Exodus 31:15

Exodus 31:15 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.
• New International Version (NIV)For six days work is to be done, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day is to be put to death.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.

Context of Exodus 31:15

13‘Say to the Israelites, “You must keep my Sabbath days as special days. This will help you and your descendants to remember that you belong to me. You will remember that I, the Lord, have chosen you to be my people. 14The Sabbath day must be special for you, because it is a holy day. If anyone does not make the Sabbath a special day, you must punish him with death. If anyone does any work on a Sabbath day, he can no longer belong to my people. You may work for six days each week, but the seventh day is a day of rest. It is a holy day that is special to me, the Lord. If anyone does any work on a Sabbath day, you must punish him with death. 16The Israelites must always keep the Sabbath as a special day. They must obey the rules for the Sabbath day. Those rules are part of my covenant with my people that continues for ever. 17It will always be a sign that I have chosen the Israelites to be my people. You will remember that the Lord made the heavens and the earth in six days. Then, on the seventh day, he stopped working and he rested.” ’

Exodus 31:15 word by word

שֵׁ֣שֶׁת יָמִים֮ יֵעָשֶׂ֣ה מְלָאכָה֒ וּבַיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֗י שַׁבַּ֧ת שַׁבָּת֛וֹן קֹ֖דֶשׁ לַיהוָ֑ה כָּל־הָעֹשֶׂ֧ה מְלָאכָ֛ה בְּי֥וֹם הַשַּׁבָּ֖ת מ֥וֹת יוּמָֽת׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Sixשֵׁשׁshêsh shishshâh · sixH8337
• daysיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
• may workמְלָאכָהmelâ'kâh · workH4399
• be doneעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
• but in the seventhשְׁבִיעִיshebîy‛îy shebi‛îy · seventhH7637
• the sabbathשַׁבָּתshabbâth · SabbathH7676
• of restשַׁבָּתוֹןshabbâthôn · sabbath observanceH7677
• holyקֹ֫דֶשׁqôdesh · holinessH6944
• to the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• he shall surelyמוּתmûth · to dieH4191

Cross-references for Exodus 31:15

• Exodus 31:17It will always be a sign that I have chosen the Israelites to be my people. You will remember that the Lord made the heavens and the earth in six days. Then, on the seventh day, he stopped working and he rested.” ’
• Exodus 16:26On six days of each week, you must pick food up from the ground. But on the seventh day of the week, there will not be any food on the ground. That is because the seventh day is the Sabbath day of rest.’
• Exodus 20:9You have six days every week to do all your work.
• Exodus 34:21You may work for six days each week, but on the seventh day you must rest. That is true even when it is the time to plough your fields. It is also true at harvest time. You must rest on the seventh day each week.
• Leviticus 23:3There are six days when a person can work. The seventh day is the Sabbath day. A person must not do any work on that day. It is a day when people meet together for worship. You must not work in any place where you live. It is the Sabbath to the Lord, a day of rest.
• Ezekiel 46:1‘This is what the Almighty Lord says: The gate of the temple's inside yard that opens to the east must stay shut for the six days that you work. You must only open it on each Sabbath day and on the day of each new moon.
• Luke 13:14But the leader of the meeting place was angry because Jesus had made a sick person well on their day of rest. He said to the people there, ‘There are six days each week when we should work. Come on any of those days and get well. But you should not come on our day of rest to get well.’
• Exodus 16:23Moses said to them, ‘This is what the Lord has said: “Tomorrow is a special day of rest. It is a Sabbath day, to worship the Lord. Today, you must bake any food that you want to bake. Boil the meat that you want to boil. Keep until the morning whatever food you do not eat today.” ’
• Exodus 20:10But the seventh day is a Sabbath day. It is special for the Lord your God. You must not do any work on that day. Your son and your daughter must not work on that day. Your servants, male or female, must not work on that day. The foreign person who lives among you and even your animals must not work on that day.
• Genesis 2:2The seventh day came. Then God stopped the work that he had been doing. He had finished his work and he rested on the seventh day.
• Luke 23:56Then they returned to the house where they were staying in Jerusalem. They prepared spices and oil that had a beautiful smell. On the Jewish day of rest they obeyed God's Law and they did not work.
• Hebrews 4:9So we see this: God still has a place ready for his people, where they can rest. They will rest as God rested on the seventh day.
• Numbers 15:32When the Israelites were in the desert, a man was picking up sticks on the day of rest.
• Jeremiah 17:24The Lord says, “But you must be careful to obey me. Do not carry any loads through the gates of this city on a Sabbath day. You must keep the Sabbath day as a special day for me. Do not do any work on a Sabbath day.

Commentaries on Exodus 31:15

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12-17Verses 12-17 The penal law of the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2-3. In the fourth commandment the injunction to observe the seventh day is addressed to the conscience of the people (see Exodus 20:8 note): in this place, the object is to declare an infraction of the commandment to be a capital offence. The two passages stand in a relation to each other similar to that between Exodus 31:14 See Numbers 15:32-36. The distinction between the meaning of the two…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-17Verses 12-17 Orders were now given that a tabernacle should be set up for the service of God. But they must not think that the nature of the work, and the haste that was required, would justify them in working at it on sabbath days. The Hebrew word /shabath/ signifies rest, or ceasing from labour. The thing signified by the sabbath is that rest in glory which remains for the people of God; therefore the moral obligation of the sabbath must continue, till…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 14-15It is very important to learn that we find life in God only by coming to him in his way. This truth is made clear by the death penalty for disobedience (see also Numbers 15:32–36). This does not mean that God’s people must punish these sins in the same way. But at the beginning, God needed to make this truth clear (see Acts 5:1–11). If people do not understand this spiritual lesson, ritual obedience will not help them. Ritual obedience means simply…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 12-1712-17. Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep--The reason for the fresh inculcation of the fourth commandment at this particular period was, that the great ardor and eagerness, with which all classes betook themselves to the construction of the tabernacle, exposed them to the temptation of encroaching on the sanctity of the appointed day of rest. They might suppose that the erection of the tabernacle was a sacred work, and that it would be a high merit, an…Read the comment

Topics related to Exodus 31:15

• Sabbath
• Sanitation

In the dictionaries

• Call
• Therein
• Wisdom
• Workmanship
• Write
• Exodus, the Book of
• Law in the Old Testament
• Leviticus
• Mediation; Mediator
• Rest

Commentaries on Exodus 31

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings