Exodus 31:12-13

THE SABBATH LAW, Exodus 31:12-17.

13. My sabbaths ye shall keep How repeatedly the sanctity of the sabbath day is affirmed! In Exodus 20:8-11, (where see notes,) we have it formally enjoined in the decalogue . In Exodus 23:12, it is again set forth in connexion with the law of the sabbatic year, and so again and again throughout the Pentateuch . In Exodus 35:2-3, it introduces the account of the preparations for building the tabernacle, as if resuming the narrative broken off at the conclusion of this chapter to introduce the account of the idolatry of the people at Sinai . Hence it has been supposed that a special reason for the emphasizing of the sabbath law in this connexion was to deter the people from labour on the tabernacle on that day, which in their zeal to complete the sanctuary they might have presumed to do, even in violation of the former commandment . The expression my sabbaths gives emphasis to the thought that the weekly sabbath was a peculiar treasure of Jehovah .

It is a sign Old as the creation, (comp . Exodus 31:17 and Genesis 2:2-3, and note on Exodus 20:11,) and a constant reminder that God and his people may enjoy a common rest.