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1 The contradiction is indubitable when in Genesis ii. 2 it
is said in the first place that on the seventh day God ended
the work which He had made; and then that He rested on the
seventh day from His work. Obviously the second clause is
an authentic interpretation added from very intelligible motives.
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Tendencies to such an exaggeration of the Sabbath rest as would
make it absolute are found from the Chaldaean period. While
Isaiah, regarding the Sabbath purely as a sacrificial day, says,
"Bring no more vain oblations; it is an abominable incense unto
me; new moon and Sabbath, the temple assembly---I cannot endure
iniquity and solemn meeting," Jeremiah, on the other hand, is the
first of the prophets who stands up for a stricter sanctification
of the seventh day, treating it, however, merely as a day of
rest: "Bear no burden on the Sabbath day, neither bring in by
the gates of Jerusalem nor carry forth a burden out of your
houses, neither do ye any work" (xvii. 21, 22). He adds that this
precept had indeed been given to the fathers, but hitherto has not
been kept; thus, what was traditional appears to have been only
the abstinence from field work and perhaps also from professional
pursuits.
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