English Standard Version
Exodus 34:21
21"Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.
Exodus 34:21 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest: in earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest.
- New International Version (NIV)“Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest.
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.
- New Living Translation (NLT)“You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but on the seventh day you must stop working, even during the seasons of plowing and harvest.
Context of Exodus 34:21
19All that open the womb are mine, all your male livestock, the firstborn of cow and sheep. 20The firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. And none shall appear before me empty-handed. "Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest. 22You shall observe the Feast of Weeks, the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year's end. 23Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel.
Read all of Exodus 34Exodus 34:21 word by word
שֵׁ֤שֶׁת יָמִים֙ תַּעֲבֹ֔ד וּבַיּ֥וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֖י תִּשְׁבֹּ֑ת בֶּחָרִ֥ישׁ וּבַקָּצִ֖יר תִּשְׁבֹּֽת׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Exodus 34:21
- Exodus 20:9Six days you shall labor, and do all your work,
- Exodus 23:12"Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant woman, and the alien, may be refreshed.
- Exodus 35:2Six days work shall be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death.
- Deuteronomy 5:12"'Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.
- Luke 13:14But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, "There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day."
- Luke 23:56Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
- Genesis 45:6For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.
- Deuteronomy 21:4And the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer's neck there in the valley.
- 1 Samuel 8:12And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots.
- Isaiah 30:24and the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork.
Commentaries on Exodus 34:21
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21In earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest - This commandment is worthy of especial note; many break the Sabbath on the pretense of absolute necessity, because, if in harvest time the weather happens to be what is called bad, and the Sabbath day be fair and fine, they judge it perfectly lawful to employ that day in endeavoring to save the fruits of the field, and think that the goodness of the day beyond the preceding, is an indication from Providence…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12-27Verses 12-27 The precepts contained in these verses are, for the most part, identical in substance with some of those which follow the Ten Commandments and are recorded in “the Book of the covenant” (Exodus 24:7). Exodus 34:13 Cut down their groves - This is the first reference to what is commonly known as grove-worship. The original word for “grove” in this connection אשׁרה 'ăshêrāh is different from that so rendered in Genesis 21:33. Our translators…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 18-27Verses 18-27 Once a week they must rest, even in ploughing time, and in harvest. All worldly business must give way to that holy rest; even harvest work will prosper the better, for the religious observance of the sabbath day in harvest time. We must show that we prefer our communion with God, and our duty to him, before the business or the joy of harvest. Thrice a year they must appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. Canaan was a desirable land…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 10-26Some of the terms of the covenant are restated, particularly those that prohibit the worship of other gods and that describe the proper worship of the Lord.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 8-268-26. Moses bowed ... and worshipped--In the East, people bow the head to royalty, and are silent when it passes by, while in the West, they take off their hats and shout.Read the comment
Topics related to Exodus 34:21
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Exodus 34
- 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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries