At its most basic level, the biblical Sabbath refers to the dividing of time by seven. It can be the last day in a seven-day week (Genesis 2:2-3; Exodus 20:8-11). It can be the seventh year (Exodus 23:10-13). Somewhat confusingly, it can also be the tenth day in the seventh month, which is celebrated as a ‘day of atonement’ for the Hebrew people (Leviticus 16:29-31). It can also be the fiftieth week or year, that is, the week or year ending a cycle of seven times seven weeks or years (Leviticus 23:15ff). You get the picture. But what does one do, or not do, with this Sabbath day, week or year? Well, like God at the end of those six days of creation, you rest from your labour. You, your household, and the land on which you dwell. You cease to do whatever you have to do to make a crust. This gives all who labour – including indentured labourers and domestic animals – a breather, a chance to recover from what would otherwise be endless toil. Importantly, it is also a chance for the land itself to recover, to lay fallow and regain some of its capacity for fruitfulness (Exodus 23:10-13; Leviticus 25:1-7) – good labour and land management practices that we would do well to honour in modern life. But there is something else going on in these accounts. They are not just about moderating labour and land management practices. They are not only about ensuring there is chance to rest. Sabbath is also about the end or cessation of unjust and exploitative practices, practices that actually do harm to land and people. The most interesting passage to read in this connection is Leviticus Chapter 25. Here there is a discussion of what ought to happen each fiftieth year, the Jubilee year following every seven-times-seven years. The first day of the Jubilee year begins on the Day of Atonement, which tells us that there is much that has happened during the 84
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