SABATO (Heb. šabhāth). — In the Bible this is the name given to every seventh day, which possessed a special social-religious character, because “the seventh day is the s. of the Lord,” and Decalogue (v.) imposed abstention from every kind of work on that day, obliging foreigners as well and, indirectly, even the animals; and this because God had created the world in six days and rested on the seventh (Gen. 2, 3; Ex. 20, 8-11). Specifically, plowing and harvesting were forbidden on the s. (Ex. 34, 21); nor was fire to be kindled in the houses; whoever “works on it shall be put to death” (ibid. 35, 2-3). Moses did in fact condemn to death a man found gathering wood on a s. day (Num. 15, 32-36); during the journey through the desert, manna did not fall on the s., because gathering it meant violating the rest; the preparation of food was permitted (Ex. 16, 22-30), but not the lighting of a fire.
From prophetic texts (Ier. 17, 21-27; Am. 8, 5) and from Neh. 13, 15-22 it is known that the market was also forbidden on that day.
After the exile, the law of the s. acquired ever greater importance. Its observance was emphasized, and the cases of prohibited actions multiplied. For example, at the time of the Maccabees, some held every act of defense to be unlawful (I Mach. 2, 32-41; cf. II Mach. 8, 26); but this matter of conscience was resolved by Mattathias, who declared defense lawful, but not an offensive action. In the Gospels, abstention from work appears to have been considerably extended by the Pharisees, against whom Jesus often rose up (cf. Mt. 12, 1 ff.; Lc. 13, 10 ff.; 14, 1-6; Io. 5, 8 ff.; 9, 14 ff., etc.); he declares that the s. is for human beings, and not that human beings are slaves to it (Mc. 2, 27). The height of meticulousness is reached in the Mishāh, which contains an entire treatise on the subject (Šabbāth) and specifies 39 prohibited actions; at the same time, ingenious advice is given for meeting the indispensable necessities of life without violating the letter of the precept.
In Num. 28, 9 it is prescribed that on the s. two unblemished year-old lambs be sacrificed, in addition to those prescribed for the daily sacrifice. In the legislation proposed by Ez. 46, the offering of six lambs and a ram is envisaged. In the subsequent period, especially in the diaspora, on that day the Jews gathered for prayer in the synagogues, to read the Bible and recite the psalms (cf. Act. 13, 14, 15; 15, 21; 16, 13). This liturgical service, however, appears to have been associated with the day of the s. only at a later time, whereas primitive and essential, and always so, was the concept of rest. This precept had a social and human motive, insofar as it sanctioned the necessity of interrupting work. But ultimately the religious concept always predominates, that of a kind of offering which the people made to God (cf. Ex. 16, 23; 20, 10; Lev. 23, 3; Deut. 5, 14).
Attempts have been made to explain the Israelite s. by the example of other peoples. But among no other Semitic people is a similar custom found. Babylonian texts speak of a seventh day, but it appears to be intimately connected with the phases of the moon, whereas the Israelite one is independent of them. Moreover, in Babylonia that day was conceived as “inauspicious” (imā' Ḥanā); during it, penitential sacrifices were performed to appease the gods. From only one text can it be inferred that in the second millennium B.C. the seventh day was sacred to the planet Saturn (Sakhāth), and that certain kinds of work, such as that of the blacksmith, were prohibited on II. But it is very difficult to infer from this the extent of the custom, and only through many hypotheses is it possible to assert, on the basis of Am. 5, 25, that the Hebrews adopted the custom of the s. from the Babylonians. Nor have observations concerning the character of the people who first practiced the s. led to any more certain conclusions. Without doubt, its observance is more suited to an agricultural people than to one devoted to pastoralism.
The s. therefore remains an unmistakable characteristic of the Hebrew people. From the Jews, Christians adopted the grouping of days into a week. But the character of a Sunday (v.), not without opposition from the primitive Judeo-Christians (cf. Col. 2, 16).