Exodus 35:1-3
1Moses assembled the whole community of the Israelites and said to them, “These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do. ▼▼ Heb “to do them”; this is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.
2In six days ▼▼ This is an adverbial accusative of time.
work may be done, but on the seventh day there must be a holy day ▼▼ The word is קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh, “holiness”). S. R. Driver suggests that the word was transposed, and the line should read: “a sabbath of entire rest, holy to Jehovah” (Exodus, 379). But the word may simply be taken as a substitution for “holy day.”
for you, a Sabbath of complete rest to the Lord. ▼▼ See on this H. Routtenberg, “The Laws of the Sabbath: Biblical Sources,” Dor le Dor 6 (1977): 41-43, 99–101, 153–55, 204–6; G. Robinson, “The Idea of Rest in the Old Testament and the Search for the Basic Character of Sabbath,” ZAW 92 (1980): 32-43.
Anyone who does work on it will be put to death. 3You must not kindle a fire ▼▼ Kindling a fire receives special attention here because the people thought that kindling a fire was not work, but only a preparation for some kind of work. The Law makes sure that this too was not done. But see also G. Robinson, “The Prohibition of Strange Fire in Ancient Israel: A Look at the Case of Gathering Wood and Kindling Fire on the Sabbath,” VT 28 (1978): 301-17.
in any of your homes ▼▼ Heb “dwelling places”; KJV, ASV “habitations.”
on the Sabbath day.” ▼▼ The presence of these three verses in this place has raised all kinds of questions. It may be that after the renewal of the covenant the people needed a reminder to obey God, and obeying the sign of the covenant was the starting point. But there is more to it than this; it is part of the narrative design of the book. It is the artistic design that puts the filling of the Spirit section (31:1–11) prior to the Sabbath laws (31:12–18) before the idolatry section, and then after the renewal there is the Sabbath reminder (35:1–3) before the filling of the Spirit material (35:4–36:7).
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