Exodus 31:14

Summary

The verse commands the observance of the Shabbat ("sabbath", H7676) as a holy day, and states two consequences for violating it: whoever profanes it is to be put to death, and whoever performs work on it is to be cut off from among their kin-group.

Key words

• she.mar.Tem ("you will observe", H8104) — qal sequential perfect, 2nd person masculine plural, continuing the narrative chain begun by the vav; it frames the whole clause as a communal obligation.
• Ko.desh ("holy thing", H6944) — masculine singular construct noun functioning here as a predicate describing Shabbat, paired with the feminine pronoun hi' ("it", H1931) that refers back to Shabbat.
• me.cha.Lei. ("those who profane", H2490) — piel participle, masculine plural construct, an intensive verbal form describing an ongoing or characteristic action of desecration, distinct from a simple past act.
• Mot yu.Mat ("certainly he will be put to death", H4191) — infinitive absolute (mot) combined with a hophal imperfect (yumat); the doubling of the root intensifies the certainty of the passive/causative action, "to be caused to die."
• nikh.re.Tah ("it will be cut off", H3772) — niphal sequential perfect, feminine singular, agreeing with ha.Ne.fesh ("the person", H5315); a passive/reflexive form indicating removal from the group rather than direct killing.

What the text says

The verse is built on two parallel ki ("for/that", H3588) clauses, each introducing a distinct legal consequence. The first ki clause explains why the sabbath must be kept: it is qodesh ("holy") for the addressees, marked by the feminine pronoun hi' agreeing with the feminine noun Shabbat. The second ki clause shifts to the penalty for kol-ha'oseh vah melakhah ("everyone who does work in it"), using a qal participle 'oseh ("one who does") governing the noun melakhah ("work", H4399).

Two different verbal constructions mark two different consequences. The profaner (mechallelei, piel participle) receives the emphatic hophal construction mot yumat, combining an infinitive absolute with a finite imperfect to stress certainty of the action "to be put to death." The one who performs melakhah instead receives the niphal verb nikhretah ("will be cut off"), agreeing with the feminine noun nefesh ("person," H5315), which denotes separation from qerev 'amei-ha ("the midst of her kinspeople", H7130, H5971) rather than the same verbal root used for the first penalty.

Differences between versions

The LXX adds κυρίου ("of the Lord"), rendering "holy... of the Lord for you," a phrase without a parallel in the Hebrew qodesh hi' lakhem. The Vulgate reads sabbatum meum ("my sabbath"), introducing a first-person possessive not present in the Hebrew text, which has only ha-Shabbat ("the sabbath") with no pronominal suffix.