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Sabbath Chapter I Introduction In the manner of history, Seventh-day Adventists have argued that the perpetuity and the meaning of the Biblical Sabbath should be considered not only significant from the standpoint of theology, but also in the capacity of potentially eschatological encouraging presage of the loyalty to the Creator God in the future, as they were taught that the second coming of Jesus Christ will be definitely preceded by the global crisis with the Sabbath as a central and important issue. However, the present study pursues no aim to examine the validity of Seventh-day Adventists apocalyptic expectation, but, instead, it presents a polemic argument with regards to the insistence of the Seventh-day Adventists importance of the Sabbath institution. Colossians 2. 16 as the Vulnerable Point of Adventists Colossians 2. 16 is traditionally considered to be, probably, one of the most difficult and challenging passages to interpret in the New Testament, thus being extremely critical for the theology of Sabbath supported by the Seventh-day Adventists. As far as the warning of Apostle Paul in the given passage in the New Testament treads on the ground of Sabbath, this passage is often referred to as the vulnerable point or the Achilles Heel of Adventists. To a certain extent it can be claimed that the words of Apostle Paul embody and support a clear and positive New Testament statement that the Sabbath was nailed to the cross, and, therefore, no one hardly can claim that the Christians are still obliged to observe the Sabbath.
The existence and correctness of the given viewpoint can be confirmed to some extent, as far as some theologians and researchers agree with the words of Larry Harley that: Sabbatarians will have to either give up their error concerning Sabbath keeping or get rid of this verse. It is also claimed by numerous theologians and researchers that in case sabbath of the given passage from the New Testament proves to be valid in its interpretation as the weekly Sabbath, this interpretation not only puts into doubt the position of the Seventh-day Adventists concerning the Sabbath, but also weakens the very idea of Sabbath in the capacity of the coming eschatological loyalty test. At the same time, the very approach of the Seventh-day Adventists, who interpret the idea of sabbath in Colossians 2. 16 not as the seventh day in a week (according to the text from the Decalogue), but rather the annual ceremonial Sabbaths described in the Jewish religious calendar, has been often put into doubt not only by the theologians and scholars belonging to the non-Adventist Christians, but also by the dramatically increasing number of SDA theologians and former Seventh-day Adventists as well. There is also a claim that the Seventh-day Adventists official historic interpretation of the given passage from the New Testament is inconsistent with the undeniable linguistic evidences, as there is an assumption that the interpretation of the historic SDA that the conception of Sabbath in Colossians 2. 16 relates to the annual Sabbaths from Jewish religious calendar alone, tends to be rather artificial and forced, as it strongly contradicts with the original usage of sabbath throughout the Holy Bible.
Therefore, in order to provide evidence to their doctrine and uphold the belief concerning the doctrine of the Sabbath as well as its key position in the theological system of the Seventh-day Adventists, essentially with regards to the Seventh-day Adventists eschatological view that implies that the observance of Sabbath has eschatological encouraging presage of the loyalty to the Creator, as well as the sign of the Adventists obedience in the last days before the second coming of Jesus Christ, the amazingly increasing number of the Seventh-day Adventists theologians offer their own, often contradictory interpretations of the words of Apostle Paul with regards of his usage of the term sabbath in the given passage Colossians 2. 16 from the New Testament. The Problem The increasing number of new interpretation of Colossians 2. 16 requires more thorough and detailed exegetical clarification. Therefore, the most important question to be answered is: what are the best linguistic evidences with regards to the interpretation of the conception of sabbath in Colossians 2. 16? The Purpose of the Study The purpose of the present study is to provide with the most thorough examination of available linguistic evidences with regards to the conception and the usage of sabbath in both, Colossians 2. 16 and throughout the Holy Bible, however, narrowing the subject to the interpretation and the usage of the term sabbath in Colossians 2. 16 in accordance with all relevant passages in the original biblical languages, taking into consideration both the direct and indirect, the immediate and broader implication of facts and contexts, in order to gain better understanding what is the best available overall interpretation of the sabbath may be. The Significance of the Study The significance of the present study is obvious, as far as the present passage from the New Testament, namely, Colossians 2. 16, is often being used by the theologians and scholars as the advanced base for formation of their attitudes concerning the weekly and ceremonial Sabbaths.
Taking into consideration this fact, it is very important to find the most thorough and detailed answers to the interpretation of the text from Colossians 2. 16, as it will not only make easier for the theologians to come to the agreement concerning one of the most complicated issues of Christianity, but also will provide Christians with proper and correct understanding of their duties before the God. Methodology The present study comprises of two stages. The first stage provides the general linguistic research of the usage of the term Sabbath both throughout the Old and New Testaments. The second stage provides a thorough inter textual examination of the passages from the Bible that contain the triad feast, new moon, and Sabbath. This triad was chosen as it tends to represent the immediate context of the word sabbath that was used in Colossians 2. 16. Finally, the conclusion will summarize the results of the examination, as well as any implications and suggestions for future studies available.
Limitations There are several limitations that should be addressed and acknowledged with regards to the present study. First, the present study will not examine Apostle Pauls general argumentation concerning the theological (Colossians 2. 8 - 15), and practical (Colossians 2. 16 - 23) aspects of Colossian heterodox teaching. The aspects and nature of Pauline warning in Colossians 2. 16 are also omitted to avoid excessive argumentation. The present study examines and analyzes the term Sabbath within its immediate context (namely, within the triad feast, new moon, and Sabbath provided in Colossians 2. 16.
Finally, the present study omits examination of said (Colossians 2. 17), and cheirographon (Colossians 2. 14), - the terms used by the Seventh-day Adventists theologians in their official interpretation of the term sabbath, as the key argument they bring in support of their theory originating from the larger literal contextual interpretation. Chapter II The Linguistic Analysis of the Usage of "Sabbath in the Old and New Testaments The first part of the study is aimed to examine all available translations of the given term within the Old and New Testaments and pursues the aim to examine whether there can be any additional contextual or linguistic signs or contextual indicators used along with 'Sabbath', and to find out, whether these indicators can serve a useful function in defining the most appropriate translation of the term Sabbath. The Usage of the Term Sabbath in the Old Testament After the careful analysis we have found out that the noun 'shabbat' was used 111 times in the Hebrew version of the Holy Bible. At the same time, in 94 cases this noun can be interpreted as the seventh-day Sabbath (from the immediate and broader contexts of the passages), while the remainder (17 cases of the usage) the noun 'shabbat' required translation with the usage of other words related to weeks (e. g. in Leviticus 23. 15), Day of Atonement (e.
g. in Leviticus 23. 32 c), or sabbatical years (e. g. in Leviticus 26. 34).
It was also found out that the Hebrew noun shabbat" is used mostly when there are lucid, definitive syntactical and linguistics markers that basically guarantee a reliable and virtually indisputable translation. Therefore, it is possible to come to conclusion that the noun 'shabbat' can be interpreted as the seventh-day Sabbath when it is used together with the verb "to keep" (10 times), prefaced by the article "the" (66 times), connected with the word day (40 times), is portrayed as 'holy' (18 times), is depicted as my Sabbath or my Sabbaths by the Creator God (18 times), and, finally, is used as a regular cyclical pattern (e. g. the phrase from Sabbath to Sabbath was used six times in three specific word pairs). Finally, it was possible to find additional evidence that the term Sabbath was to be interpreted as the seventh-day Sabbath (sixty three times).
It should be taken into consideration that ceremonial Sabbaths had no connection with the linguistic markers indicated above, but were mostly associated with the words and word combinations like afflict, your, seven years, seven times, her, year of the land, to mention a few. In such a way, the usage of the term Sabbath in the Old Testament serves the evidence to the fact that both interpretations of the term under study are used throughout the Old Testament, and they do not contradict the ways in which the original term 'sabbath' used in Hebrew Bible, is contextually utilized throughout the Old Testament. The Usage of the Term Sabbath in the New Testament In the New Testament, the Greek term for the noun Sabbath is used 68 times (as a second declension, singular (sabbath) is used 43 x (40 x Sabbath is translated as the seventh-day Sabbath based on the context, while other three times it is translated as one week (also based on the context). However, the most important is that the third declension, plural (sabbath), appears 25 times (17 x as a single seventh-day Sabbath based on the context, 1 x - as a plural seventh-day Sabbath, and 6 times as a week, based on the context). From here it follows that Greek term sabbath can be used to indicate both, a single seventh-day Sabbath (e. g.
Matthew 12. 1), as several Sabbaths (Acts 17. 2), and as a week (seven days) (e. g. Matthew 28. 1). Therefore, similar to the Old Testament, the term can be used translated in various ways. In such a way, it is very important to understand the meaning of the triad in Colossians 2. 16, as it provides the most immediate contextual meaning within the term under study is found.
Chapter III The Linguistic Analysis of the Triad Feast, New Moon, and Sabbath in the Bible The second part of the present study is aimed to examine whether there can be an inter textual dependency or a direct linkage between all biblical texts, where the given triad occurs (the nine texts from the Old Testament, and Colossians 2. 16). If we assume that Apostle Paul was quoting the biblical texts, finding this inter textual echo will be important to determine the exact meaning of the term sabbath in Colossians 2. 16. The Triad in Colossians 2. 16 The triad itself comprises of three Greek terms: here, neomenia, and sabbath. However, there is no generally accepted opinion concerning the exact meaning of the triad in Colossians 2. 16. In the past 140 years, there were three interpretations in theological literature. Some theologians consider that the triad is an example of a certain progressive sequence indicating yearly-monthly-weekly cycle, while others consider the triad to reflect the Semitic literary structure of an inverted parallelism (annual-monthly-annual), and claim that it should be referred to as the annual ceremonial Sabbaths.
Finally, there is an opinion that the triad embodies the all-inclusive list of all the sacred times (the part of the Hebrew cultic calendar. Therefore, it is important to consider the original language and the immediate and broader contexts in order to sketch the narrower outline of the triad and its meaning, and to define whether there is an inter textual echo or direct linkage between the passage under study and the texts from the Old Testament. The inter textual analysis allows us finding at least six reasons why Apostle Paul would prefer choosing his quote from Hosea 2. 11, instead of choosing his quite from other eight passages, and, namely, Numbers 28 - 29, I Chronicles 23. 31, II Chronicles 2. 4, II Chronicles 8. 13, II Chronicles 31. 3, Nehemiah 10. 33, Ezekiel 45. 13 - 17, or in Ezekiel 46. 1 - 15). Firstly, both texts describe a...
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