THE NEXT SABBATH | AdventAI

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Nov 10, 1868

“THE NEXT SABBATH.”

In Acts xiii, 42, we have a plain record that the Gentiles, some fourteen years after the crucifixion of Christ, understood the Sabbath, the day upon which the Jews worshiped, to be the regular day of worship for Christians also; for when Paul, in Antioch of Pisidia, had given a stirring discourse to a mixed congregation of both Jews and Gentiles, we read that “when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath.”

In “Both Sides,” p. 125, we offered a criticism upon this text, in the course of which we referred to the opinion of some commentators that the expression, “the next Sabbath,” as given in the margin, means in the week between, or Sabbath between; but we also presented from Dr. Bloomfield good testimony to show that the correct rendering is given in our common version, and that the expression means the next or following Sabbath in order.

Getting their cue, as it would seem, from the criticism above referred to, some opponents of the Sabbath have, since then, made great use of that passage, claiming that it means only the Sabbath between, that is, the Sabbath between the old Jewish Sabbaths, which would of course be the first day of the week!

Those who thus use this text do themselves no credit as men of candor or ability. They pass by all opposing authorities, and represent their claim as the only construction that can be put upon the text; whereas, they should know that the weight of testimony is all on the other side; and knowing this, they should not descend to unfairness or dishonesty for the purpose of gaining an end.

The note of Dr. Bloomfield on this passage is as follows: “The words, εἰς τὸ μεταξὺ σαββ. are by many commentators supposed to mean ‘on some intermediate week day.’ But this is refuted by verse 44, and the sense expressed in our common version is, no doubt, the true one. It is adopted by the best recent commentators, and confirmed by the ancient versions.” He mentions not a single commentator who supposes it to mean an intermediate Sabbath; but says that the best recent commentators and the ancient versions support the common reading.

The word μεταξύ, rendered next, has this among its definitions. Greenfield, as the third definition, says, “Subsequent, following, succeeding, next.” Robinson says, “Next following, next.” Parkhurst says, “After, following, succeeding.”

Such are some of the definitions of this word; these are among its meanings; but more than all this, the testimony of this chapter itself, shows us how it must be defined here. This is found in verse 44, to which Dr. Bloomfield alludes. This verse states what happened in consequence of the request of the Gentiles, in verse 42, and the record is, that on “the next Sabbath day, came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.” Is there anything said here about a Sabbath between? Nothing. Is the word here rendered next, μεταξύ, as in verse 42? No; but another word entirely. The expression here is, τῷ δὲ ἐρχομένῳ σαββάτῳ, which no one would, for a moment, think of rendering anything else but the next or following Sabbath. Therefore, even if it were impossible to determine the sense of the expression in verse 42, by any other means, we could do it from verse 44; for whatever the request of the Gentiles was, it was not till the next Sabbath, according to this verse, that Paul again spoke to the people.

This is a remarkable case; and it furnishes important testimony to the fact, that in Paul’s day no other day but the seventh, was thought of as the Sabbath among the worshipers of the true God. It shows that the Gentiles knew that no day but the seventh was enjoined in those sacred writings which Jew and Christian alike appealed to in support of their worship; and that they hence very correctly concluded that the day which the Jew regarded as the day for divine worship, was the day which Christians would regard and observe in the same manner. Here was a second meeting, called at the request of the Gentiles, for the benefit of Gentiles, and to be composed, almost exclusively, of Gentiles; yet it was delayed till the next Sabbath. Why was this? It was because the Gentiles well understood that Paul, though a Christian apostle, regarded the seventh day, the Sabbath of the Lord, as the only regular weekly period for divine worship.