person.

The rest of the verse itemizes the people and the animals in the Israelite household that are included in the prohibition. We may notice that the man’s wife is not listed, and one explanation is that this was done to allow normal domestic activities to be carried on during the sabbath.

Your son or your daughter: in all instances plural forms should be used, “all your sons and daughters,” or “all your children.” Your manservant … your maidservant means “your male and female slaves.”

Your ox … your ass … any of your cattle: the translation can give the names of the animals, as in the Hebrew text. In cultures that have cattle, the translation of ox usually presents no problem. Here the word applies to either a male or a female member of a herd of cattle, not as in English, where “bull” refers only to a male and “cow” refers only to a female. The ass or “donkey” is smaller than the horse, with shorter legs and longer ears. It was the beast of burden used for carrying supplies and also for agricultural work. It will be helpful in cultures where “cows” and “donkeys” are unknown to include illustrations of these animals and have a general translation such as “all your [work] animals” (see also 2.35).

The sojourner who is within your gates: this means “the resident aliens [or, foreigners] who live in your towns [or, country].” See 1.16.

That your manservant and your maidservant may rest as well as you: this is said to emphasize the fact that the man’s slaves were to have a day off from work. In this final sentence your manservant and your maidservant may be combined as “slaves” (see Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). For “slaves” see verse 6.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .