Texts in Conversation
Genesis says God finished his work “on the seventh day,” that can be interpreted to say God worked on the Sabbath. The Greek Septuagint, Samaritan Pentateuch, and Peshitta change it to say “on the sixth day,” to avoid that possible interpretation.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 2:2
Hebrew Bible
1 The heavens and the earth were completed with everything that was in them. 2 By the seventh day God finished the work that he had been doing, and he ceased on the seventh day all the work that he had been doing. 3 God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it he ceased all the work that he had been doing in creation.
LXX Genesis 2:2
Septuagint
1 And the sky and the earth were finished, and all their arrangement. 2 And on the sixth day God finished his works that he had made, and he left off on the seventh day from all his works that he had made. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it he left off from all his works that God had begun to make.
Genesis Rabbah 10:9
Aggadah
Rabbinic
Rabbi asked Rabbi Yishmael ben Rabbi Yosei, saying to him: ‘Did you hear from your father what is meant by: “God completed [vayechal] on the seventh day”? This is bewildering.’ The explanation is that it is like someone who was banging with a hammer onto an anvil. He raised it while it was still day and lowered it after nightfall. Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai said: A mortal human being who does not know [with certainty] his times, his minutes, and his hours, he must add from the profane to the sacred. But the Holy One blessed be He, who knows [with certainty] his minutes, his times, and his hours, entered into it [Shabbat] like a hairbreadth. Geniva and the Rabbis, Geniva said: This is analogous to a king who made himself a wedding canopy, painted it and embossed it. What was it lacking? A bride [kalla] to enter it. So, too, what was the world lacking? Shabbat. The Rabbis say: This is analogous to a king for whom they crafted a signet ring. What was lacking? The seal. So, too, what was the world lacking? Shabbat. This is one of the matters that they changed for King Ptolemy – [they wrote] “God completed on the sixth day…and He rested on the seventh day.” King Ptolemy once asked the rabbis in Rome: ‘In how many days did the Holy One blessed be He create His world?’ They said to him: ‘In six days.’ He said to them: ‘And ever since that time, Gehenna has been burning for the wicked? Woe to the world from its judgments.’ “His labor” – did Rabbi Berekhya not say this in the name of Rabbi Simon: It was not with toil and not with exertion that the Holy One blessed be He created His world. And you say “from all His labor”? This is bewildering. The explanation is that it is to exact retribution against the wicked, who demolish the world [as if it were] all created with toil and with exertion, and to grant a reward to the righteous, who sustain the world [as if it were] all created with toil and with exertion. What was created on it [Shabbat] after He rested [from creating the world]? Tranquility, satisfaction, calm, and quiet. Rabbi Levi in the name of Rabbi Yosei ben Rabbi Nehorai: As long as the hands of their Maker were touching them, they [the creations] would continuously expand. When the hands of their Maker let go of them, they were granted rest. “He rested [Vayanaḥ] [on the seventh day]” (Exodus 20:11) – He let go of His world on the seventh day. Rabbi Abba said: A mortal [king], when he grants furlough [to his soldiers], he does not give them gratuities, and when he gives them gratuities, he does not grant them furlough. But the Holy One blessed be He both granted a furlough and gave gratuities: “He rested [on the seventh day from all His labor that He had made]…and God blessed [the seventh day]” (Genesis 2:2–3).
Date: 500 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... An interesting exegetical example concerns Genesis 2:2, where the Hebrew reads, "On the seventh day God ended his work." In contrast the Greek version (and the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Peshitta, and the Genesis Midrash) reads, "On the sixth day God ended his work." The Hebrew expression could be construed to mean that God actually did some work on the seventh day before he rested, Because of the importance of this passage for Sabbath-keeping, this point apparently was argued and settled among Jewish exegetes, so texts subsequent to that exegetical discussion were reworded to avoid suggesting that God created anything on the seventh day. The cessation of work on the sixth day is meant to indicate that God may have worked right up to the last moment before the seventh day, but ceased his work as soon as the seventh day had begun. This is an example where the Greek translator apparently chose not to follow the Hebrew text, but to make his translation consistent with the traditional exegesis of the law ..."
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