Exodus 23 · Verse 12

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.

Exodus 23:12, King James Version

Exodus 23:12 in other translations

BSB	For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you must cease, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the son of your maidservant may be refreshed, as well as the foreign resident.
WEB	“Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant, and the alien may be refreshed.
ASV	Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest; that thine ox and thine ass may have rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the sojourner, may be refreshed.
YLT	‘Six days thou dost do thy work, and on the seventh day thou dost rest, so that thine ox and thine ass doth rest, and the son of thine handmaid and the sojourner is refreshed;
DARBY	— Six days thou shalt do thy work, but 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.
BBE	For six days do your work, and on the seventh day keep the Sabbath; so that your ox and your ass may have rest, together with the son of your servant and the man from a strange land living among you.
Webster	Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thy ox and thy ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.

What does Exodus 23:12 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

12. Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest--This law is repeated [Ex 20:9] lest any might suppose there was a relaxation of its observance during the sabbatical year.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 12 Six days thou shalt do thy work - Though they were thus bound to keep the sabbatical year, yet they must not neglect the seventh day's rest or weekly Sabbath; for that was of perpetual obligation, and was paramount to all others. That the sanctification of the Sabbath was of great consequence in the sight of God, we may learn from the various repetitions of this law; and we may observe that it has still for its object, not only the benefit of the soul, but the health and comfort of the body also. Doth God care for oxen? Yes; and he mentions them with tenderness, that thine ox and thine ass may rest. How criminal to employ the laboring cattle on the Sabbath, as well as upon the other days of the week! More cattle are destroyed in England than in any other part of the world, in proportion, by excessive and continued labor. The noble horse in general has no Sabbath! Does God look on this with an indifferent eye? Surely he does not. "England," said a foreigner, "is the paradise of women, the purgatory of servants, and the hell of horses. The son of thy handmaid, and the stranger - be refreshed - ינפש yinnaphesh may be respirited or new-souled; have a complete renewal both of bodily and spiritual strength. The expression used by Moses here is very like that used by St. Paul, Act 3:19 : "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing (καιροι αναψυξεως, the times of re-souling) shall come from the presence of the Lord;" alluding, probably, to those times of refreshing and rest for body and soul originally instituted under the law.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Exodus 23:10-19

Every seventh year the land was to rest. They must not plough or sow it; what the earth produced of itself, should be eaten, and not laid up. This law seems to have been intended to teach dependence on Providence, and God's faithfulness in sending the larger increase while they kept his appointments. It was also typical of the heavenly rest, when all earthly labours, cares, and interests shall cease for ever. All…

Read the full comment on Exodus 23:10-19 →

Exodus 23:12 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.

שֵׁ֤שֶׁתShe.shetsixH8337

יָמִים֙ya.MimdaysH3117

תַּעֲשֶׂ֣הta.'a.Sehyou will doH6213

מַעֲשֶׂ֔יךָma.'a.Sei.khawork<s> yourH4639

וּבַיּ֥וֹםu.vai.Yomand on the dayH3117

הַשְּׁבִיעִ֖יha.she.vi.'I<the> seventhH7637

תִּשְׁבֹּ֑תtish.Botyou will restH7673

לְמַ֣עַןle.Ma.'anso thatH4616

יָנ֗וּחַya.Nu.achit may restH5117

שֽׁוֹרְךָ֙shor.Khaox yourH7794

וַחֲמֹרֶ֔ךָva.cha.mo.Re.khaand donkey yourH2543

וְיִנָּפֵ֥שׁve.yi.na.Feshso he may refresh himselfH5314

בֶּן\־ben-[the] child ofH1121

אֲמָתְךָ֖'a.ma.te.Khafemale slave yourH519

וְהַגֵּֽר\׃ve.ha.Gerand the sojournerH1616

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

Cross references for Exodus 23:12

Luke 13:14
And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day.
Exodus 35:3
Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day.
Exodus 31:15-16
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.
Exodus 20:8-11
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 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, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Exodus 34:21
Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest: in earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest.
Deuteronomy 5:13-15
Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work: 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. And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.
Isaiah 58:3
Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Six days.
20:8-11; 31:15,16; Lu 13:14
and the son.
De 5:13-15; Isa 58:3

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

Context

Exodus 23:11
But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard.
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.
Exodus 23:13
And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.

Read all of Exodus 23

Exodus 23:12 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Seis días harás tus negocios, y al séptimo día holgarás, á fin que descanse tu buey y tu asno, y tome refrigerio el hijo de tu sierva, y el extranjero.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	– Six jours tu feras ton ouvrage, et le septième jour tu te reposeras, afin que ton bœuf et ton âne aient du repos, et que le fils de ta servante et l’étranger respirent.
German Elberfelder 1871	Sechs Tage sollst du deine Arbeiten tun; aber am siebten Tage sollst du ruhen, damit dein Ochse und dein Esel raste und der Sohn deiner Magd und der Fremdling sich erhole.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Sex diebus operaberis: septimo die cessabis, ut requiescat bos et asinus tuus, et refrigeretur filius ancillæ tuæ, et advena.