There can be no doubt about its meaning in the Old Testament. It is intended as a principal testimony of faith in the Creator of the universe. Hence its supreme impor tance. Though the threatened punishments for Sabbath-breakers never seem to have been carried out to the full during the times of the established commonwealth, in the scheme of Judaism it was placed on a par with the entire body of the law. He who transgresses the Sabbath is considered legally, according to Maimonides, as one who has set the whole law at defiance, and is to be looked upon in every respect as like a " wo• shiper of stars"—i.e., a heathen.
Regarding the development of the positive side of the Sabbatical observance, we have to mention first, that in conformity with the precept making it is day of "holy assembly," the synagogue (irrespective of the temple-service, its special sacrifices, prayers. and psalms for the day). assembled the faithful on that day within its precincts in every town and hamlet in and out of Palestine before and after the final exile. A certain portion of the Pentateuch, to which afterward was added a prophetical pericope, the Haftarah, was read, translated into the vernacular, aml expounded homiletieallv. Special prayers and psalms, in addition to the ordinary slightly-modified service, with special reference to the sanctity of the Sabbath, were said and sung, and the rest of the day was devoted to pious meditation. study in the law, and to serenity and joyfulness. Respecting this last point, it must be borne in mind that the day is distinctly called a day of joy and delight (e.g., cf, Ps, xcii., is. lviii. 13, Ito`;. ii. 11. 13, ete.—the words in Is. translated in 1he authorized version by "by doing thy pleasure," in reality mean "doing thy work;" the Hebrew word in this passage exactly corresponding to our "affairs," 'business"). A variety of minor regulations referring to 1)1)(14 indulgences on that day, abundantly prove—if further proof were needed—its recognized character as a "feast-day" in the natural and general sense of the term, in Judaism. It was to be honored by the wearing of liner garments. by three special meals of the best (-Leer the house could afford (fish, meat, etc.); and it was considered a particularly meritorious thing on the part of the master of the house to himself personally as much as possi ble with the furnishing of the viands, nay, the fetelting, of the very wood for the cooking, so as to do a`3 much honor to the "bride Sabbath" as in hint lay. Wine, if the means of
the individual would anyhow allow it, was to crown the repast, special blessings being tlidy pronounced over it with reference to the holy clay, both at its coming in and at its going out. From the circle of the family, this custom of welcoming, as it were, the Sabbath, and taking leave of it, with the cup of blessing, with lights, and with spice, found its way at an early period into the synagogue, on account of these strangers w110, having to stop on their journey (luring the Iv city-four hours, were often lodged and fed in or near the synagogue, and on whose behalf the blessing had to be pronounced generally. Fasting, mourning, mortification of all and every kind, even special supplicatory prayers, aro strictly prohibited; but, on the contrary, the numl ter of •• a hundred bene dictions," said at ad varieties of enjoyments of the senses, are to be completed on the Sabbath, were it even by eating different kinds of fruit, smelling different spices, etc. Those who study hard during the week are to relax somewhat on that day, while those bent on business all week may indulge more freely in their readings; even school children are to be released front hard lessons on that day. Nay, the Friday itself par ticipated in a manner in the solemnity of the Sabbath. Its very name was sunk in "eve of Sabbath." At an early boar in the afternoon trumpets were blown from the steps of the temple in Jerusalem; and certain shops, the stopping of whose business required some time, began to close. Again and again the trumpets resounded at certain inter vals, and other trades ceased, as, indeed, nothing might even be begun on Friday which could not be finished or stopped at the end of that day: walking also was restricted to a certain extent on Friday, and judgment over life and death was entirely suspended. At last, when the sun disappeared front the horizon—irrespective of the situation of the place, whence a difference arose between the beginning of the Sabbath among the dwellers iu valleys or on elevations—the hallowed period commenced, and lasted until three stars were visible in the following evening.