Item 4 in Ten Commandments
Keep the Sabbath
Set apart a recurring day of rest and religious observance, including rest for dependants, workers and animals.
- Position
- 4
- Form
- Positive duty or instruction
- Obligation
- Mandatory
- Wording status
- Editorial paraphrase
- Intended audience
- Originally Israel; subsequently interpreted within Jewish and Christian traditions
- Last reviewed
- 28 June 2026
Names and terminology
Canonical name: Keep the Sabbath
Source wording
Editorial paraphrase: Set apart a recurring day of rest and religious observance, including rest for dependants, workers and animals.
Literal meaning
Set apart a recurring day of rest and religious observance, including rest for dependants, workers and animals.
Broader interpretation
Jewish and Christian traditions differ over timing, required observance and continuing legal authority.
Ethical purpose
To shape conduct or character in a way consistent with the wider ethical framework.
Modern application
Modern application requires attention to consent, rights, evidence, foreseeable harm and changing social conditions.
Criticism and difficult cases
Application can become difficult when this principle conflicts with another duty, when harm is indirect, or when ancient social assumptions do not fit modern conditions.
Truth By Reason analysis
Truth By Reason assesses this principle according to evidence, rights, intentions, foreseeable consequences and consistency with the treatment of all affected beings.
Ethical themes
Sources
- Deuteronomy 5 Primary source
- Exodus 20 Primary source