Sabbath

The Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Greek that is translated as “Sabbath” in English is rendered as “day we rest” in Tzotzil, in Mairasi as “Jew’s Rest Day,” in Quiotepec Chinantec as “day when people of Israel rested,” in Shilluk as “day of God,” in Obolo as Usen Mbuban or “Holy Day,” and in Mandarin Chinese as ānxírì (安息日) or “rest day” (literally: “peace – rest – day”). (Sources: Tzotzil: Marion Cowan in Notes on Translation with Drill, p. 169ff; Mairasi: Enggavoter 2004; Quiotepec Chinantec: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.; Shilluk: Nida 1964, p. 237; Obolo: Enene Enene; Chinese: Jost Zetzsche)

In Matumbi it is translated as Sabato ya Ayahudi or “Sabbath of the Jews,” to distinguish it from the Islamic Sabbath (which is Friday) or the Christian Sabbath (which is Sunday). (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)

In the old Khmer version as well as in the first new translation this term was rendered as “day of rest” (Thngai Chhup Somrak / ​ថ្ងៃ​ឈប់​សំរាក). Considered inadequate to convey its religious meaning (not only about cessation of work, but also in honor of Yahweh as the Creator), the committee for the Today’s Khmer Version (publ. 2005) decided to keep the Hebrew word and use its transliterated form Thgnai Sabath (​ថ្ងៃ​សប្ប័ទ). “The Buddhist word Thngai Seil ‘day of merits’ used by some Catholics was once under consideration but was rejected because it did not receive unanimous support.” (Source: Joseph Hong in The Bible Translator 1996, p. 233ff. )

In Spanish, the translation is either día de reposo (“day of rest”) or sábado (usually: “Saturday,” derived from the Greek and Hebrew original). Nida (1947, p. 239f.) explains that problem for Spanish and other languages in its sphere of influence: “In translation ‘Sabbath’ into various aboriginal languages of Latin America, a considerable number of translators have used the Spanish sábado, ‘Saturday,’ because it is derived from the Hebrew sabbath and seems to correspond to English usage as well. The difficulty is that sábado means only ‘Saturday’ for most people. There is no religious significance about this word as the is with ‘Sabbath’ in English. Accordingly the [readers] cannot understand the significance of the persecution of Jesus because he worked on ‘Saturday.’ It has been found quite advantageous to use the translation ‘day of rest,’ for this accurately translated the Hebrew meaning of the term and resolves the problem in connection with the prohibitions placed upon some types of activities.”

In the Nueva traducción viviente translation (2010) it día de descanso al mantenerlo santo (“day of rest to keep it holy”). (Source: Lénart de Regt in The Bible Translator 2017, p. 131ff. )

In French Sign Language it is translated with a sign that depicts closing of the blinds of a store:


“Sabbath” in French Sign Language (source: La Bible en langue des signes française )

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Sabbath .

complete verse (Isaiah 56:2)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 56:2:

  • Kupsabiny: “Blessed is the person who does what I am saying,
    and takes good care of my word.
    Blessed is the one who keeps the day of Sabbath without mocking it
    and refuses sinful deeds.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Blessed is that person who does this,
    blessed is that person who is living firmly in this word.
    who keeps the Sabbath without unclean it,
    and keeps his hand from doing any evil.’” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Blessed is the man who does this and obeys what I have- (him) -do in the Day For-Resting. And blessed also is the man who does- not -do bad-thing.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “I will bless those who faithfully obey my laws about the Sabbath/rest days.
    I will bless those who keep sacred/honor my Sabbath/rest days,
    and who do not do any work on those days,
    and who refrain from doing anything that is evil.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Isaiah 56:2

Blessed is the man who does this: The demonstrative pronoun this points back to the just and righteous life mentioned in the previous verse. So God is assuring a blessing for all who follow his instructions. That blessing will be evident in the rescue that is to come. For Blessed is, see the comments on 30.18. The word man does not refer just to males, but to everyone. All who are just and righteous will be blessed.

And the son of man who holds it fast is parallel to the previous line. Son of man is simply an alternative way of referring to human beings (see the comments on 51.12). The pronoun it has the same referent as this, referring back to the just and righteous lifestyle. The verb hold … fast is a figurative expression for strictly following this way of life. It is a keyword in this section, occurring also in verses 4 and 6. For the first two lines of this verse Bible en français courant has “Happy will be the man who does what I have said, who holds on to it firmly.”

For Good News Translation the pronouns this and it look forward to the requirements in the second half of this verse, rather than look back to the commands made in the previous verse. This explains why Good News Translation has such an abbreviated rendering of the first two lines. Most versions stay closer to the Hebrew. The first two lines in Hebrew use finite verbs to describe the people who will receive blessings, while the last two lines use participles to describe them. Together the four lines list the requirements for receiving blessings.

Who keeps the sabbath, not profaning it introduces a concern that does not occur earlier in this book. There is a special focus on the sabbath in Third Isaiah (see 56.2, 4, 6; 58.13; 66.23). After the exile, keeping the Sabbath became one of the most important marks of membership in God’s people (see Ezek 20.12, 20; 22.8, 26). For sabbath see the comments on 1.13. Because the Sabbath was a holy day, the people were told not to “profane” it. The Hebrew verb rendered profaning refers to doing the opposite of keeping something holy. Not profaning it means keeping the Sabbath as a holy day, observing all the laws regarding it. These laws included not working, not trading, not lighting fires, not cooking, and not doing anything else that could be called “work.” For this whole line Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “who do not desecrate the Sabbath by doing work,” and Good News Translation says “who always observe the Sabbath and do not misuse it.”

And keeps his hand from doing any evil is the final requirement for receiving blessings. The phrase keeps his hand from is an idiomatic expression for not doing something or refraining from something. Here people must refrain from doing any evil. This is a very general requirement, calling on people to make sure they keep themselves pure by not doing anything evil. New Revised Standard Version renders this line as “and refrains from doing any evil.”

Translation examples for this verse are:

• The person who does this will be blessed,
the one who strictly follows it,
who observes the Sabbath and doesn’t dishonor it,
and refrains from all evil acts.”

• Blessings will come to the person who does this,
the one who observes it strictly,
who keeps the Sabbath laws without fail,
and does no evil.”

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .