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Bible Study		December 26, 2022
Sabbatismos

Introduction

Most English translations of Hebrews 4:9 render it something like a "Sabbath Rest". The reader is supposed to infer from those words that the author of Hebrews is not referring to the Sabbath, but something different. Generally this is interpreted as a rest after death.

Behind that translation there is a problematic Greek word - Sabbatismos (Σαββατισμός). The problem is that this word is a rarely used word in all of Greek writing and is only used once in the Bible. The word came into use for a period of time and then was no longer used.

Sabbatismos is plainly a conversion of the commonly used verb Sabbaton into a noun. In Greek, this is done by adding some characters. But this converted verb can be used in different ways and can take on slightly different meanings.

This nouned form never appears in the LXX, the Greek translation of the Old Testament; the verb never appears in the New Testament. But the verb appears many times in the LXX and in all cases its meaning is "to keep the Sabbath."

So, the problem is that the meaning of the word Sabbatismos can only be determined from the textual context where it is used. The context of Hebrews that includes this verse is actually very clear but there are many who do not want to hear that and they twist the context to get a meaning they like better.

But, the Bible is not the only place where the nouned form is used. Sabbatismos is a rare word but it does appear in a few other Greek writings of that time, Christian and non-Christian. We can establish the meaning, or meanings, if there is more than one, from the contexts of these other writings.

• Plutarch, De Superstitione 3, in Moralia 2. 166a
• Justin (the Martyr), Dialog with Trypho 23.3
• Epiphanius, The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis 30.2.2
• Martyrium Petri et Pauli 1
• Apostolic Constitution 2.36.2
• Origen, Celsus 5.59
• Origen, Commentarii in Evangelium Joannis 2.33.198
• Origen, Prayer 27.16
• Origen, Selecta in Exodum 12.289.7
• Origen, Excerpta in Psalmos 17.144.31

The Plutarch reference is very early in time, possibly simultaneous with Hebrews. With both non-Christian Plutarch and the Bible using it, this may indicate that Sabbatismos may have been a wide spread word at the time. The Hebrews usage may not be coining the word (bringing a new word into usage).

All of these writings use the word Sabbatismos in a context that makes it clear that the meaning is "a keeping of the Sabbath". This agrees with the verb's usage in the LXX, that it refers to a physical observance. The only place where Sabbatismos is "spiritualized" and interpreted as "a Sabbath rest" is in Hebrews.

The word "Sabbath" has the meaning of rest, especially a rest from work (the work we must do to live). Therefore the translation to "a Sabbath rest" can be expanded to "a rest from work rest" or simplified to "a rest rest". So, the translation to "Sabbath rest" seems to have been concocted to confuse instead of clarify.