When was the Sabbath first given?

Vanellus said:

The obvious answer would seem to be at the giving of the ten commandments at Mt Sinai in Exodus chapter 20:

And God spoke all these words:
...
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on which you must not do any work—neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant or livestock, nor the foreigner within your gates. 11For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, but on the seventh day He rested. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

This is not the first time that the word comes in the Bible. In Gen 2 we read:
Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2And by the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on that day He rested from all His work.a

3Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on that day He rested from all the work of creation that He had accomplished.

Just as in English there is a strong similarity between the Hebrew words for seventh and sabbath. But these verses seem to be an aside written by the author as a comment on the verse. It's not recording giving of the sabbath to Adam and Eve.

Before the giving of the ten commandments at Mt Sinai we have the account of the manna from heaven in Ex 16
Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. 28Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you c refuse to keep my commands and my instructions? 29Bear in mind that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where they are on the seventh day; no one is to go out.” 30So the people rested on the seventh day.

Now this happens before the Israelites get to Mt Sinai so when was the sabbath first given to the Israelites?

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Right in the 4th commandment God told us the Sabbath started at Creation, before sin, it was always part of God’s perfect plan for mankind.

Exo 20:11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

The seventh day or Saturday is interchangeable with the Sabbath. It’s why most ancient languages Saturday translates into Sabbath.

According to Jesus the Sabbath was made for man. Mark 2:27 Both man and the Sabbath were made at Creation and the Greek word Jesus used means mankind, the Hebrew word Adam, so the Sabbath started at Creation made for man.

Vanellus said:

But when was it given to the Israelites? When were they first informed about it's giving to them?

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The were keeping it during their captivity in Egypt, which was way before God codified the Ten Commandments at Mt Sinai

Exo 5:5 And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens.

The rest in the verse means Sabbath

shabath: To cease, to rest, to desist
Original Word: שָׁבַת
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: shabath
Pronunciation: shah-BAHTH
Phonetic Spelling: (shaw-bath')
Definition: To cease, to rest, to desist
Meaning: to repose, desist from exertion

God’s people has always kept God’s commandments.

Vanellus said:

Except this passage isn't about the Sabbath but about Moses wanting to take the Israelites into the wilderness to hold a feast.

After that, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let My people go, so that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ ”

2But Pharaoh replied, “Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go.”

3“The God of the Hebrews has met with us,” they answered. “Please let us go on a three-day journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to the LORD our God, or He may strike us with plagues or with the sword.”

4But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you draw the people away from their work? Get back to your labor!” 5Pharaoh also said, “Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you would be stopping them from their labor.”

The word for "rest" has a broader meaning than just the seventh day e.g. Gen 8:22
As long as the earth endures, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”

That is not about the Sabbath. Another example is Lev 2:13

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While I agree rest has a broader term throughout the Bible and doesn’t always refer to the weekly Sabbath, I believe in this case it does.

The word translates into the Sabbath in verse 5, its the same word used in Exo 16

Exodus 16:30
HEB: וַיִּשְׁבְּת֥וּ הָעָ֖ם בַּיּ֥וֹם
NAS: So the people rested on the seventh
KJV: So the people rested on the seventh
INT: rested the people day

God said the seventh day and the Sabbath are interchangeable. Exo 20:11

The Sabbath started at Creation made for mankind, why would God’s people not keep something special God made for them from the very beginning. You are free to have your beliefs, my beliefs are God’s people of all ages keep God’s commandments Rev 14:12 because disobeying God is what separated man from God Isa 59:2, and caused 1/3 of the angles to be kicked out of heaven, why would doing the same thing that separated man from God reconcile us back. It doesn’t according to Scripture Rev 22:14. The Israelites were clearly keeping the Sabbath long before it was codified at Mt Sinai because God connected the Ten Commandments right to Creation Exo 20:11

Vanellus said:

But when was it given to the Israelites? When were they first informed about it's giving to them?

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the Sabbath was first "given" as a command to Israel in the Law in Sinai through a "mediator". This indicates a covenant.
430 years after the covenant with Abraham. Gal 3:17

See also Gal 3:19

The law that defines what sin is 1 John 3:4 James 2:11-12 Rom 7:7 can’t be the same law that was added “because of sin” obviously two different sets of laws and sadly man confuse the Ten Commandments with the law of Moses. Sacrifices was added because of sin for breaking God’s law the Ten Commandments Deut 4:13 Exo 31:18. Why we see murder was a sin back in Genesis because where there is no law, there is no sin Rom 4:15. Cain knew it was sin when he murdered Abel. Where do we see thou shalt not murder- only in the Ten Commandments that God‘s own Testimony connects them to Creation Exo 20:11

SabbathBlessings said:

The law that defines what sin is 1 John 3:4 James 2:11-12 Rom 7:7 can’t be the same law that was added “because of sin” obviously two different sets of laws and sadly man confuse the Ten Commandments with the law of Moses. Sacrifices was added because of sin for breaking God’s law the Ten Commandments Deut 4:13 Exo 31:18. Why we see murder was a sin back in Genesis because where there is no law, there is no sin Rom 4:15. Cain knew it was sin when he murdered Abel. Where do we see thou shalt not murder- only in the Ten Commandments that God‘s own Testimony connects them to Creation Exo 20:11

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there is only one law that define what sin is, and that's is the 10 Commandments (old covenant Law) "given" to Israel in Sinai.

Romans 7:7
..I would Not have known what sin was had it Not been for the Law.

For I would not have known what "coveting" really was if the Law had not said, "You shall Not covet".

there is so much confusion in some denominations and their teaching...

pasifika said:

there is only one law that define what sin is, and that's is the 10 Commandments (old covenant Law) "given" to Israel in Sinai.

Romans 7:7
..I would Not have known what sin was had it Not been for the Law.

For I would not have known what "coveting" really was if the Law had not said, "You shall Not covet".

there is so much confusion in some denominations and their teaching...

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I am pretty sure coveting is still a sin in the New Covenant hence why Paul quoted it saying as such from the Ten Commandments

Mark 7:21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts,adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 thefts, covetousness, wickedness,deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”

Eph 5:3 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints;

1 Cor 6:10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

Vanellus said:

But do you agree that in the passage you quoted Moses was making a one off request to Pharaoh as a prelude to the exodus. This wasn't something that happened every week. But the Sabbath referred to in the Ten Commandments 4 chapters later is about the one day in seven.
Do you agree or not?

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No, I do not see it as a one time thing, I see them taking a Sabbath like the commandment says like they were doing before it being codify at Mt Sinai.

And its not about one day in seven, is about the seventh day. Exo 20:8-11 Gen 2:1-3

Just like the Sabbath continues in heaven worshipping before the Lord, not any one day we want, everyone will be in one accord coming before the Lord to worship before Him on the Sabbath, which God said is the seventh day. Exo 20:10

I am okay agreeing to disagree.

Vanellus said:

So you think they went off into the wilderness en masse every week?

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According to Scripture the Sabbath which is on the seventh day is a holy convocation i.e. gathering of the saints thus saith the Lord Lev. 23:3

Vanellus said:

Because there is no evidence in your chosen passage of taking a sabbath every week (one day in seven) on the seventh day. We are talking about what is in the Bible not your own personal opinion. This passage is not evidence for taking a sabbath each week

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I am referring to what God said when the Sabbath is. He never said pick a Sabbath one in seven, He said the Sabbath is the seventh day and we can trace that back to Creation, when God created the earth in six days and rested the seventh day. He called the Sabbath, My holy day, the holy day of the Lord, so there is only one. Isa 58:13. The only day God said is His holy day, the only day God sanctified, which is not the one man assigned God that He said was for works and labors Exo 20:9

Exo 20:8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

Gen 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

It’s why almost all ancient languages Saturday translates unto Sabbath because God made the Sabbath and the seventh day interchangeable. Exo 20:10 It is His written and spoken Testimony Exo 31:18 Jesus told us to live by Mat 4:4

While you may believe God’s people throughout the ages rebelled against God’s Sabbath commandment He said started at Creation Exo 20:11 that Jesus said was made for mankind starting with Adam what the Hebrew and Greek word means in Mat 2:27 but its not my belief. I beleive God has always had a faithful remnant who keep the commandments of God Rev 12:17. I believe that God’s people kept/keep God’s commandments the way God says Rev 14:12, because the saints allow God to be God living by His every Word Mat 4:4 instead of trying to live by our own man-made rules, Jesus warned us about quoting from this same unit of Ten Mat 15:3-14 Mark 7:7-13. The Bible already reveals the Israelites were keeping the Sabbath long before it was codified, it seems to me I am not the one going by my own personal beliefs. Guess this will all get sorted out soon enough. I wish you well.

According to the depiction in the biblical stories (written in around the 8th century BC in Babylonia), the 7th day was separated as holy in the Genesis creation story and later given as a commandment to distinguish Israel from other nations, in the Exodus story.

Outside of these retrospectively written stories, the first proven practice of keeping the Sabbath is from the 7th century BCE, during king Josiah's reign.

There is Sabbath keeping all throughout the entire Bible starting at Creation with Adam and Eve Exo 20:11 Mark 2:27 also seen in the life of Jesus who is God that became flesh Luke 4:16 and the apostles Acts 13:42 Acts 13:44 Acts 15:21 Acts 16:13 Acts 18:4 etc. God’s people keep the commandments of God Rev 14:12 and the Sabbath is a commandment of God, thus saith the Lord. If one can’t believe God’s own personal Testimony Exo 31:18 of when the Sabbath is, the seventh day Exo 20:10 and when it started, Creation Exo 20:11 made for mankind Mark 2:27 than I guess we can view the Bible as mystical to select which writings we believe and don‘t believe and essentially make ourselves our own god, because Scripture says whoever we obey is who we serve Rom 6:16 . Moses wrote Genesis through divine inspiration from the Holy Spirit to be literal. Jesus said if you don’t believe Moses, you won’t believe Him John 5:46-47 Guess this will all get sorted out soon enough at the soon coming of our Lord and Savior and I pray we will all be able to stand in His presence when He returns.

The origin of the sabbath rest is basically unknown. There are several proposals regarding when and where the Sabbath originated in Mesopotamia:

Egypt:
It was unknown in Egypt, so Israelites did not get it from there.

Akkad:
A number of scholars propose a cognate Akkadian word šapattu or šabattu, which refers to the day of the full moon. A lexicographic list found in the library of Ashurbanipal glosses šabattu as "[the gods'] day of the heart's rest". Other scholars doubt that there is a connection between the biblical Sabbath and the Akkadian šapattu/šabattu, as the two words may not have a common etymology.

Assyria:
Connection to Sabbath observance has been suggested in the designation of the seventh, fourteenth, nineteenth, twenty-first and twenty-eight days of a lunar month in an Assyrian religious calendar as a 'holy day', also called 'evil days' (meaning "unsuitable" for prohibited activities).

Babylon:
The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia advanced a theory of Assyriologists like Friedrich Delitzsch (and of Marcello Craveri) that Shabbat originally arose from the lunar cycle in the Babylonian calendar containing four weeks ending in a Sabbath, plus one or two additional unreckoned days per month. The difficulties of this theory include reconciling the differences between an unbroken week and a lunar week, and explaining the absence of texts naming the lunar week as Sabbath in any language

All these proposals face some difficulties. The Assyrian seems to be the closest one, to me.

Any form of a weekly Sabbath was totally unknown to the rest of the world (Americas, China, India, Australia, Europe, Africa). Therefore, it seems the most probable that it is a unique Jewish habit, originated in Mesopotamia and maybe influenced by some Mesopotamian culture, even though formulated uniquely and with different cultural and theological spin.

Vanellus said:

These verses are not evidence that Adam and Eve kept a sabbath, only that the idea of the sabbath was recognised by Moses (or whoever is the author) wrote the account of the creation in Genesis. There is nothing like "on the sabbath Adam and Eve rested from their labours".

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I already provided that to you from the testimony of Jesus.

Man was made in the likeness and image of God. When God rested on the very first Sabbath that He made for man, do you really think Adam and Eve did what most people do today and tell God, no thanks, the Sabbath is for Jews instead of resting with God. I know Adam and Eve rebelled, but no evidence they rebelled the day after they were made in the image of God.