Deuteronomy 5:14
But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.
The seventh day is the Sabbath belonging to the Lord God, and after six days of labor for all work it forbids any work on it by the person, children, servants, cattle, and stranger within the gates, so that manservant and maidservant may rest as well as the master. It stands as part of the covenant spoken face to face at Horeb and repeated by Moses at the Jordan to the generation about to possess Canaan, grounding the command in remembering bondage in Egypt and deliverance by mighty power that freed them to serve God. It belongs to the fourth commandment among the first four setting out obligations to God, stating His definite requirements, and it specifies God's chosen seventh day, made after six ordinary twenty-four-hour days of creation, not interchangeable with Sunday or the first day by human authority or preference. It upholds the seventh day as God's memorial of creation and sign between Him and His people, upheld by Christ as Lord of the Sabbath, making its keeping a test of loyalty in which to keep it is to keep the commandments and to break it is sin. It requires that rest to include servants and animals equally and forbids drawing them into labor to serve others, condemning displacing God's specified day with the first day and compelling its observance as the Sabbath. It remains instruction for the present to study and obey in developing Christian character, as part of Deuteronomy 4-8 to be heeded while the world nears God's great final review when every case is decided for eternity.
Wording and Covenant Setting
The seventh day is the Sabbath belonging to the Lord God, to be kept holy after six days of labor for all work. On it no work at all is to be done by the person himself, nor by son nor daughter, nor manservant nor maidservant, nor ox nor ass nor any cattle, nor the stranger within the gates. The rest is to reach the whole household and community, including children, servants, livestock, and resident foreigners, so that manservant and maidservant rest as fully and equally as the master. The requirement is stated definitively as one of the commandments God gave Israel to obey and to be taught in the wilderness.
It stands as part of the covenant made at Horeb with the generation alive that day, spoken face to face from the midst of fire alongside the other commandments. It is among the commands given at Sinai and preserved in the books of Moses, belonging to the Ten Commandments whose true meaning was to be understood.
It is Moses repeating at the river Jordan the Sabbath law first spoken from Sinai. This was when the children of Israel had come again to the Jordan and the time to possess Canaan was at hand. It was given to a generation of whom few were old enough to comprehend its solemnity when first given, and Moses was instructed to recapitulate the Ten Commandments before his death so that those preparing to enter Canaan would understand the law and the need to obey it.
It belonged to the Decalogue repeated to all Israel in solemn assembly as covenant instruction the people were to hear, learn, keep, and do. It was included among the precepts by which they had pledged to govern their conduct. God had the claims of His law set before them again and commanded obedience as the condition of prosperity in the promised land.
The command is grounded in remembering bondage in Egypt and deliverance by mighty power, for which keeping the Sabbath was commanded. In Egypt the people could not serve God, and their release enabled them to observe His statutes. Being made free to serve God without restriction placed them under special obligation to keep the Sabbath and the other commandments, and remembering their own bondage and redemption called them to show kindness to others.
Doctrinal Meaning and Authority
The verse belongs to the fourth commandment of the Ten Commandments repeated in Deuteronomy 5:6-21. It stands within the first four commandments, which set out obligations to God. It states God's definite requirements, and departure from His commandments brings the sure result of transgression. Breaking its Sabbath command is sin just as violating the laws governing the body is sin. Keeping the fourth commandment means keeping the rest of God's commandments.
The verse presents the seventh day as God's chosen, clearly specified day, not interchangeable with Sunday or the first day. It is not a matter for human authorities or personal preference to change. Its creation basis means God made the world in six ordinary twenty-four-hour days and rested on the seventh, a particular day rather than any day in seven or an indefinite period. It is part of God's specified law, which must not be displaced or changed, and presenting the first day of the week as the Sabbath turns people away from the day God blessed.
The seventh day, not the first day, is God's memorial of creation and a sign between Him and His people. Keeping it honors God as Creator. Christ explained the law and upheld the Sabbath on its original basis as Lord of the Sabbath. The breach made by setting it aside for a spurious sabbath is to be repaired, restoring a commandment that has been set aside.
Keeping this command is a test and sign of loyalty and obedience to God. People are accountable to the command. Ignorance does not excuse observing a day God did not bless or set apart. As part of the instruction in Deuteronomy 5, it is among the commandments requiring sanctification of mind, soul, and body and perfect obedience, and no excuse for disobedience is accepted.
Displacing God's specified law and turning people to the first day as the Sabbath is condemned. Oppressing those who obey the seventh-day command is condemned. Compelling people to keep Sunday as though it were the Sabbath of the fourth commandment is linked to the mark of the beast and its image.
Equal Rest and Present Call
The Sabbath rest must include servants equally with masters, extending to the whole household and community, to children, livestock and the resident stranger within the gates, so that manservant and maidservant may rest as well as those over them. Deliverance from slavery placed Israel under special obligation to keep the Sabbath and the other commandments, because in bondage they could not serve God and their release enabled them to observe His statutes. Remembering their own bondage and redemption calls them to show kindness to others, and keeping this command is a test and sign of loyalty to God for which people are accountable, where ignorance does not excuse observing a day God did not bless or set apart.
None are to be drawn into labor on the seventh day, neither the head of the household alone resting while servants and animals work. This includes servants employed to help feed others on the Sabbath, for their labor violates the rest the command gives them. As part of the instruction in Deuteronomy 5, the command is among those requiring sanctification of mind, soul and body and perfect obedience, for which no excuse for disobedience is accepted. Keeping it is part of reverencing God and is the condition for expecting the Lord to cooperate and bless, while not keeping it is disobedience rooted in unbelief and failure to reverence God.
As part of the Ten Commandments given to Israel, the identification of the seventh day as the Lord's Sabbath and the requirement of rest from work for everyone in the household and within its gates remains instruction to be studied and put into practice in principle. Comparatively few honor God by keeping the Sabbath according to this commandment, and many professing to serve the Lord refuse to obey it. Obedience to this commandment is a needed experience in developing Christian character, and yielding the will to God in this matter makes efforts to save people more effective.
The Sabbath command with its rest for household, servants, cattle and stranger shows one of the requirements given that God's ancient people might be a holy people unto Himself. It belongs to Deuteronomy 4-8 to be studied now, because the world is nearing the day of God's great final review when all must stand before the Judge of all the earth. The present is the time of investigation when every character will have been investigated and every case decided for eternity.