Exodus 20:10
וְיוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי שַׁבָּת׀ לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לֹֽא־תַעֲשֶׂה כָל־מְלָאכָה אַתָּה׀ וּבִנְךָֽ־וּבִתֶּךָ עַבְדְּךָ וַאֲמָֽתְךָ וּבְהֶמְתֶּךָ וְגֵרְךָ אֲשֶׁר בִּשְׁעָרֶֽיךָ׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וְי֙וֹם֙ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔֜י שַׁבָּ֖֣ת׀ לַיהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֑֗יךָ לֹֽ֣א־תַעֲשֶׂ֣֨ה כָל־מְלָאכָ֡֜ה אַתָּ֣ה׀ וּבִנְךָֽ֣־וּ֠בִתֶּ֗ךָ עַבְדְּךָ֤֨ וַאֲמָֽתְךָ֜֙ וּבְהֶמְתֶּ֔֗ךָ וְגֵרְךָ֖֙ אֲשֶׁ֥֣ר בִּשְׁעָרֶֽ֔יךָ׃
τῇ δὲ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ σάββατα κυρίῳ τῷ θεῷ σου· οὐ ποιήσεις ἐν πᾶν ἔργον, σὺ καὶ ὁ υἱός σου καὶ ἡ θυγάτηρ σου, ὁ παῖς σου καὶ ἡ παιδίσκη σου, ὁ βοῦς σου καὶ τὸ ὑποζύγιόν σου καὶ πᾶν κτῆνός σου, καὶ ὁ προσήλυτος ὁ παροικῶν ἐν σοί.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Septimo autem die sabbatum Domini Dei tui est: non facies omne opus in eo, tu, et filius tuus et filia tua, servus tuus et ancilla tua, jumentum tuum, et advena qui est intra portas tuas.
pero el séptimo día es de descanso, dedicado a Yehová, tu Dios. Ese día no harás ningún tipo de trabajo, ni tú, ni tu hijo, ni tu hija, ni tu esclavo, ni tu esclava, ni tus animales, ni el extranjero que viva en tus ciudades.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Mas el séptimo día será reposo para Jehová tu Dios: no hagas en él obra alguna, tú, ni tu hijo, ni tu hija, ni tu siervo, ni tu criada ni tu bestia, ni tu extranjero que está dentro de tus puertas:
but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on which you must not do any work—neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant or livestock, nor the foreigner within your gates.
✦ What the text says
Summary
Exodus 20:10 declares the seventh day a shabbat ("sabbath", H7676) belonging to Yehovah, and prohibits all work (melakhah, H4399) on that day for the addressee and an enumerated list of dependents: son, daughter, male and female servants, livestock, and the resident sojourner.
Key words
- Yom ("day", H3117G) — masculine singular construct, "day of," linking to ha-shevi'i ("the seventh", H7637) to form "the seventh day."
- Shabbat ("sabbath", H7676) — feminine singular noun, here functioning as a predicate nominative: "the seventh day [is] a sabbath."
- ta'aseh ("you must do", H6213A) — qal imperfect, second person masculine singular, expressing an ongoing or future prohibition when preceded by the negation lo' ("not", H3808).
- melakhah ("work", H4399) — feminine singular noun in construct with khol ("any", H3605), giving "any work" as the object of the prohibition.
- ger ("sojourner", H1616) — masculine singular construct noun, marking the final and outermost category in the list of persons bound by the command, further specified by the relative clause asher bi-she'arekha ("who is in your gates").
What the text says
The Hebrew sentence opens with a nominal clause: ve-yom ha-shevi'i shabbat la-YHWH Eloheikha — literally "and the day, the seventh, [is] a sabbath to Yehovah your God." There is no verb "to be" in Hebrew; the predication ("is a sabbath") is implied by simple juxtaposition of yom ha-shevi'i and shabbat, followed by the prepositional phrase la-YHWH ("to/for Yehovah") indicating possession or dedication.
The second clause introduces the prohibition with lo' ta'aseh ("you shall not do"), a second-person masculine singular imperfect verb governing the construct phrase khol-melakhah ("any work"). The subject attah ("you", H0859A) is then reinforced explicitly, followed by a chain of construct nouns each bearing the second-person masculine singular suffix -kha ("your"): bin-kha ("your son"), bitte-kha ("your daughter"), avde-kha ("your servant"), amate-kha ("your maidservant"), behemte-kha ("your livestock"), and gere-kha ("your sojourner"). Each of these functions as an additional subject joined to attah by the conjunction ve- ("and"), extending the scope of the prohibition rather than introducing new grammatical objects. The final relative clause, asher bi-she'arekha ("who is in your gates"), modifies only ger ("sojourner"), geographically restricting which sojourners are included.
Differences between versions
The LXX renders behemtekha ("your livestock", H0929, singular collective) as two distinct terms, ὁ βοῦς ("the ox") and τὸ ὑποζύγιον ("the beast of burden"), plus a general πᾶν κτῆνός σου ("all your cattle"), expanding one Hebrew noun into three. The Vulgate instead keeps a single term, jumentum tuum ("your beast of burden"), closer in economy to the Hebrew singular noun.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.