Preparing for Shabbat
By Yochanan Ben Emek
We know of the Shabbat and that is the reason we are all here today. We also know that it is the day Yehovah rested as seen in Bereshit (Genesis) 2:1-3
1 The heaven and the earth were finished, and all their array. 2 On the seventh day Elohim finished the work that He had been doing, and He ceased (shavat) on the seventh day from all the work that He had done. 3 And Elohim blessed the seventh day and declared it holy (set apart), because on it Elohim ceased (shavat) from all the work of creation that He had done.
Shavat is the verb form of the root (Shin-Bet-Taf), which has the meaning of cease or stop. Reference number 7673.
We also know it is a sign between Yehovah and his People. Shemot (Exodus) 31:12-17
12 And Yehovah said to Moshe: 13 Speak to the Israelite people and say: Nevertheless, you must keep My sabbaths (shabbatotay), for this is a sign between Me and you throughout the ages, that you may know that I Yehovah have consecrated you.14 You shall keep the sabbath (hasabbat), for it is holy (set apart) for you. He who profanes (makes it common) it shall be put to death: whoever does work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his kin.15 Six days may work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be a sabbath of complete rest (shabbat shabbaton), holy (set apart) to Yehovah; whoever does work on the sabbath day (yom hasabbat) shall be put to death.16 The Israelite people shall keep the sabbath, observing the sabbath (hashabbat) throughout the ages as a covenant for all time: 17 it shall be a sign (ot) for all time between Me and the people of Israel. For in six days Yehovah made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He ceased (shavat) from work and was refreshed.
We are to keep it. But how do we keep it? Keep is a verb form of the root (Shin-Mem-Resh). The Hebrew word is Shamar. This word is used to in many scriptures as observe, watch, take heed, and preserve. Reference number 8104. A clue to how we keep them is in Devarim (Deuteronomy) 28:1,13,15
1 And it shall be if carefully you shall listen to the voice of Yehovah your elohim, observing/taking heed (lish’mor) to do (act –la’asot) all his commandments which I have commanded you this day.
13 And shall make you, Yehovah, the head and not the tail
and you shall be only above and not beneath; I you will listen to the commands
of Yehovah from all the words which I am commanding you today, observe/watch/take
heed (lish’mor) and do (act vala’ashot).
15 And it shall be not you observe/take heed/watch (tish’ma) the voice of Yehovah your Elohim, to take heed/observe/watch to do (lish’mor la’asot) all his commandments and statues which I am commanding you today that shall come upon you all curses these and overtake you.
We see from these one part was to pay attention and listen (keep or observe) the next part was to do. So we are to listen to what he says about his Shabbat and then do. So what does he say about his Shabbat a day of ceasing.
Shemot (Exodus) 20:8-10
8 Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy (ladadeshu). 9 Six days you shall labor (ta’avod) and do (va’asit) all your work (kal mala’ch’tekha), 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of Yehovah your Elohim: you shall not do any work (kal mala’khah—you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, or your cattle, or the stranger (ger) who is within your settlements.
Shemot (Exodus) 31:14-17
14 You shall keep the sabbath (hasabbat), for it is holy (set apart) for you. He who profanes (makes it common) it shall be put to death: whoever does work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his kin.15 Six days may work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be a sabbath of complete rest (shabbat shabbaton), holy (set apart) to Yehovah; whoever does work on the sabbath day (yom hasabbat) shall be put to death.16 The Israelite people shall keep the sabbath, observing the sabbath (hashabbat) throughout the ages as a covenant for all time: 17 it shall be a sign (ot) for all time between Me and the people of Israel. For in six days Yehovah made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He ceased (shavat) from work and was refreshed.
Shemot (Exodus) 35:2-3
2 On six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a sabbath of complete rest, holy to Yehovah; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. 3 You shall kindle no fire (lo taba’aru esh – no burn you fire) throughout your settlements (kal mosh’khoteykhem – all dwellings your ) on the sabbath day.
VaYikra (Leviticus) 24:7-8
7 With each row you shall place pure frankincense, which is to be a token offering for the bread, as an offering by fire to Yehovah. 8 He shall arrange them before Yehovah regularly every sabbath day—it is a commitment for all time on the part of the Israelites.
Here the priests are to do this to Yehovah every shabbat day. These are the duties for the sons of Aharon to be done for all time. They do this for the Yisraelim.
Bamidbar (Numbers) 15:32-33, 35-36
32 Once, when the Israelites were in the wilderness, they came upon a man gathering (maq’shesh) wood (‘etzim – wood or trees) on the sabbath day. 33 Those who found him as he was gathering wood (‘etzim) brought him before Moshe, Aharon, and the whole community.
35 Then Yehovah said to Moshe, “The man shall be put to death: the whole community shall pelt him with stones outside the camp.” 36 So the whole community took him outside the camp and stoned him to death—as Yehovah had commanded Moshe.
It was not known how he should be put to death. The word etz is the same word used for trees. So this was not just sticks this appears to be burning wood.
Bamidbar (Numbers) 28:9-10
9 On the sabbath day: two yearling lambs without blemish, together with two-tenths of a measure of choice flour with oil mixed in as a meal offering, and with the proper libation – 10 a burnt offering for every sabbath, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its libation.
Nehemyah (Nehemiah) 13:15-17
15 At that time I saw men in Judah treading winepresses
on the sabbath, and others bringing heaps of grain and loading them onto
asses, also wine, grapes, figs, and all sorts of goods, and bringing them
into Jerusalem on the sabbath. I admonished them there and then for selling provisions.
16 Tyrians who lived there brought fish and all sorts of wares and sold them
on the sabbath to the Judahites in Jerusalem. 17 I
censured the nobles of Judah, saying to them, “What evil thing is this that you
are doing, profaning the sabbath day!
Yesheyahu (Isaiah) 58:13
13 If you refrain from trampling the sabbath, From pursuing your affairs (business/work) on My holy day; If you call the sabbath “delight,” Yehovah’s holy day “honored”; And if you honor it and go not your ways Nor look to your affairs, nor strike bargains—
Yermeyahu (Jeremiah )17:21
21 Thus said Yehovah: Guard yourselves for your own sake against carrying burdens on the sabbath day, and bringing them through the gates of Jerusalem.
We can see there are some things we are clearly to do and not to do on Shabbat. The basic thing is we are not to work, conduct our business, or treat it like every other day (a common day). This day is to be set apart by us because it was set apart for us by Yehovah.
So how do we prepare for such a day? Lets look at Shemot (Exodus) 16 starting in verse 23.
23 And he said to them, This is what Yehovah said, Tomorrow is a rest, a holy shabbat to Jehovah. What you will bake, bake and what you shall cook, cook and all that is left over lay up for yourselves to keep until morning. 24 And they laid up it until the morning as directed Moshe. And not did it stink and no maggot was in it. 25 And said Moshe, Eat it today, for a shabbat today to Yehovah. Today you will not find it in the field. 26 Six days you shall gather it and on the day seventh shabbat none shall be in it.
29 See because Yehovah has given to you the shabbat therefore He is giving you on the day sixth bread of two days. Remain each one in his place do not go up anyone from his place on the day seventh. 30 And ceased (rested) the people on the day seventh.
The first point for them was “tomorrow is a rest or ceasing”. They were to cease, in this case, their gathering and preparation (work). They were given two days worth of food to cover the sixth and seventh days. They were told to bake (afah – 644 – Aleph-Fey-Hey) and cook (bashal – 1310 – Bet-Shin-Lamed) the manna they had gathered. My understanding is that since the Hebrew words here are used twice or doubled as in the case of amen vaamen it raises the importance of the words are being used. It is like a command not just telling them. It is like saying you will bake indeed (to’fu efu) and cook indeed (tavashalu bashelu). Emphasizing to do it. This is referred to as the infinitive absolute.
“Hebrew has two
infinitives, the infinitive absolute and the infinitive construct. The
infinitive construct is used much as an English infinitive, including being
preceded by lamed "to". The infinitive absolute is used to add
emphasis or certainty to the verb, as in "he shall indeed die". [mot
tamut] (bereshit 2:17)
It does not indicate they cooked only part of it. The part that was laid up was that which was already prepared. The only other possibility is that they could also eat it raw and unprepared on Shabbat. We know that it did not go bad like on the first day when they keep too much over for the next day.
Why do I say the word bashal בשל is cook. The JPS and other translations translate it as boil. I believe this is a mistranslation on account of the scriptures below. The pesach offering.
Shemot (Exodus) 12:8-9
8 And they shall eat the flesh in the night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 9 Do not eat it raw, or at all cooked [bashal] in water, but roasted with fire; its head with its legs and with inward parts.
Compare this to Devarim 16:7
7 And you should cook [bashal] and eat it in the place Yehovah your Elohim shall choose. And in the morning you shall return to your tents.
If it meant boil then this would make these two verses at odds with each other. One would say not to boil and the other would say to boil. So where you see boil used in the text I understand this as cook.
Bamidbar (Numbers) 11:7
7 And the manna was like coriander seed, and its look like the look of bdellium resin gum. 8 And the people went around and gathered it and ground it in mills or beat in motars and cooked (bashal) it in a pan, and made it into cakes. And its taste was like the taste of fresh oil.
If it were boiled in a pan then it would be mush not cakes. But here you see the work that had to be done to prepare the manna for cooking.
So in preparing for shabbat we should gather all the food and things we need to prepare for the coming shabbat. Next, prepare those items for cooking it they require it. Then store them up to be used on the shabbat. Then we can truly rest (cease from our labors) of the week and set apart the shabbat and keep it as Yehovah desires and commands us to do.