by Perry Hall<\/p>\n
Open your Bibles to Acts 20:7, and you will see that the church gathered to break bread on “the first day of the sabbaths.” Go on to I Corinthians 16:2, and we again read how Paul gave instructions about collecting for the poor saints on “every first day of the sabbaths.” The church gathered on this day because Jesus was resurrected on the “first day of the sabbaths” (Luke 24:1).<\/p>\n“But Perry,” I can hear the objections, “my Bible doesn’t say, ‘first day of the sabbaths.’ It reads, ‘first day of the week” in all the above passages.” Both you and I are correct. The literal reading of all these passages (and more) is not, “first day of the week.” Literally, it is, “first day of the sabbaths.”
\nThe question is, “Does this mean the church is to gather and keep the Sabbath?”\n
The answer is:<\/p>\n
Which is it? Do we understand this phrase literally or as an idiom?\u00a0An idiom is common in language, such as, “It’s raining cats and dogs”. Not literally, though; we all understand that idiom means it is raining hard.<\/p>\n
Let’s look to see how we should understand the “first day of the sabbaths”:<\/p>\n
“On the first day of the week<\/em> (lit., on the first day of the sabbaths), very early in the morning, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared<\/em>” (Luke 24:1).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Which day did the women come to the tomb? Was it Saturday or Sunday (to use our terminology)?<\/p>\n
What day of the week is “first day of the sabbaths”? The text tells us. Notice what these devout followers of Jesus and devout Jews did on the Sabbath:<\/p>\n
“Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment<\/em>” (Luke 23:56).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Since these women rested on the Sabbath according to the Law and didn’t come to the tomb on that day, our two choices are:’<\/p>\n
\n
- They began keeping the sabbath but then broke the sabbath and came to the tomb on the 7th day of the week.<\/li>\n
- They rested on the 7th day of the week according to the Law, and the next day (the 1st day of the week) came to the tomb.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
So, did these devout Jews break the Sabbath? No. they came to the tomb on the next day.<\/p>\n
Now notice this other account:<\/p>\n
“After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week<\/em> (lit., first day of the sabbaths) was dawning, Mary Magdaline and the other Mary went to view the tomb<\/em>” (Matthew 28:1).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
When did the women go to the tomb? Since it was “after the Sabbath”:<\/p>\n
\n
- They went to the tomb on the next day, “the first day of the sabbaths” which means Sunday.<\/li>\n
- They went to the tomb on the next sabbath, “one of the sabbaths”, and Jesus stayed in the tomb for over an entire week.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Obviously, if Jesus prophesied that He would be resurrected on the third day, the day after the 7th day must be the 1st day of week.<\/p>\n
“The first day of the week” is a correct translation because “first day of the sabbaths” is our Sunday. Why did the Jews use this idiom? We can only speculate; but the biblical texts are clear. It is an idiom.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Perry Hall Open your Bibles to Acts 20:7, and you will see that the church gathered to break bread on “the first day of the sabbaths.” Go on to I Corinthians 16:2, and we again read how Paul gave instructions about collecting for the poor saints on “every first day of the sabbaths.” The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[348,76],"class_list":["post-69742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-sabbath","tag-terminology"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":67248,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-sabbath\/","url_meta":{"origin":69742,"position":0},"title":"The Sabbath","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 29, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton The Sabbath day was for Israel to have a day of rest. Paul, by the Spirit, said that sabbaths, among many other things, were a \"shadow\" of the good things to come (Colossians 2:13-16). Since the shadows lead up to the substance that cast the shadow\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40675,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jesus-and-the-passover\/","url_meta":{"origin":69742,"position":1},"title":"Jesus and the Passover","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 15, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Alan Feaster \"for just as Jonah was\u00a0three days\u00a0and\u00a0three nights\u00a0in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be\u00a0three days\u00a0and\u00a0three nights\u00a0in the heart of the earth\" (Matthew 12:40). Jesus, we know without a doubt was in the grave for three days, it was prophesied many times.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/JesusLastWeek.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/JesusLastWeek.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/JesusLastWeek.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/JesusLastWeek.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":69739,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-sabbath-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":69742,"position":2},"title":"The Sabbath (2)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 10, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton The Sabbath was the seventh day of the week. It was designated to Israel as their day of rest, patterned after the fact that God rested from creative work on the seventh day (Exodus 20:11). The rules for Israel were expounded upon in other parts of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":64073,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-sabbath-was-saturday-not-sunday\/","url_meta":{"origin":69742,"position":3},"title":"The Sabbath Was Saturday, Not Sunday","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 16, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton The 7th day of the week is the old Sabbath commanded of the Israelites (Exodus 20:8-11). Are we to keep it? No! We are not under the law of Moses (Romans 7:6). The inspired apostle Paul said that the ordinances of the law were \"abolished\" in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13572,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/which-day-is-the-sabbath\/","url_meta":{"origin":69742,"position":4},"title":"Which day is the Sabbath?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 12, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Could you please tell me which day is the Sabbath? Answer: The Sabbath was a special day of rest under the Old Law. It referred to the seventh day, or last day, of the week. \"Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11823,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wasnt-it-just-the-special-sabbaths-that-were-done-away-with-in-the-new-testament\/","url_meta":{"origin":69742,"position":5},"title":"Wasn’t it just the special Sabbaths that were done away with in the New Testament?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 27, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Now I been going through your site and notice that your teaching on the Bible's teaching is mostly accurate. I have a Sabbath question: Regarding Galatians 4:10 and Colossians 2:14-17, I'm not going to lie, it seems like Jesus abolished or\u00a0nailed it to the cross because it was no\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69742"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69742\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}