Exodus 20 · Verse 8

Exodus 20:8

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Exodus 20:8, King James Version

Exodus 20:8 in other translations

BSBRemember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
WEB“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
ASVRemember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
YLT‘Remember the Sabbath-day to sanctify it;
DARBYRemember the sabbath day to hallow it.
BBEKeep in memory the Sabbath and let it be a holy day.
WebsterRemember the sabbath-day to keep it holy.

What does Exodus 20:8 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
8. Remember the sabbath day--implying it was already known, and recognized as a season of sacred rest. The first four commandments [Ex 20:3-11] comprise our duties to God--the other six [Ex 20:12-17] our duties to our fellow men; and as interpreted by Christ, they reach to the government of the heart as well as the lip (Mt 5:17). "If a man do them he shall live in them" [Le 18:5; Ne 9:29]. But, ah! what an if for frail and fallen man. Whoever rests his hope upon the law stands debtor to it all; and in this view every one would be without hope were not "the Lord our Righteousness" [Jr 23:6; 33:16] (Joh 1:17).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy - See what has been already said on this precept, Gen 2:2, and elsewhere. See Clarke's note on Gen 2:2. As this was the most ancient institution, God calls them to remember it; as if he had said, Do not forget that when I had finished my creation I instituted the Sabbath, and remember why I did so, and for what purposes. The word שבת shabbath signifies rest or cessation from labor; and the sanctification of the seventh day is commanded, as having something representative in it; and so indeed it has, for it typifies the rest which remains for the people of God, and in this light it evidently appears to have been understood by the apostle, Hebrews 4. Because this commandment has not been particularly mentioned in the New Testament as a moral precept binding on all, therefore some have presumptuously inferred that there is no Sabbath under the Christian dispensation. The truth is, the Sabbath is considered as a type: all types are of full force till the thing signified by them takes place; but the thing signified by the Sabbath is that rest in glory which remains for the people of God, therefore the moral obligation of the Sabbath must continue till time be swallowed up in eternity.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Exodus 20:3-11

The first four of the ten commandments, commonly called the FIRST table, tell our duty to God. It was fit that those should be put first, because man had a Maker to love, before he had a neighbour to love. It cannot be expected that he should be true to his brother, who is false to his God. The first commandment concerns the object of worship, JEHOVAH, and him only. The worship of creatures is here forbidden…

Read the full comment on Exodus 20:3-11 →

Exodus 20:8 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

זָכ֛וֹר֩za.KhorrememberH2142
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
י֥֨וֹםYom[the] day ofH3117
הַשַּׁבָּ֖֜תha.sha.Batthe sabbathH7676
לְקַדְּשֽׁ֗וֹ\׃le.ka.de.Shoto set apart as holy itH6942

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Exodus 20:8

  • Leviticus 26:2

    Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.

  • Leviticus 19:3

    Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am the Lord your God.

  • Exodus 31:13-16

    Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.

  • Genesis 2:3

    And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

  • Leviticus 23:3

    Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.

  • Exodus 23:12

    Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.

  • Leviticus 19:30

    Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.

  • Isaiah 56:4-6

    For thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant;

  • Exodus 16:23-30

    And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning. And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein. And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day is a sabbath unto the Lord: to day ye shall not find it in the field. Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none. …

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
16:23-30; 31:13,14; Ge 2:3; Le 19:3; 23:3; Isa 56:4-6

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Exodus 20:7

    Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

  • Exodus 20:8

    Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

  • Exodus 20:9

    Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

Read all of Exodus 20

Exodus 20:8 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Acordarte has del día del reposo, para santificarlo:
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Souviens-toi du jour du sabbat, pour le sanctifier.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Gedenke des Sabbathtages, ihn zu heiligen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Memento ut diem sabbati sanctifices.