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August 21, 2024 |
| Sabbatismos, 5 Ways | ||
There are lines of evidence that can be used to determine whether Christians should be keeping the Sabbath. The historical evidence shows that the earliest Christians kept the Sabbath and what happened to it after that. The theological evidence shows that there is no reason the Sabbath should have been discontinued.
Most Christians are unaware of these because they are never brought up in churches that don't want Sabbath-keeping. What they know about Sabbath-keeping for Christians comes from the New Testament. Colossians says something about the Sabbath but it isn't clear what is being said. Hebrews says something about the Sabbath but that is also not clear.
Most English translations of Hebrews 4:9 use the phrase "Sabbath Rest" or a phrase like that.
There remains therefore a Sabbath Rest for the people of God.
That "Sabbath Rest" phrase doesn't have a Biblically defined meaning so each person creates their own guess about what it means. Generally this is interpreted as a rest after death but there are other interpretations.
Behind that "Sabbath Rest" phrase 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. How can we know what it means?
There are 5 ways we can know what the word means:
Sabbatismos is plainly a conversion of the commonly used verb Sabbaton into a noun. In Greek, this is done by adding the -ismos ending. But this converted verb can be used in different ways and can take on slightly different meanings.
We make nouns from verbs in English as well but we do it a little differently. We don't add an ending, like -ismos, but instead usually add "a" before the word. We can say "I will change", where "change" is used as a verb. We can also say "I need a change", where it is used as a noun. The point is, using it as a verb or a noun has not changed the meaning of the word "change".
This nouned form, Sabbatismos, never appears in the LXX, the Greek translation of the Old Testament; the verb form never appears in the New Testament. But the verb form appears many times in the LXX and in all cases its meaning is "to keep the Sabbath."
Therefore the most logical meaning of Sabbatismos would be "a keeping of the Sabbath". Thus, the verse would say:
There remains therefore a keeping of the Sabbath for the people of God.
This isn't the strongest evidence, though. As mentioned, the -ismos ending can take the verb Sabbaton in other directions.
You might say, "Why don't we just ask the Greeks what it means? It's their language." Many Greek words in the Bible are not in use in our time. Sabbatismos is one of those. So, the Greeks have no better idea than anyone else. For words like this, the meaning is determined from the context where the word is used - at least that is how it should work. These meanings are recorded in concordances. The best known concordance is Strong's Concordance.
This is what Strong's Concordance says about word 4520, Sabbatismos.
sabbatismos: a sabbath rest
Original Word: σαββατισμός, οῦ, ὁ
Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine
Transliteration: sabbatismos
Phonetic Spelling: (sab-bat-is-mos')
Short Definition: a Sabbath rest
Definition: a keeping of the Sabbath, a Sabbath rest.3
You can see the definition "a Sabbath rest" there which is what is used in the English translations we've seen so far. But notice that there is another definition "a keeping of the Sabbath". Where could a second definition come from if the word only appears once? It turns out the word is used in other writings4 and these are where the other definition is coming from. In all of those writings, the meaning of Sabbatismos is always clearly "a keeping of the Sabbath."
When we take a close look at the translation of Sabbatismos into "a Sabbath rest" we are confused at what it would mean. The word Sabbath means "a rest, or ceasing from work". Looked at that way, "a Sabbath rest" would mean either "a rest rest" which is nonsense, or "a ceasing from work rest" which is just the definition of the Sabbath. So "a Sabbath rest", as a translation, makes no sense.
Because "a Sabbath rest" has no meaning, we see that it is a coined term, not a translation. It expresses a concept the translator wants to convey that a direct translation of the text would not convey. It is a paraphrasing and, like all paraphrasing, subject to bias. In this case, the translator is trying to express the idea that Sabbatismos is a reference to the afterlife rest.
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.
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.
A simile is a literary device, a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things. Hebrews 4:10-11 contains a simile that relates to Hebrews 4:9 and therefore helps us to understand Sabbatismos.
There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.
The first problem with this is the translation. Any translation that allows the translator(s) to interpret the meaning of the original words runs the risk of the translator distorting the verses. The NIV is more a thought-for-thought translation, not a word-for-word translation. At least it isn't a paraphrase translation, where the translator is expected to comprehend a large block of the original text and then regurgitate it. A thought-for-thought translation only requires the translator to understand one thought before translating it.
That can still leave the door open for some translator bias. Because the translator must understand the thought in order to translate it, the translator's previous understandings can affect that understanding. To escape that, we have to use, or at least check, a word-for-word translation. One of these is the NASB which renders the verses this way
So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. 11 Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.
Notice how the NIV has changed the verb tense to "rests from their works", which is present tense, from "has […] rested from his works", which is past tense. The NIV is twisting the verb tense to fit the verses into a commonly seen interpretation. That is, that the resting from works described here comes in the after-life, not in the physical life. A word-for-word translation does not allow such a verb change and therefore the true meaning is more accessible.
We'll begin with verse 10, which begins the simile. That verse is shown below to show the parts of the simile
10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, ← 1st side of the simile as ← connector God did from His. ← 2nd side of the simile
The simile can be made more obvious by expanding the text and removing the superfluous word "himself".
10 For the one who has entered His rest has rested from his works, ← 1st side of the simile as ← connector God rested from His works. ← 2nd side of the simile
The meaning of the simile is obvious. Christians are to rest from our works just as God rested from his works. This is a reference to the 4th Commandment which provides the reason why the Sabbath is to be observed, "For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day" (Exodus 20:11)
One of the common interpretations of these three verses is that they are a call for mankind to stop sinning. When this simile is understood, though, it becomes possible to see the error in that interpretation. We do that by inserting the interpretation into the literary simile. Because it is a simile the interpretation must be inserted into both sides of the simile
10 For the one who has entered His rest has rested from his evil works, ← 1st side of the simile as ← connector God rested from His evil works. ← 2nd side of the simile
This shows the interpretation to be silly. God did not rest from his evil works.
Sabbatismos is clearly a reference to the keeping of the Sabbath as described in the 4th Commandment. We can test this in the same way to see how the verses work with this interpretation.
10 For the one who has entered His rest has rested from his 6 days of work, ← 1st side of the simile as ← connector God rested from His 6 days of work. ← 2nd side of the simile
The simile comes out perfectly and makes complete sense. Having said that Christians are to keep the Sabbath (by resting), the author of Hebrews is comparing the weekly Sabbath, with its resting and ceasing from work, with the rest that God took after the days of creation. His point then is that those who enter into God's rest have observed the Sabbath, which is a commemoration of God's rest.
Why is the translation "a Sabbath rest" used? It's because a correct translation results in a verse that Christendom doesn't want to hear - a verse that cuts in a way that they have rejected.
So there remains a keeping of the Sabbath for the people of God. (Heb. 4-9)
6 […] we are his house, if we will hold the confidence and the pride of his Gospel until the end;
The author signals that the passage theme will be holding the confidence of the gospel which could be restated as keeping the faith.
7 Because the Spirit of Holiness said, "Today, if you will hear his voice, 8 Do not harden your hearts to anger him, like the rebellious, and as the day of temptation in the wilderness 9 When your fathers tempted me and they proved and saw my works 40 years. 10 Because of this, I was weary with that generation, and I said, 'That is a people which deceives their heart, and they have not known my ways.' 11 And I swore in my anger, 'They shall not enter my rest.'"
The author reminds the reader of Psalm 95. He is going to especially focus on the word "today" meaning any day … because every day you live in is today.
12 Beware therefore, my brethren, lest there be an evil, unfaithful heart in any of you, and you depart from the living God;
The author warns them against having an unfaithful heart that will cause them to turn away from God.
13 But inquire of yourselves every day, until the day that is called today, lest anyone of you should be hardened by the deception of sin.
The author tells them to check themselves every day "until". Again, he plays a game with "today". This time he means that tomorrow will become today. His point is that they should check themselves … forever.
14 For we have been joined with the Messiah, if we shall hold fast to this true Covenant from the beginning to the end,
The author explains this "forever" idea being until the end, by which he probably means death.
15 Just as it was said, "Today, if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts to anger him." 16 For who were those who heard and angered him? Was it not all of these who went out from Egypt by Moses?
The author says that the Psalm 95 message is about the people who came out of Egypt (even though Psalms 95 was written hundreds of years later). Those people hardened their hearts toward God and angered him.
17 And with whom was he wearied 40 years, but with them who sinned and whose bones fell in the wilderness?
The author clarifies that it was those who sinned against God in the wilderness whose bones left a 40-year trail through the desert.
18 And concerning whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but those who were unconvinced?
The author clarifies that it was these people who were unconvinced about God of whom God said they would never enter into his rest.
It's important to understand here that "his (God's) rest" is a reference to the rest that God took after the 6 days of creation. That rest is also the rest that we may enter into in the future.
This isn't a judgment by God that he will not allow them to enter. It is a statement of fact that it will not be possible
19 And we see that they could not enter, because they did not believe.
Because they do not believe, it is not possible for them to enter.
Two different words have been used here, "unconvinced" and "believe". If they had been convinced by the miracles that God showed them, they would have believed in God.
1 Let us fear, therefore, lest, while the promise of entering into his rest stands, any of you should be found to come short of entering.
The author goes back to his earlier point about inspecting ourselves. A fearful respect for God will help us.
2 For we also were evangelized as they were, but the word did not benefit those who heard, because it was not joined with faith by those who heard it.
The author says they were evangelized (by the message from the mountain and by the miracles) and we were evangelized as well. It did them no good though. It isn't enough to hear the word of God. It must be responded to with faith.
3 But we who believe enter into rest, but just as he said, "As I swore in my anger, they shall not enter my rest." For behold, the works of God have existed from the foundation of the world, 4 According to what he said about the Sabbath: "God rested on the seventh day from all his works."
The author says "the works of God", by which he means the days of creation and the rest that God took afterward. This supports the idea that our future rest is that rest that God took. He is talking about the basis for Sabbath keeping and uses the word "Sabbath".
5 And here again he said: "They shall not enter my rest."
The author notes that the Psalmist refers to "my rest" in this Psalm much later in time. Thus God repeated this statement to show that the promise of rest was not gone but was still available at the time of the Psalmist.
6 Because, therefore, there has been an opportunity for each person to enter and those who were first evangelized did not enter, in that they were not persuaded, 7 again he appointed another day, after much time, just as it is written above that David said, "Today, if you listen to his voice, do not harden your hearts."
The author says "after much time" in reference to the Psalmists time. He also says "appointed another day" meaning another day called today, which is forever.
Even in our time, time and time-zones are hard to understand. The author is using that complexity to mess with the heads of his readers here.
8 For if Yeshua, son of Nun, had given them rest, he would not afterward have spoken of another day.
The author says "son of Nun" to disambiguate between Joshua and Jesus. In the Old Testament, Joshua was spelled Yehoshua. But by the time of the New Testament the spelling had changed to Yeshua. So the author wants to be clear which Yeshua he is talking about.
Joshua led the people into a rest in the Holy Land but that was not the promised rest. Therefore the promise of a future rest was not fulfilled and was still extant. The author says, if there wasn't another day (forever), God wouldn't have mentioned it.
9 So then, it remains for the people of God to keep the Sabbath.
The author has established that there is a future rest that remains to be entered into on any today that you find yourself in. So now he says, because there is still a future rest (which was the seventh day rest that God took after creation) then there is still Sabbath keeping.
He is speaking to Jews who have become Christians. We know they are Jews because he describes things about Judaism that Christians do not understand … at all.
10 For whoever enters his rest has rested from his works as God has from his own.
The author says that those who have rested from their works (kept the Sabbath) are those who will enter into God's rest.
We need to be careful how we take that. He is speaking to Jews who have known all their lives that God wants them to keep the Sabbath. If any of them were to stop keeping the Sabbath, that would be an intentional sin and they would be completely separated from God (unforgiven, see Hebrews 10:26+). In our time, however, there are a large number of people who have never accepted the idea that they should be keeping the Sabbath. This has not happened because the church keeps telling them they don't need to (or even shouldn't). This is an unintentional sin that will be forgiven after death.
11 Let us take pains, therefore, to enter that rest, lest we fall in the manner of those who were not persuaded.
The author says, and has said, we enter into that rest by faith. Here though, he says we must "take pains to enter." Is he saying that we work for salvation? No. He is speaking about keeping the Sabbath as an act of faith, which it is in a small way. Obeying God's commandments are acts of faith - we do them because we trust God.
Keeping the Sabbath is an act of faith that God will care for you even if you take off one day in seven from caring for yourself. This is a much smaller step of faith than God asked for in the Shemitah, where they weren't to plant crops for a year. Israel never managed to have that much faith.
12 For the word of God is living and all-efficient, and much sharper than a double-edged sword, and it pierces to the separation of soul and spirit and of joints, marrow and of bones, and judges the reasoning and conscience of the heart. 13 And there is no created thing hidden from before him, but everything is naked and open before the eyes of him to whom we give an account.
Most people take these verses out of their context or assume that they stand alone. It relates to what the author has been saying so far. He means that the Word of God sees past your skin and right down to your heart to know if you have faith or not. It is the word of God that sets the standard and is therefore the judge.
With respect to the Sabbath, there are a lot of faithless ways to keep the Sabbath. You can do it because you want to be seen doing it, or because everyone else is doing it, or because it is a tradition. God's wants you to do it because you trust in him.
The theme for the passage is keeping the faith.
The author warns them against having an unfaithful heart that will cause them to turn away from God. He also tells them to check themselves every day until the end, by which he probably means death.
The people who came out of Egypt hardened their hearts toward God and angered him. They sinned against God and left a 40-year trail of bones through the desert, never reaching that rest.
This happened because these people were unconvinced about God. So, God said of them that they would never enter into his rest. Because they did not believe, it was not possible for them to enter.
We also must inspect ourselves. A fearful respect for God will help us do this. Don't forget that they were evangelized just as we were. It did them no good though. It isn't enough to hear the word of God. It must be responded to with faith.
Everything God created during the days of creation and the rest that God took afterward have existed since then. The Sabbath keeping given in the 4th commandment is based on that.
The promise of rest was not fulfilled when Joshua led the Israelites into the Promised Land. That promised rest is still available every day until the end.
Those who have rested from their works (kept the Sabbath) are those who will enter into God's rest (see caveat above).
We enter into that rest by faith and keeping the Sabbath is a small act of faith.
God is not deceived. The Word of God sees past your skin and right down to your heart to know if you have faith or not.
Summarizing the summary, God's rest is still available to us and thus the 4th Commandment is still in effect. We enter into that rest by faith and keeping the 4th Commandment is part of that.
The Book of Hebrews seems to be directed at Jews who have become Christians but are faltering. Therefore the book, including this passage, is purposed to explain the connections between Judaism and Christianity - how Christianity is the next phase after Judaism and how Judaism pictured the coming of Christianity.
In this passage, the author is explaining that the root of the Sabbath is God's rest after creation which is also the rest that we strive to enter. The 4th Commandment is based on that rest. Therefore, as long as the promise of that Rest exists, so does the 4th Commandment.
3 http://biblehub.com/greek/4520.htm
4 "The words 'sabbath rest' is from the [Greek] noun sabbatismos, [and is] a unique word in the NT. This term appears also in Plutarch (Superset. 3 [Moralia 166a]) for sabbath observance, and in four post-canonical Christian writings which are not dependent on Heb. 4:9" (The Anchor Bible Dictionary, Vol. 5, p. 856).