Shabbachtani and Things

- Rye: =Rie (Heb. kussemeth ), found in Exo 9:32; Isa 28:25, in all of which the margins of the Authorized and of the Revised Versions have "spelt." This Hebrew word also occurs in Eze 4:9, where the Authorized Version has "fitches" (q.v.) and the Revised Version "spelt." This, there can be no doubt, was the Triticum spelta, a species of hard, rough-grained wheat. - Sabachthani: Thou hast forsaken me, one of the Aramaic words uttered by our Lord on the cross (Mat 27:46; Mar 15:34). - Sabaoth: The transliteration of the Hebrew word tsebha'oth , meaning "hosts," "armies" (Rom 9:29; Jam 5:4). In the LXX. the Hebrew word is rendered by "Almighty." (See Rev 4:8; compare Isa 6:3.) It may designate Jehovah as either (1.) God of the armies of earth, or (2.) God of the armies of the stars, or (3.) God of the unseen armies of angels; or perhaps it may include all these ideas. - Sabbath: (Heb. verb shabbath , meaning "to rest from labour"), the day of rest. It is first mentioned as having been instituted in Paradise, when man was in innocence (Gen 2:2). "The sabbath was made for man," as a day of rest and refreshment for the body and of blessing to the soul. It is next referred to in connection with the gift of manna to the children of Israel in the wilderness (Exo 16:23); and afterwards, when the law was given from Sinai (Exo 20:11), the people were solemnly charged to "remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy." Thus it is spoken of as an institution already existing. In the Mosaic law strict regulations were laid down regarding its observance (Exo 35:2, Exo 35:3; Lev 23:3; Lev 26:34). These were peculiar to that dispensation. In the subsequent history of the Jews frequent references are made to the sanctity of the Sabbath (Isa 56:2, Isa 56:4, Isa 56:6, Isa 56:7; Isa 58:13, Isa 58:14; Jer 17:20; Neh 13:19). In later times they perverted the Sabbath by their traditions. Our Lord rescued it from their perversions, and recalled to them its true nature and intent (Mat 12:10; Mar 2:27; Luk 13:10). The Sabbath, originally instituted for man at his creation, is of permanent and universal obligation. The physical necessities of man require a Sabbath of rest. He is so constituted that his bodily welfare needs at least one day in seven for rest from ordinary labour. Experience also proves that the moral and spiritual necessities of men also demand a Sabbath of rest. "I am more and more sure by experience that the reason for the observance of the Sabbath lies deep in the everlasting necessities of human nature, and that as long as man is man the blessedness of keeping it, not as a day of rest only, but as a day of spiritual rest, will never be annulled. I certainly do feel by experience the eternal obligation, because of the eternal necessity, of the Sabbath. The soul withers without it. It thrives in proportion to its observance. The Sabbath was made for man. God made it for men in a certain spiritual state because they needed it. The need, therefore, is deeply hidden in human nature. He who can dispense with it must be holy and spiritual indeed. And he who, still unholy and unspiritual, would yet dispense with it is a man that would fain be wiser than his Maker" (F. W. Robertson). The ancient Babylonian calendar, as seen from recently recovered inscriptions on the bricks among the ruins of the royal palace, was based on the division of time into weeks of seven days. The Sabbath is in these inscriptions designated Sabattu, and defined as "a day of rest for the heart" and "a day of completion of labour." The change of the day. Originally at creation the seventh day of the week was set apart and consecrated as the Sabbath. The first day of the week is now observed as the Sabbath. Has God authorized this change? There is an obvious distinction between the Sabbath as an institution and the particular day set apart for its observance. The question, therefore, as to the change of the day in no way affects the perpetual obligation of the Sabbath as an institution. Change of the day or no change, the Sabbath remains as a sacred institution the same. It cannot be abrogated. If any change of the day has been made, it must have been by Christ or by his authority. Christ has a right to make such a change (Mar 2:23). As Creator, Christ was the original Lord of the Sabbath (Joh 1:3; Heb 1:10). It was originally a memorial of creation. A work vastly greater than that of creation has now been accomplished by him, the work of redemption. We would naturally expect just such a change as would make the Sabbath a memorial of that greater work. True, we can give no text authorizing the change in so many words. We have no express law declaring the change. But there are evidences of another kind. We know for a fact that the first day of the week has been observed from apostolic times, and the necessary conclusion is, that it was observed by the apostles and their immediate disciples. This, we may be sure, they never would have done without the permission or the authority of their Lord. After his resurrection, which took place on the first day of the week (Mat 28:1; Mar 16:2; Luk 24:1; Joh 20:1), we never find Christ meeting with his disciples on the seventh day. But he specially honoured the first day by manifesting himself to them on four separate occasions (Mat 28:9; Luk 24:34, 18-33; Joh 20:19). Again, on the next first day of the week, Jesus appeared to his disciples (Joh 20:26). Some have calculated that Christ's ascension took place on the first day of the week. And there can be no doubt that the descent of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost was on that day (Act 2:1). Thus Christ appears as instituting a new day to be observed by his people as the Sabbath, a day to be henceforth known amongst them as the "Lord's day." The observance of this "Lord's day" as the Sabbath was the general custom of the primitive churches, and must have had apostolic sanction (compare Act 20:3; Co1 16:1, Co1 16:2) and authority, and so the sanction and authority of Jesus Christ. The words "at her sabbaths" (Lam 1:7, A.V.) ought probably to be, as in the Revised Version, "at her desolations." - Sabbath Day's Journey: Supposed to be a distance of 2,000 cubits, or less than half-a-mile, the distance to which, according to Jewish tradition, it was allowable to travel on the Sabbath day without violating the law (Act 1:12; compare Exo 16:29; Num 35:5; Jos 3:4). - Sabbatical Year: Every seventh year, during which the land, according to the law of Moses, had to remain uncultivated (Lev 25:2; compare Exo 23:10, Exo 23:11, Exo 23:12; Lev 26:34, Lev 26:35). Whatever grew of itself during that year was not for the owner of the land, but for the poor and the stranger and the beasts of the field. All debts, except those of foreigners, were to be remitted (Deu 15:1). There is little notice of the observance of this year in Biblical history. It appears to have been much neglected (Ch2 36:20, Ch2 36:21). - Sabeans: Descendants of Seba (Gen 10:7); Africans (Isa 43:3). They were "men of stature," and engaged in merchandise (Isa 45:14). Their conversion to the Lord was predicted (Psa 72:10). This word, in Eze 23:42, should be read, as in the margin of the Authorized Version, and in the Revised Version, "drunkards." Another tribe, apparently given to war, is mentioned in Job 1:15. - Sabtah: Rest, the third son of Cush (Gen 10:7; Ch1 1:9). - Sabtecha: The fifth son of Cush (id.). - Sachar: Hire. (1.) One of David's heroes (Ch1 11:35); called also Sharar (Sa2 23:33). (2.) A son of Obed-edom the Gittite, and a temple porter (Ch1 26:4).