Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Yohanan bin-Dawidh" <yohanan.bin.dawidh AT gmail.com>]

Pere;

Let me begin by stating that "-'asereth ha-d'variym", or what you refer to
as "the Ten Commandments", by no means declares that we are to sanctify
"Sunday", which is the first day of the week, and not the seventh, but
rather that we are to sanctify from Friday when the sun goes down through
Saturday when the sun goes down, which would be the seventh day, or
Shabbath, according to the text of the Torah. But, then again, this concerns
the culture of the descendents of Yisra'el, and not the entirety of the
world, the rest of world does good to follow after the example of Yisra'el,
and establish a day of rest.

As to whether, or not, this means that we should be required to work six
days a week, and merely have one day of rest, I think in that time period,
yes, this is exactly what it meant, but within that time period, people were
not computer programmers, or lawyers, or professors at Bar Ilan University,
but, instead they were farmers, and herders, things that require one to work
full-time, and here we have a mandate from the deity of Yisra'el, telling
his people, you are required to take this day and rest, and reflect upon me,
and reflect upon the Torah.

Yo*h*anan bin-Dawidh
University of Texas at Arlington